NBC’s fall line-up: with time-sharing, plenty of shows

Even as sports gobble up the network, NBC has room for new shows.
Its schedule — announced today (May 11) — has three new ones this fall, with three more for mid-season. In both cases, there’s one of each — a comedy (including “Newlyweds, shown here), a drama and a reality show.
That’s being done with only moderate cancellations. The network is dropping one comedy (“Stumble”) and two dramas (“Brilliant Minds” and “Law & Order: Organized Crime),” while keeping “The Hunting Party” in limbo.
It’s doing that partly through time-sharing . Two comedies — the returning “Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” and the new “Sunset P.I.” will have just 10 episodes apiece, sharing a Monday spot. Also, a new “Rockford Files” will take over a Thursday slot after the new version of “The Traitors” concludes.
This comes as the network gets close to 50-percent sports in prime time. It has college football on Saturdays, pro football on Sundays and pro basketball on Tuesdays. Now it’s adding the wild card round of the baseball playoffs, with 8-12 games this fall on NBC and/or Peacock.
The new shows are:
— “Line of Fire.” Similar to CBS’ old “Blue Bloods” and new “Boston Blue,” it has a family in various law-and-order fields, pulling together. Peter Krause and Hope Davis star. It gets the network’s best slot, after “The Voice” on Mondays.
— “Newlyweds.” Tim Daly and Tea Leoni (shown here) play people who had a sudden, later-in-life romance; Jamie Lee Curtis also stars. The show was planned to fit with Reba McEntire’s “Happy’s Place,” which it will follow at 8:30 p.m. Fridays.
— “The Traitors.” This is a second version of the Peacock show that has won two straight Emmys for best reality competition. The Peacock one has celebrities; this will stick to civilians. It gets the 8 p.m. Thursday slot once held by reality shows “The Biggest Loser” and “The Apprentice”; that pushes “Law & Order” to 10 p.m.
— “Sunset P.I.” Jake Johnson stars in a comic version of the classic Los Angeles private-eye tales. In February, it gets the “Reggie Dinkins” spot on Mondays.
— “Rockford Files,” with David Boreanaz stepping into the private-eye role originated by James Garner. It gets 8 p.m. Thursdays, after “Traitors” has its winner.
— “Wordle,” produced by Jimmy Fallon and based on the New York Times game. This hasn’t been scheduled yet because production was delayed. Fallon has said that in March he set Savannah Guthrie, a Wordle fan, as the host. After the tragedy of her mother’s disappearance, work was delayed.
The fall line-up:
— Mondays: At first, “The Voice” at 8 p.m., then “Line of Fire” at 10. In November, “Voice” retreats to one hour at 9, with “St. Denis Medical” and “Reggie Dinkins” at 8 and 8:30.
— Tuesdays: “The Voice” can briefly borrow the night; then pro basketball takes over.
— Wednesdays: The three Chicago shows –”Med,” “Fire” and “P.D.”
— Thursdays: “The Traitors” at 8; “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 9; “Law & Order,” 10.
— Fridays: “Happy’s Place,” 8; “Newlyweds,” 8:30; “Dateline,” 9-11.
— Saturdays: College football.
— Sundays: Pro football.