• by Wayne Friedman , May 13, 2018

As the leading broadcast TV network, NBC has few positions in the fall for new shows -- with only three new series. But increasingly for NBC and other networks, there is continuing value in year-round development.

Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said during a press phone call that while the fall season is always a key part of getting a network started, “the winter, spring and summer seasons are as important as anything.”

Two dramas and one comedy made the cut starting in September. For the season overall, NBC will air five new dramas, two new comedies and one alternative-reality series.

Hour-long scripted TV shows in development for the season performed particularly well for NBC.  “We had an embarrassment of riches in drama,” Greenblatt said.

This current season -- just days away from completion -- has seen big numbers for NBC. This year, with the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics added to its already strong prime-time lineup -- “Sunday Night Football, “This Is Us, and “The Voice” -- NBC has had an impressive, consistent lead in all key viewer metrics.

Through May 6, season-to-date, NBC is in first place with a Nielsen live program-plus same-day, time-shifted prime-time 2.2 rating/9 share among 18-49 viewers (9.05 overall viewers). CBS is the closest competitor at 1.6/6 (8.98 million viewers).

In one interesting shift for a TV network, NBC will be rescuing “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which was recently cancelled on Fox after five seasons. It will begin in midseason.  

NBCUniversal produces “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,”  so there is some natural attraction -- and regret, says Greenblatt.

“If I knew Andy Samberg was going to be cast in that show, we would have never sold it to Fox,” he said. ‘He didn’t sign on until after it was already set up there. We thought it was a missed opportunity from the beginning,” Greenblatt noted, speaking about Samberg, the ex-NBC “Saturday Night Live” cast member.

New dramas this fall include “Manifest,” which will get a plum lead-in from “The Voice” at 10 p.m. on Mondays. The mystery/sci-fi-ish show focuses on a turbulent plane flight that ends safely -- but the world has moved on, to five years in the future. New realities set in -- including friends and families who have mourned those departed passengers.

Another drama, “New Amsterdam,” features a renegade new medical director at Bellevue, a New York City hospital, the oldest in America. It goes on Tuesday at 10 p.m., getting the benefit of another strong NBC show -- the drama “This Is Us.”

On Thursdays, at 9:30 p.m., “I Feel Bad” is a comedy about a complicated mom. Although she is seemingly perfect, she feels bad about not feeling close to her kids and dreaming about men other than her husband.

Wednesdays will now be an all-“Chicago” night -- with three Dick Wolf-produced dramas -- “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.” “Law & Order: SVU” moves to Thursday at 10 p.m.

Midseason shows include “Abby’s,” a comedy about the “best bar” in San Diego -- in the backyard of Abby’s home; “The Village,” a drama about an apartment building in Brooklyn where residents have an unusual bond; “The InBetween,” a drama about a woman with a “curse” who communicates with the dead, helping them with their unresolved problems -- told from her point of view.

Another drama, “The Enemy Within,” focuses on a former female CIA operative -- a "traitor" serving a life sentence who is recruited by an FBI agent to help solve a case about someone close to her.

One midseason alternative-reality series is “The Titan Games,” pitting six contenders in battles of “mind, body and heart” -- beyond sheer brute strength.

Starting at the end of May, NBC will start a spinoff of its highly rated summer series “America’s Got Talent: The Champions."

NBC FALL 2018-19 SCHEDULE

(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)

MONDAY

8-10 P.M. — The Voice

10-11 P.M. — MANIFEST 

TUESDAY

8-9 P.M. — The Voice

9-10 P.M. — This Is Us

10-11 P.M.  — NEW AMSTERDAM

WEDNESDAY

8-9 P.M. — Chicago Med

9-10 P.M. — Chicago Fire

10-11 P.M. — Chicago P.D. 

THURSDAY

8-8:30 P.M. — Superstore

8:30-9 P.M.  — The Good Place

9-9:30 P.M. — Will & Grace

9:30-10 P.M. — I FEEL BAD

10-11 P.M.  — Law & Order: SVU

 FRIDAY

8-9 P.M. – Blindspot

9-10 P.M. — Midnight, Texas

10-11 P.M — Dateline NBC

SATURDAY

8-10 P.M. — Dateline Saturday Night Mystery

10-11 P.M. – Saturday Night Live (encores)

SUNDAY

7-8:20 P.M. — Football Night in America

8:20-11 P.M. — NBC Sunday Night Football