NBC announced today it will begin its fall season with four new dramas, including the return of “Heroes,” a limited-run live variety show hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and one new comedy.
Series not returning include the first-year dramas “Constantine” and “State of Affairs”; the comedy “About a Boy,” which ran for two seasons; and “One Big Happy,” which premiered at midseason.
Announcements of the fates of two other midseason series, “A.D. The Bible Continues” and “American Odyssey,” will come after their seasons have concluded, according to NBC.
Of the six series that premiered last fall on NBC, only the drama “The Mysteries of Laura,”‘ will return for a second season.
“Heroes Reborn” combines some characters from the original 2006-2010 run — Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) and Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) — with new characters. New cast members include Zachary Levi, who starred in the 2007-2012 NBC comedic espionage series “Chuck.”
“Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris” will include stunts, skits, pranks, audience interaction, musical numbers and giveaways. It will air at Tuesdays at 10 p.m. until November, when it will be replaced by “Chicago Fire,” which is not part of NBC’s initial fall schedule.
“Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris” will be among two live series on NBC’s fall schedule. The comedy “Undateable” will also air live.
“Live programming is one more way to make a show undeniable,” NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said.
NBC’s other new fall dramas are:
— “Blindspot,” which stars Jamie Alexander as a woman discovered naked in Times Square, completely covered in mysterious, intricate tattoos, including that of an FBI agent (Sullivan Stapleton), who quickly realizes that each mark on her body is a crime to solve;
— “Heartbreaker,” a medical drama about heart transplant surgeon (Melissa George) with a racy personal life; and
— “The Player,” which stars Wesley Snipes as a former military operative turned Las Vegas security expert working for an organization of wealthy individuals who are looking to him to stop some of the biggest crimes imaginable.
The lone new NBC fall comedy is “People Are Talking,” about two couples who are neighbors and best friends and analyze and obsess about everything.
Series to premiere at midseason include a new version of the comedy “Coach,” which originally ran on ABC from 1989-97, and “Chicago Med,” a hospital drama produced by Dick Wolf.
Returning series whose premieres will come after the start of the season include “The Night Shift,” “The Celebrity Apprentice” and “The Biggest Loser.”
“The fall lineup gives you only half the story,” NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke said.
“We truly program on a 52-week basis and are putting the same amount of programming muscle behind our mid-season lineup, with some of the most high- profile concepts and some of the biggest names on television joining the schedule at midseason and extending throughout the remainder of the broadcast year.”
NBC’s fall prime-time schedule will consist of nine hours of drama, four hours of sports programming, three hours each of competition and news, and one hour each of comedy, variety and reruns.
Here is NBC’s fall schedule:
Sunday: “Football Night in America”; “NBC Sunday Night Football”;
Monday: “The Voice”; “Blindspot”;
Tuesday: “The Voice”; “Heartbreaker”; “Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris”;
Wednesday: “The Mysteries of Laura”; “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”; “Chicago P.D.”;
Thursday: “Heroes Reborn”; “The Blacklist”; “The Player”;
Friday: “Undateable”; “People Are Talking”; “Grimm”; “Dateline”; “Constantine”
Saturday: “Dateline Saturday Night Mystery”; “Saturday Night Live” reruns.
