upfronts 2012

New NBC Schedule: Community Now on Fridays

COMMUNITY --
Banished. Photo: Lewis Jacobs/NBC

This may be the oddest timeline yet: Community is moving to Friday nights next fall and being hammocked between Whitney and Grimm. NBC has just unveiled its 2012-13 schedule, and the Peacock has decided to expand its comedy footprint to four nights —  its traditional Thursday lineup, plus comedy hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. The biggest shocker is that none of NBC’s new half-hours is currently slated to air on Thursday nights, despite widespread predictions the network would try to shake things up (that move could come midseason). Instead, 30 Rock, Up All Night, The Office, and Parks and Recreation will remain on the night, with only Community banished to the Friday night hinterlands, where it will air at 8:30 p.m.

As expected, NBC singing competition The Voice will now air in the fall, keeping its Monday-Tuesday air pattern. However, as of now, Smash is being held until later in the fall or midseason, with the J.J. Abrams thriller Revolution getting a crack at 10 p.m. Mondays behind The Voice. The Biggest Loser is being saved for later in the season, and instead, NBC will use the results show for The Voice as a lead-in for the new Matthew Perry comedy Go On and the Ryan Murphy–produced The New Normal, which will air from 9 to 10 p.m. Another comedy block, with a slightly family skew, returns Wednesdays at 8, with Whitney and Community filling the 8-9 p.m. Friday hour. Three more comedies are being saved for midseason: The Anne Heche–led Save Me, Josh Gad’s 1600 Penni, and the Dane Cook–led Next Caller. Dramas being saved for later in the season include Do No HarmHannibal, and Infamous. NBC also has six unscripted shows on its shelf for use midseason: Celebrity Apprentice, LoserBetty White’s Off their RockersStars Earn Stripes, Howie Mandel’s White Elephant, and Surprise With Jenny McCarthy. (Somebody needs to add an exclamation point to that one, no?)

Here’s the full NBC fall schedule:

MONDAY

 8-10 p.m. – The Voice

10-11 p.m. – REVOLUTION

TUESDAY

8-9 p.m. –The Voice

9-9:30 p.m. – GO ON

9:30-10 p.m. – THE NEW NORMAL

10-11 p.m. – Parenthood

WEDNESDAY

8-8:30 p.m. – ANIMAL PRACTICE

8:30-9 p.m. – GUYS WITH KIDS

9-10 p.m. – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

10-11 p.m. – CHICAGO FIRE

THURSDAY

8-8:30 p.m. – 30 Rock

8:30-9 p.m. – Up All Night

9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”

9:30-10 p.m. – Parks and Recreation

10-11 p.m. – Rock Center with Brian Williams

FRIDAY

8-8:30 p.m. – Whitney

8:30-9 p.m. – Community

9-10 p.m. – Grimm

10-11 p.m. – Dateline NBC

SATURDAY

Encore programming

SUNDAY (Fall 2012)

7- 8:15 p.m. — Football Night in America

8:15-11:30 p.m. — NBC Sunday Night Football

SUNDAY (Post-football/Winter 2013)

7-8 p.m. – Dateline NBC

8-9 p.m. – Fashion Star

9-10 p.m. – The Celebrity Apprentice

10-11 p.m. – DO NO HARM

New NBC Schedule: Community Now on Fridays