NBC’s announced its winter schedule yesterday. And there were some interesting moves.
“Chuck” is staying put in its Mondays at 8 p.m EST slot while “The Event” will debut the second half of it season in February. New series “The Cape” will debut in January and take over the time slot after “Chuck” for its run.
Also, the network will give the entire Thursday night broadcast to half-hour comedies.
Here’s the full schedule:
Mondays
8-9 p.m. Chuck
9-10 p.m. The Cape (premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, Jan. 9 and new episodes start in its regular time period on Jan. 17)
10-11 p.m. Harry’s Law (Jan. 17)
9-10 p.m. The Event (returns on Feb. 28, 9-11 p.m.; resumes in its regular time slot March 7)
10-11 p.m. Parenthood (debuts in this slot March 7)
Tuesdays
8-10 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Couples (Jan. 4)
10-11 p.m. Parenthood (Jan. 4 for four episodes)
10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Los Angeles (Feb. 8 )
Wednesdays
8-9 p.m. Minute to Win It (Jan. 5)
9-10 p.m. Chase (Jan. 12)
10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Jan. 5)
9-10 p.m. America’s Next Great Restaurant (March 16)
Thursdays (Jan. 20)
8-8:30 p.m. Community
8:30-9 p.m. Perfect Couples
9-9:30 p.m. The Office
9:30-10 p.m. Parks and Recreation
10-10:30 p.m. 30 Rock
10:30-11 p.m. Outsourced
Fridays
8-9 p.m. Who Do You Think You Are? (Jan. 21)
9-11 p.m. Dateline NBC (Jan. 7)
Sundays
7-8 p.m. Dateline NBC
8-9 p.m. The Marriage Ref (March 6)
9-11 p.m. The Celebrity Apprentice (March 6)
And here’s NBC’s press-release
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – November 15, 2010 – NBC today made several mid-season schedule announcements, including the premiere dates for four new series – the dramas “The Cape” and “Harry’s Law,” the comedy “Perfect Couples” and the alternative series “America’s Next Great Restaurant.” The lineup also includes series time period changes for “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” “Chase,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Parenthood.”
Additionally, returning series “Parks and Recreation,” “The Biggest Loser: Couples,” “Who Do You Think You Are?,” “Minute to Win It,” “The Marriage Ref” and “The Celebrity Apprentice” resume on the schedule while other moves maximize the amount of original, non-repeat programming on the network.
Following are night-by-night details:
Mondays
The new action-filled drama “The Cape” will premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, January 9 (9-11 p.m. ET). An encore broadcast of the two-hour episode airs Monday, January 10 (9-11 p.m. ET) with new episodes starting in its regular time period on January 17 (9-10 p.m. ET). The highly buzzed-about drama “The Event” returns with a two-hour edition on Monday, February 28 (9-11 p.m. ET) and begins airing in its regular 9-10 p.m. (ET) time slot on March 7. The new drama “Harry’s Law” debuts at 10-11 p.m. (ET) starting on January 17. “Parenthood” will return on January 4 with new episodes in its current time period (Tuesdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) and will move to Mondays on March 7 at 10-11 p.m. (ET) with original episodes to complete its second season. “Chuck” continues at 8-9 p.m. (ET) on January 17.
Tuesdays
The new season of “The Biggest Loser: Couples” premieres on Tuesday, January 4 at 8-10 p.m. (ET). “Law & Order: Los Angeles” will move to Tuesdays at 10-11 p.m. (ET) on February 8.
Wednesdays
Beginning January 5, “Minute to Win It” returns at 8-9 p.m. (ET). The freshman drama “Chase” relocates to a new night and time at 9-10 p.m. (ET) beginning January 12. “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” moves to a new time beginning with a two-hour episode from 9-11 p.m. (ET) on January 5 before resuming in its regular time of 10-11 p.m. (ET) the next week. The new alternative series “America’s Next Great Restaurant” premieres from 9-10 p.m. (ET) on March 16.
Thursdays
The new Thursday-night lineup features wall-to-wall comedy beginning January 20 with “Community” at 8-8:30 p.m. (ET) followed at the new comedy “Perfect Couples” at 8:30-9 p.m. (ET). “The Office” continues at 9-9:30 p.m. (ET) and “Parks and Recreation” returns from 9:30-10 p.m. (ET). NBC opens a new hour of humor with “30 Rock” moving to 10-10:30 p.m. (ET) and the freshman series “Outsourced” concludes the night at 10:30-11 p.m. (ET).
Fridays
The alternative genealogy series “Who Do You Think You Are?” returns on January 21 (8-9 p.m. ET). “Dateline NBC” will return on January 7 (9-11 p.m. ET).
Sundays
“The Marriage Ref” returns for its second season on March 6 (8-9 p.m. ET) followed by the return of “The Celebrity Apprentice” (9-11 p.m. ET), also on March 6.
Soooo... The Cape is only 7 episodes? That's a little odd.
I think you mean eight episodes. The premiere is two hours long, so that's technically two episodes. But yeah, that doesn't seem like a lot, unless it's only half of the season and the rest will be shown later. Although, it's NBC, not Syfy ... hm, maybe not.
I tend to count two-hour pilots as one episode. So unless it's clearly just two distinct episodes shown back-to-back, I'm sticking with 7. Your 8 is just as valid, though, since the standard episode length is one hour.