Originally Posted by Deadline

NBC today announced its new mid-season 2012 schedule which features the premieres of four new series in “Smash” (February 6), “The Firm” (two-hour premiere January 8, time slot premiere January 12), “Fashion Star” (March 13) and “Are You There, Chelsea?” (January 11). The new lineup also includes the return of “The Voice,” “30 Rock,” “The Celebrity Apprentice” and “Who Do You Think You Are?”

In addition, there are day and time period changes for “Whitney,” “Up All Night,” “Rock Center with Brian Williams” and “Harry’s Law.”

Following are night-by-night details:

Mondays:

Last spring’s hit vocal competition series “The Voice” returns even louder with an hour-long season debut following Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5 (10-11 p.m. ET, time approximate) and then resumes in its regular day and time on Monday, February 6 (8-10 p.m. ET). Following “The Voice” is the much-anticipated musical drama “Smash” which premieres Monday, February 6 (10-11 p.m. ET).

Tuesdays:

“Fashion Star” – the new reality competition series hosted and executive-produced by Elle Macpherson – will premiere with a two-hour episode on Tuesday, March 13 (9-11 p.m. ET) and resume on Tuesday, March 20 (10-11 p.m. ET). “The Biggest Loser” will open a new edition on Tuesday, January 3 (8-10 p.m. ET) followed by “Parenthood” (10-11 p.m. ET) which continues through its season finale on February 28.

Wednesdays:

The freshman comedy “Whitney” (8-8:30 p.m. ET) moves into a new day and time beginning January 11 followed by the series debut of the new comedy “Are You There, Chelsea?” (8:30-9 p.m. ET) on January 11. “Rock Center with Brian Williams” (9-10 p.m. ET) also joins the Wednesday lineup starting February 8. “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” remains at 10-11 p.m. (ET).

Thursdays:

The new drama “The Firm” moves into the Thursday lineup (10-11 p.m. ET) beginning January 12 following its two-hour premiere the previous Sunday (January from 9-11 p.m. ET. The first-season comedy “Up All Night” will also move to Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. (ET) on January 12 which is also the night that multiple Emmy Award-winning “30 Rock” returns for its season debut (8-8:30 p.m. ET). “Parks and Recreation” (8:30-9 p.m. ET) and the Emmy-winning “The Office” (9-9:30 p.m. ET) remain in the same time periods.

Fridays:

The returning series “Who Do You Think You Are?” makes its season debut on February 3 (8-9 p.m. ET). “Chuck” will have its two-hour series finale on January 27th (8-10 p.m. ET). “Grimm” (9-10 p.m. ET) and “Dateline NBC” (10-11 p.m. ET) remain in the respective time periods.

Sundays:

“The Celebrity Apprentice” returns on Sunday, February 12 (9-11 p.m. ET). “Dateline NBC” begins on Sundays (7-9 p.m. ET), on January 8. “Harry’s Law” moves to the 8-9 p.m. (ET) time period on March 4 and “Dateline NBC” will return to 7-8 p.m. (ET) on March 4.

The premieres of the new January-March program schedule follow in a grid (all times ET); new series are capitalized.

MONDAYS

8-10 p.m. — “The Voice” (season premiere Sunday, February 5; series resumes February 6)

10-11 p.m. – “SMASH” (beginning February 6)

TUESDAYS

8-10 p.m. — “The Biggest Loser” (beginning January 3)

10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood” (through February 28)

10-11 p.m. – “FASHION STAR” (beginning Tuesday, March 13, 9-11 p.m. ET with two-hour premiere; one-hour broadcasts resume March 20)

WEDNESDAYS

8-8:30 p.m. – “Whitney” (beginning January 11)

8:30-9 p.m. – “ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA?” (beginning January 11)

9-10 p.m. – “Rock Center with Brian Williams” (beginning February

10-11 p.m. – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

THURSDAYS

8-8:30 p.m. – “30 Rock” (beginning January 12)

8:30-9 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation”

9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”

9:30-10 p.m. – “Up All Night” (beginning January 12)

10-11 p.m. – “THE FIRM” (two-hour premiere Sunday January 8; Thursday time period premiere January 12)

FRIDAYS

8-9 p.m. – “Who Do You Think You Are?” (beginning February 3)

9-10 p.m. – “Grimm”

10-11 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”

SATURDAYS

8-9 p.m. – “Harry’s Law” (encore broadcasts)

9-10 — “THE FIRM” (encore broadcasts)

10-11 p.m. – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (encore broadcasts)

SUNDAYS

7-9 p.m. – “Dateline NBC” (beginning January

8-9 p.m. – “Harry’s Law” (beginning March 4)

9-11 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice” (beginning February 12)

Originally Posted by chowderhead (Post 11004585)

hmmm. Awake has gone on hiatus from production for 4 weeks ...
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment..._of_awake.html
WTF.
Bad sign it isn't even on the schedule considering how weak NBC is. I guess that leaves more room for Prime Suspect repeats.

Originally Posted by DJariya (Post 11004639)

It's been assumed that Awake will take over Parenthood's timeslot on Tuesday at 10pm since Parenthood got a shorter season order (18)

The last I read, Howard Gordon said Awake is on scheduled production-wise to air midseason without any problems. They are only shooting 12 episodes and have almost completed half their order.

Originally Posted by Al Padrino (Post 11004614)

I loved the first season of Community and thought it was the best offering of NBC's Thursday Night lineup that year. They resorted to themed episodes too frequently during Season 2, though, and I think it hurt the quality. It seems like they're easing up on that a bit in Season 3, but the series has been hit or miss for a while.

Originally Posted by Al Padrino (Post 11005061)

Surprised to see so many people identifying Community as the only NBC show they watch. Parks and Recreation is probably one of the best shows, comedy or otherwise, on television right now.

I agree we've probably already seen the apex of Community. I've always associated it with Arrested Development in how the writers regularly utilized spurts of rapid-fire banter that contained more punchlines than full episodes of most other sitcoms. That's a tough act to keep.

I think Community has a better shot now of attaining cult status in years to come rather than if NBC had let it continue its inevitable drop-off in quality with additional seasons.