Upfronts Week — NBC

This is Upfronts week, the week when all the major networks unveil their fall schedules. Each day during the week I'll be taking a look at each network's new fall offerings and giving some cursory thoughts. Of course, we'll have months to parse the new an returning shows, and the lineup choices, once the fall season begins in September.

Network: NBC

Most Interesting Scheduling Decision: For years NBC's mark has been its Must-See TV comedy lineup on Thursday nights. It's a proud tradition that reaches back in the 1980s. For a long time NBC's best and brightest shows have been on Thursdays. But that hasn't been the case now for quite some time. NBC has tried over the last decade to rebrand the night, and to find shows that find an audience. Last year's new crop of shows was built around a last ditch attempt to revitalize Thursdays as an NBC comedy night. It failed. This year, NBC has moved on. "The Biggest Loser" will open Thursdays at 8 p.m., and though a couple new sitcoms will get a run at the 9 p.m. slot in the fall — during which time when CBS will be airing the ratings behemoth known as the NFL — NBC is giving the prime slot to "The Blacklist" come February. "The Blacklist" was not only the most successful new show on NBC last year, it was the most successful new show. Moving it to 9 p.m. on Thursdays is a bold move. It will battle "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC (unless they shake up their schedule) and, most likely, a comedy block on CBS. This not only marks a departure from NBC's past, it might just be a bold stroke to help boost a flagging night's ratings.

Most Promising New Show: NBC is debuting three dramas and three comedies in the fall. None of them blow me away, but none of them looks completely unwatchable. That might be progress. As for the most promising, I'm going to go with the best bit of programming. NBC has something going on Friday nights with it's darker fantasy shows. I didn't like "Dracula" last fall, but I liked the idea. And with "Hannibal" returning for the winter and spring, it seems like "Constantine" is the right kind of idea for the 10 p.m. slot in the fall. The show has a built in audience from the Comic books, and it has a sort of "Supernatural" vibe. "Supernatural" has been a steady performer for a decade for the CW, and "Constantine" looks to pair nicely with "Grimm," one of NBC's most solid perfumers, in the fall.

Least Promising New Show: Again, I didn't hate any of their new show pilots. But the toughest sell looks to be "The Mysteries of Laura." It's at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, so it's not a prime slot. And it doesn't look like that original of a show or that original of a premise. It's a tough lady cop who's also trying to work wonders as a single mom. Yawn. Debra Messing is a decent performer, but I like her better in comedy than drama. I didn't get much from the trailer, either. Hard to tell what kind of a show this will be, but it feels like the kind of show NBC has tried, and canceled, every year for the past decade.

Lineup:

Monday nights:
8 to 10 p.m. — "The Voice"
10 p.m. — "The Blacklist" ("State of Affairs" Nov. 17)

Tuesday nights:
8 p.m. — "The Voice"
9 p.m. — "Marry Me"
9:30 p.m. — "About A Boy"
10 p.m. — "Chicago Fire"

Wednesday nights:
8 p.m. — "The Mysteries of Laura"
9 p.m. — "Law & Order: SVU"
10 p.m. — "Chicago PD"

Thursday nights:
8 p.m. — "The Biggest Loser"
9 p.m. — "Bad Judge" ("The Blacklist" Feb. 5)
9:30 p.m. — "A to Z"
10 p.m. — "Parenthood"

Friday nights:
8 p.m. — "Dateline"
9 p.m. — "Grimm"
10 p.m. — "Constantine"

Sunday nights:
7 p.m. — "Football Night in America"
8:30 p.m. — "Sunday Night Football"