Upfronts Week — NBC

It's Upfronts Week! Each May, as one broadcast season ends, the major networks — NBC, FOX, ABC, CBS, and The CW — present their new fall schedules to the world. This includes changed time slots, new series, and what's been cancelled. Each day this week I'll be taking a look at the new schedules as they're released.

NBC:

Best schedule move: For years NBC was known for its comedies. It hasn't been recently, but when people think of Thursday nights they still think of comedy on NBC. It wasn't there last year, as NBC tried to launch new series around "The Blacklist" on that night, with poor results. RIP "Heroes: Reborn," "You, Me, and The Apocalypse," and "The Player." But with this schedule, comedy is back on Thursdays with "Superstore," a surprise hit from 2015, and "The Good Place" kick starting the night. They moved Chicago Med, which has relatively stable ratings, to the 9 p.m. slot and moved "The Blacklist" back to 10 p.m., where I think it has a chance to improve on last year's numbers.

Most Curious Scheduling Move: On the other hand, NBC moved "Blindspot" to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. First off, "Blindspot" isn't really an 8 p.m. show. Second, that time slot has been death for NBC. So moving "Blindspot," one of the few rookie shows to be renewed, to that time slot seems like a curious decision. But NBC had few options if it wants to use "The Voice" to launch all its new shows.

Most Promising New Show for Fall: The Peacock is only offering three new series this fall — with many more coming after Football season in January. But the best of the three in my opinion is "Timeless," which moves in on Mondays at 10 p.m. The series centers on a soldier, historian, and scientist who are sent back in time to stop someone from altering the history of the world. It sounds like an engaging premise, I liked the trailer, and I like the cast — which includes Abigail Spencer and Matt Lanter. It could be the kind of show that has an awesome pilot and falls off after that, but I'm intrigued.

Least Promising New Show for Fall: This is also tough because all three had decent trailers and could be interesting. But I'm going with "This Is Us" here. This is for a couple reasons: first, the trailer seemed like a decent movie but how does it work as a serious; two the connection between the stories — they're all turning 36 — seems tenuous; and third, I didn't care for "Crazy, Stupid, Love." The people that made that movie are making this show, and that makes me nervous. I could see this falling apart quickly.

NBC Schedule:

Mondays:

8-10 p.m. — The Voice

10 p.m. — Timeless (NEW)

Tuesdays:

8 p.m. — The Voice

9 p.m. — This Is Us (NEW)

10 p.m. — Chicago Fire

Wednesdays:

8 p.m. — Blindspot

9 p.m. — Law & Order: SVU

10 p.m. — Chicago PD

Thursdays:

8 p.m. — Superstore

8:30 p.m. — The Good Place (NEW)

9 p.m. — Chicago Med

10 p.m. — The Blacklist

Fridays:

8 p.m. — Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon

9 p.m. — Grimm

10 p.m. — Dateline NBC

Sundays:

Football Night In America/Sunday Night Football