Friday, Nov. 19, 2010

NBC Thursdays all comedies, all night

In a break with both tradition and habit, NBC will schedule three hours of comedies on Thursday nights starting Jan. 20.

The new Thursday lineup will look like this: "Community" (8), "Perfect Couples" (8:30), "The Office" (9), "Parks and Recreation" (9:30), "30 Rock" (10) and "Outsourced" (10:30). ("The Apprentice" now on at 10 p.m., will complete its run by early December.)

NBC describes newcomer "Perfect Couples" as "the misadventures" of three couples trying to find the "ideal relationship." It stars Kyle Bornheimer ("Worst Week") and Olivia Munn ("The Daily Show").

While the move is unusual, it is not unprecedented. Half-hour comedies at 10 p.m. dominated the networks throughout the 1950s - in part because so many were adapted from radio - until they made way for one-hour dramas, which were considered better lead-ins for the 11 p.m. local news.

The 10 p.m. sitcom block returned, however briefly, in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Fox aired a pair of sitcoms on Sundays at 10. For the first month of the 1989-90 season, CBS programmed an all-comedy night on Mondays, with "Designing Women" and "Newhart" at 10 p.m.

In other programming changes, NBC said "The Event" will end its fall run on Nov. 29 and won't return until Feb. 28.

The new David E. Kelley legal drama "Harry's Law" debuts Mondays at 10 starting Jan. 17, with "Parenthood" moving to that slot in March. "Chase," which had been airing on Mondays, moves to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. in January.

"Law & Order: SVU" moves up to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays.