NBC to Premiere Fall Series DURING Olympics

[Mark Jeffries]

Generally, it's been that the Games blow out the entire NBC schedule except for "Today," "Nightly News," "Meet the Press," the E/I kiddie shows and Big Jaw's monologue, but NBC will premiere the new Matthew Perry sitcom "Go On" following coverage on Aug. 8 and the new "House the Vet" sitcom "Animal Practice" (Jimmy Kimmel:  "Spinning chairs and a monkey--we are truly in the new golden age of television") on Aug. 12 following the closing ceremonies--both will air commercial-free (other NBC premiere dates listed in link):

 

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/nbc-announces-fall-premieres-will-debut-shows-during-olympics-44206

 

And the night after the conclusion of the Games, NBC will premiere a new reality comp called "Stars Earn Stripes," which from the title sounds like an update of "Battle of the Network Stars."

[PGage]

Without commenting on the quality of the new shows, I think this is an excellent strategy by NBC - if anything one wonders why they are not rolling out a few more shows during that last week of the Olympics (promo the hell out of them during week 1, then start them week 2). Most of the big ticket events will be on tape delay anyway, so it seems like they could either start them an hour early a few nights, or cut out an hour's worth of crap, and premier a show at 10:00 (or, even more boldly, take an hour break from the gymnastics finals and who the season premier of Smash or something at 9:00, then go to the last drama-filled 90 minutes of the balance beam at 10:00.

NBC really needs a game-changer, and the Olympics seem to be their best shot at it. They must be a bit bummed that the best they have to offer is the Animal Doctor show.

[Bob in Jersey]

And "Go On" adds John "Harold of Harold and Kumar" Cho as the station manager... TVLine



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BOB