NBC just announced its post-Olympics prime time schedule, and dramas are back at 10 p.m. ET! (Yay!)
And that makes room for Friday Night Lights. (Double yay!)
But one of the new 10 p.m. arrivals is a reality show. (Back to single yay.)
Here's what we'll be seeing at 10 p.m. ET in place of The Jay Leno Show, starting the week of March 1 --
Monday - Law & Order (premiere runs 9-11 p.m. ET)
Tuesday - Parenthood, movie spinoff drama with Lauren Graham and Peter Krause [photo at top]
Wednesday - Law & Order: SVU
Thursday - The Marriage Ref, "comedy panel series" from Jerry Seinfeld
Friday - Dateline NBC (runs 9-11 p.m. ET weekly)
Prime time's two earlier hours see shuffles of their own. Among the highlights:
Friday Night Lights is back Friday at 8 ET on April 30
Trauma returns to the lineup Monday at 9 ET on March 8
Through all this, Chuck stays put (Monday at 8 ET), and Mercy stays put (Wednesday at 8 ET).
Two more unscripted series also will debut. Who Do You Think You Are? (March 5, Friday at 8 ET) explores the family histories of celebs like Sarah Jessica Parker, Spike Lee and Susan Sarandon, adapted from a BBC series, produced by Lisa Kudrow, with "official partner" (read: product placement) Ancestry.com. And Minute to Win It (March 14, Sunday at 8 ET) has spike-haired Food Network guru Guy Fieri hosting timed challenges using ordinary household items.
So, below you'll find NBC's March full schedule after the Vancouver Olympic games end Sunday, Feb. 28. There's way too much L&O. (But that's better than way too much prime-time Jay Leno.) And fans of NBC's powerhouse Thursday-at-10 dramas over the past three decades -- from Hill Street Blues to L.A. Law to ER -- may be dismayed to see The Marriage Ref now filling this key hour.
But NBC was left scrambling by too many self-inflicted wounds -- a scarcity of scripted development and other bonehead decisions like pulling the production plug on an ordered second season of Southland.
Considering everything, this should be considered a stopgap lineup:
MONDAYS
8 p.m. - Chuck
9 p.m. - Trauma (begins March 8)
10 p.m. - Law & Order (returns March 1 at 9-11 p.m. ET; thereafter 10 p.m. ET)
TUESDAYS
8 p.m. - The Biggest Loser
10 p.m. - Parenthood (March 2)
WEDNESDAYS
8 p.m. - Mercy
9 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (encores starting March 3)
10 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (originals starting March 3)
THURSDAYS
8 p.m. - Community
8:30 p.m. - Parks and Recreation
9 p.m. - The Office
9:30-10 p.m. - 30 Rock
10 p.m. - The Marriage Ref (starts March 4; previews Feb. 28)
FRIDAYS
8 p.m. - Who Do Think You Are? (premieres March 5; Friday Night Lights returns April 30)
9 p.m. - Dateline NBC (begins March 5)
SATURDAYS (starting March 6)
8 p.m. - The Biggest Loser (encore)
9 p.m. - Law & Order (encore)
10 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (encore)
SUNDAYS (starting March 14)
7 p.m. - Dateline NBC
8 p.m. - Minute to Win It (premieres March 14)
9 p.m. - The Celebrity Apprentice (season premiere March 14)