Reba Sitcom ‘Happy’s Place’, Chicago Shows and Zachary Quinto’s ‘Brilliant Minds,’ Headline NBC 2024-25 Slate
Reba McEntire’s sitcom return and Zachary Quinto’s new medical drama “Brilliant Minds” are slated to debut during NBC‘s 2024-25 fall season alongside the network’s staples “Chicago” and “Law & Order” franchises.
In McEntire’s sitcom return, titled “Happy’s Place,” McEntire stars as Bobbi, a woman who inherits her father’s bar and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister (Belissa Escobedo) she never knew she had. “Happy’s Place” will start off Friday nights at 8 p.m. and will be followed by recently renewed “Lopez vs. Lopez,” which will debut its third season at 8:30 p.m. before “Dateline NBC” airs from 9-11 p.m.
Inspired by the true story, “Brilliant Minds” (formerly titled “Dr. Wolf”) follows the larger-than-life neurologist, Oliver Wolf, and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier — the human mind — while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health. The new drama series is slated to debut on Mondays at 10 p.m. following new episodes of “The Voice.”
Putting “Happy’s Place” and “Lopez vs. Lopez” together will create a “family comedy block,” according to Jeff Bader, NBCUniversal Entertainment programming planning and strategy president. With the Jon Cryer-led freshman sitcom “Extended Family” getting the axe earlier this week, Bader noted that stars McEntire and George Lopez work well together as “traditional family comedies.”
Medical mockumentary “St. Denis Medical,” which stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, Allison Tolman and David Alan Grier, will also launch this fall, kicking off Tuesday primetime at 8 p.m. The new series, which follows an understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity, will be followed by new episodes of “Night Court” Season 3 at 8:30 p.m. before “The Voice” airs at 9 p.m. and “The Irrational” Season 2 closes out the night at 10 p.m.
The “Chicago” franchise will hold down Wednesday nights, with “Chicago Med” airing at 8 p.m., “Chicago Fire” debuting at 9 p.m. and “Chicago P.D.” closing out the night at 10 p.m.
The same can be said for the “Law & Order” franchise on Thursdays, with “Law & Order” airing at 8 p.m. while “Law & Order: SVU” airs at 9 p.m. Except this time around the 10 p.m. slot will be filled by Shanola Hampton-led drama “Found” as “Law & Order: Organized Crime” moves to Peacock for its Season 5, which Bader attributed to the need for space on the NBC lineup to launch the sophomore drama.
“We can do a full schedule that has no new shows on it, but we really need to be future-thinking,” Bader said. “‘Organized Crime’ is a show that does exceptionally well on streaming — its delayed viewing is very impressive. It’s the perfect show to move to Peacock, which frees up the post ‘Law & Order: SVU’ time period, which is a great place to really get ‘Found’ established in its second season.”
In turn, moving “Found” to Thursday nights frees up the Monday 10 p.m. timeslot to launch “Brilliant Minds,” Bader noted.
While NBC confirmed new drama procedural “The Hunting Party,” which was ordered to series in late February, would be airing midseason in 2025, decisions for drama pilots “Grosse Pointe Garden Society” and “Suits: L.A.” have yet to be made as a part of NBC’s rolling development cycle. Bader revealed NBCUniversal executives would be screening the “Suits: L.A.” pilot in June and noted that should it receive a series order, it would be slated for “midseason next year.”
Also premiering midseason are Tom Hanks-hosted event series “The Americas,” which will debut on Feb. 23, as well as reality competition series “Destination X,” and “Deal or No Deal Island” Season 2, both of which will air in 2025.
The network will also celebrate the milestone 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live” with a live primetime special on Sunday, Feb. 16 from 8-11 p.m. ET. Steve Kern, NBC Entertainment programming planning and scheduling SVP, teased the “huge celebration” would be just like the star-studded 40th anniversary except “there will be 10 more years to draw from.”
“Like the 40th, it might be longer than three hours, we won’t know that until we get closer but there are also a lot of several programming specials that are being worked on that … [are] still being discussed,” Kern told TheWrap.
On Nov. 25, NBC will air a “Wicked” special, “Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked,” which will see stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — who will be joined by Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Jonathan Bailey — behind the scenes into the making of the musical.
For NBC’s full lineup for the 2024-25 fall season, see below:
Monday
- 8-10 p.m. — “The Voice”
- 10-11 p.m. — “Brilliant Minds” (new series)
Tuesday
- 8-8:30 p.m. — “St. Denis Medical” (new series)
- 8:30-9 p.m. — “Night Court” Season 3
- 9-10 p.m. — “The Voice”
- 10-11 p.m. — “The Irrational”
Wednesday
- 8-9 p.m. — “Chicago Med”
- 9-10 p.m. — “Chicago Fire”
- 10-11 p.m. — “Chicago P.D.”
Thursday
- 8-9 p.m. — “Law & Order”
- 9-10 p.m. — “Law & Order: SVU”
- 10-11 p.m. — “Found”
Friday
- 8-8:30 p.m. — “Happy’s Place” (new series)
- 8:30-9 p.m. — “Lopez vs. Lopez”
- 9-11 p.m. — “Dateline NBC”
Saturday
- 7-7:30 p.m. ET— Big Ten Pregame / Notre Dame Pregame (also live on Peacock)
- 7:30-11 p.m. ET— Big Ten Saturday Night / Notre Dame Football (also live on Peacock)
Sunday
- 7-8:20 p.m. ET— Football Night in America (also live on Peacock)
- 8:20-11 p.m. ET— NBC Sunday Night Football (also live on Peacock)
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