NBC Stacks Schedule with Comedies

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LOS ANGELES: Go On, The New Normal, Guys with Kids and 1600 Penn are among the comedies lined up for NBC, which has slated The Voice to return this fall in its third season.

The Voice returns Mondays at 8 p.m., with an additional weekly hour on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Following The Voice on Mondays will be Revolution, a new thriller from J.J. Abrams, Eric Kripke and director Jon Favreau.

After The Voice‘s Tuesday episode, NBC has given the 9 p.m. slot to Go On, starring Matthew Perry (Friends). Rounding out the Tuesday lineup are The New Normal, from Glee creator Ryan Murphy, and the return of Parenthood.

Wednesday nights kick off with the freshman comedy Animal Practice, which stars Justin Kirk (Weeds) as a veterinarian with an unorthodox style, at 8 p.m. Guys with Kids, a comedy from Jimmy Fallon about three 30-something dads, follows at 8:30 p.m. The rest of the evening is filled with drama, with Law & Order: SVU returning at 9 p.m. and the freshman series Chicago Fire, from Emmy-winning producer Dick Wolf, at 10 p.m.

Back-to-back comedies make up NBC’s Thursday night lineup. 30 Rock, Up All Night, The Office, Parks and Recreation and Rock Center with Brian Williams are all returning to the gird.

Friday features the returning shows Whitney, Community, Grimm and Dateline NBC. Saturdays will be encore programming. Sundays in the fall are packed with Football programming. Post-football, for the winter 2013 lineup, NBC is bringing back Fashion Star and Celebrity Apprentice. The 10 p.m. hour is occupied by Do Not Harm, from executive producer/writer David Schulner (Desperate Housewives, The Event).

For midseason, comedy additions include Save Me, starring Anne Heche (Hung); 1600 Penn, set in the White House; and Next Caller, which stars Dane Cook as a foulmouthed satellite radio DJ sharing the mic with a chipper NPR feminist. Dramas slated for midseason are Infamous, about a wealthy party girl who is found dead and the detective who must uncover the dark secrets tied to it, and Hannibal, from Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daises) and based on the characters from Thomas Harris’s classic novels.

There are also new alternative series, including Stars Earn Stripes, Howie Mandel’s White Elephant, Ready for Love and Surprise with Jenny McCarthy. Stars Earn Stripes features celebrities being put through complicated missions inspired by real military exercises. Howie Mandel’s White Elephant is a game show in which contestants select a box from a studio full of unmarked packages. They show the contents to the others, and the next player must decide whether they want to take another unopened box or steal the prize from another player. Ready for Love is a dating show from Eva Longoria that will be hosted by Bill and Giuliana Rancic. Surprise with Jenny McCarthy is a variety show that gives people surprises of a lifetime.

Robert Greenblatt, the chairman of NBC Entertainment, said 

"We’ve taken a few first steps toward a turnaround over this past season and now we’re seeing a real opportunity to accelerate that process. We’ve got a lineup of new shows that will really get people to sit up and take notice. And with the Olympics coming this summer and two nights of The Voice in the fall, we’ve also got the tools we need to give our shows the kind of launch they deserve."