NBC had one of the hottest and most heartbreaking new series on television in the 2016-2017 TV season with This Is Us, which packed such an emotional punch each week that hiatus has been a time for recovery so far. That said, hiatus did have one major surprise for fans of This Is Us: a couple of weeks ago, NBC announced that This Is Us would be pushed back from Tuesdays to Thursdays in the primetime lineup. Now, NBC has reversed its decision. This Is Us will stick around its time slot when it returns for Season 2.
This Is Us aired on Tuesday nights during its first season, but NBC decided to push it back to Thursdays at 9 p.m. for the second season. Folks at the network have evidently thought better of that decision, and Deadline confirms that the show will be staying on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. in the valuable post-Voice time slot. It will air just before episodes of the new Law & Order true crime series that will explore the case of the Menendez murders.
The 9 p.m. block on Tuesdays was originally going to be filled by Superstore and The Good Place, with Chicago Fire to follow at 10 p.m. With the updates, Superstore, The Good Place, and Chicago Fire will all be shuffled to Thursday. The changes now have Superstore and The Good Place on in the 8 p.m. block, Will & Grace and Great News in the 9 p.m. block, and Chicago Fire at 10 p.m.
Given all the success that This Is Us scored for NBC on Tuesdays, the announcement that it was being pushed back to Thursdays came as a surprise. There's always the chance that a smash hit series could boost the shows that air before or after it, but there's also the chance that viewers wouldn't follow it to a new time slot. While the supersized renewal did mean that ratings could survive a dip in the second season, it still was something of a risk.
We can't say for sure exactly what went into NBC's decision to change the lineup yet again to return This Is Us to Tuesdays. At least now we won't have to wait all the way until Thursday to have our hearts broken each week. We'll be able to get that out of the way on Tuesdays. Considering that the NBC video designed to get us pumped for Season 2 already had some of us sniffling, I'm guessing the next batch of episodes will be just as emotional and heartbreaking as what we got in Season 1. We'll have to wait and see.
This Is Us will air on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC this fall. Our breakdown of what we know so far about Season 2 can point you in the right direction. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. If streaming is more your style, our Netflix premiere schedule will help you out.
