NBC Mid-Season 2013 Schedule: 1600 Penn Premieres January 10, Community Returns February 7; ABC Gives The Neighbors and Scandal Full-Season Orders

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

NBC Mid-Season 2013 Schedule: 1600 Penn Premieres January 10, Community Returns February 7; ABC Gives The Neighbors and Scandal Full-Season Orders

NBC has announced their 2013 primetime mid-season schedule. Three new series will be making their debuts. 1600 Penn, starring Bill Pullman and Jenna Elfman, is a comedy about a typical American family who just happen to live in the White House. It debuts on Thursday, January 10 at 9:30pm ET/PT. Deception (formerly Infamous) is an intriguing drama starring Meagan Good, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan and Katherine LaNasa. The dark family murder mystery premieres on Monday, January 7 at 10pm ET/PT. Ready for Love is an innovative and dramatic new relationship show about making real connections with executive producer Eva Longoria. It will debut on Sunday, March 31 at 8-10pm ET/PT. Returning favorites include The Biggest Loser, Betty White's Off Their Rockers, Smash, Community, The Celebrity Apprentice, Revolution and The Voice.

Mondays will have a new season of The Biggest Loser that will feature some innovative changes to the format and the return of trainer Jillian Michaels. It will return with a two-night premiere on Sunday, January 6 at 9-11pm ET/PT and Monday, January 7 at 8-10pm ET/PT. It will remain on Mondays until the return of The Voice on March 25. New drama Deception will follow The Biggest Loser at 10pm ET/PT. The fourth cycle of The Voice will debut on Monday, March 25 at 8-10pm ET/PT and Tuesday, March 26 at 8-9pm ET/PT. New coaches Usher and Shakira will be part of the show, which continues its two-night Monday/Tuesday schedule as it did this fall. Hit drama Revolution will return on March 25 at 10-11pm ET/PT. It will conclude its fall run in November, so that will be quite a long break for it.

Tuesdays will have the return of acclaimed musical drama Smash with a two-hour episode featuring Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson on February 5 at 9-11pm ET/PT. It will move February 12 to its regular day and time of 10-11pm ET/PT. A new season Betty White's Off Their Rockers will premiere on January 8 with back-to-back episodes at 8:00pm and 8:30pm ET/PT. Two episodes will air in that hour each week. The Voice will take that timeslot beginning March 26.

No changes for Wednesdays have been announced. As we previously mentioned, Whitney takes over for the canceled Animal Practice on November 14 at 8pm ET/PT. It will be followed by Guys with Kids, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Chicago Fire.

Moving on, Thursdays will have the premiere of the new White House comedy 1600 Penn on January 10 at 9:30pm ET/PT. It comes from co-creator and director Jason Winer, who is an Emmy-winning director of Modern Family. Critical favorite Community returns to its former timeslot of 8:00pm ET/PT on February 7. Parks and Recreation will be moving up one hour to 8:30PM ET/PT on January 17. As we mentioned yesterday, Up All Night is going on a winter break and will be switching to a multi-camera format for its final five episodes of the season. It will return in April/May.

Fridays and Saturdays have no schedule changes announced at the moment. Sundays will have the new relationship series Ready for Love from Eva Longoria. It will premiere on Sunday, March 31 at 8-10pm ET/PT. An "All-Star" edition of The Celebrity Apprentice will debut on March 3 at 9-11pm ET/PT. It will air for two hours for four weeks before shifting to one-hour episodes beginining March 31 at 10-11pm ET/PT.

Several shows will be wrapping up soon. 30 Rock will conclude its 13-episode season with an one-hour series finale. Parenthood is finishing its 15-episode season in January. Premiere dates haven't been announced for the Anne Heche comedy Save Me or the dramas Do No Harm and Hannibal. Stay with us for any updates.

What do you think of NBC's mid-season schedule? Discuss it on our message board.

The Neighbors

ABC has given a full-season order to its freshman comedy The Neighbors. The series about a human family living in a neighborhood of aliens has performed decently in the ratings. It has been pretty consistent in its Wednesday timeslot by averaging 6.8 million viewers and beating NBC's new comedy Guys with Kids. Not surprisingly, it does well in the kids 2-11 and teens 12-17 demos.

Sophomore drama Scandal has been picked up for its first full season. The Shonda Rhimes political thriller starring Kerry Washington is doing solid ratings on Thursday nights at 10pm ET/PT. It averages around 8.1 million viewers and a 2.5 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo. DVR use boosts it 45 percent. ABC hasn't announced anything about Nashville, Last Resort or 666 Park Avenue yet. More scripts for Last Resort and 666 Park Avenue have recently been ordered. We'll keep you posted.

Look for our review of the pilot episode of Reba McEntire's Malibu Country tomorrow. It premieres on Friday at 8:30pm ET/PT on ABC.