NBC Reveals New Programming During Upfront Presentation
As I wrote about in yesterday’s newsletter, NBC will add four new series to it’s upcoming primetime lineup: the reboot of The Rockford Files, Line Of Fire, Newlyweds, and Sunset P.I. NBC is also adding its own version of The Traitors.
Here is a look at NBC’s 2026-2027 primetime schedule:
Monday (September & October):
8-10 p.m. The Voice
10-11 p.m. Line Of Fire
Monday (November):
8-8:30 p.m. St. Denis Medical
8:30-9 p.m. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
9-10 p.m. The Voice
10-11 p.m. Line Of Fire
Tuesday:
8-11 p.m. NBA
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. The Traitors
9-10 p.m. Law & Order: SVU
10-11 p.m. Law & Order
Friday:
8-8:30- p.m. Happy’s Place
8:30-9 p.m. Newlyweds
9-11 p.m. Dateline NBC
On the special events front, NBC announced it will celebrate its 100th anniversary on December 10th with a live three-hour variety special from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Also, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will air on Thursday, November 26th and the 78th Annual Emmy Awards will premiere Monday, September 14th from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Bravo Announces Two New Shows, Renews Most Of Current Schedule
Bravo has ordered two new series, Vanderpump Rules: Lisa Las Vegas and Secrets, Lies, Texas Wives.
Bravo has also ordered season renewals of many of its current schedule, including The Real Housewives of Rhode Island (season two), The Valley: Persian Style (season two), Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition (season two), Below Deck Down Under (season five), Married to Medicine (season thirteen), Southern Charm (season twelve), Summer House (season eleven), The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (season seven), Top Chef (season twenty-four), along with previously announced seasons of Below Deck (season thirteen), The Real Housewives of Potomac (season eleven), The Real Housewives of New York City (season sixteen), The Real Housewives of New Jersey (season fifteen), and Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (season twenty-four).
And as previously announced, Jeff Lewis returns to Bravo with Still Flipping Out, set to premiere later in 2026.
Tweet of the day
Fox Makes Huge Bet On Unscripted Programming
Fox held its Upfront presentation Monday and while some of the news had previously been unofficially announced, the event formalized the network’s huge bet on unscripted programming.
Fox renewed the following unscripted series for additional seasons: Beat Shazam (Season Eight), Celebrity Name That Tune (Season Six), Celebrity Weakest Link (Season Two), Crime Scene Kitchen (Season Four), Don't Forget The Lyrics (Season Four), Extracted (Season Three), Fear Factor: House of Fear (Season Two), The Floor (Seasons Six and Seven), Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service (Season Two), Hell's Kitchen (Seasons 25 and 26), Kitchen Nightmares (Season Three), LEGO Masters (Season Six), The Masked Singer (Season 15), Next Level Baker (Seasons Two and Three), Next Level Chef (Season Six), 99 to Beat (Season Two), and Special Forces: World's Toughest Test (Season Five).
The network also gave a series order to the new unscripted series Marriage Market, which will premiere in 2027. Here is the official logline for that series: "Hosted by actress, comedian and podcaster Whitney Cummings, the series welcomes singles – who are officially over swiping, ghosting and endless first dates — into an actual Marriage Market, where they’re up for trying something radical…putting their love lives in the hands of family members that know them best and risking it all for one shot at forever – in an arranged marriage."
"Marriage Market is a one-of-a-kind, immersive matchmaking experience where families come together with one goal in mind: helping their single family member find a meaningful, lasting match. Inside this vibrant, real-world setting, families meet, connect and advocate for their loved one as they search for a perfect partner. The rules are simple. When two families believe they’ve found a match, their singles are introduced and engaged on the spot – with the ultimate goal of making it to the altar. From there, the couples and their families move in together, navigating real-life compatibility, big personalities and even bigger expectations. At any point, each of the newly matched singles’ families can decide they’ve found them “the one,” or send their single loved one back into the Marriage Market for another chance at finding them love."
Fox also has two new dramas premiering during the upcoming 2026-2027 primetime season. Baywatch is a reboot of the iconic David Hasselhoff series and it stars Stephen Arnell, Jessica Belkin and David Chokachi will reprise his original series character of "Cody Madison."
The Interrogator is an espionage thriller written and executive produced by Stephen Fry. Here is that official logline: "Set in Washington, D.C., The Interrogator centers on former MI6 agent Conrad Henry (Fry) and his handpicked team of brilliant outsiders. When conventional methods have failed, Henry’s quirky charm, superior intellect and mind-bending behavioral maneuvers make him the only man able to lockpick the minds of the world’s most dangerous criminals. Lisa Ann Murrow (Jenna Elfman) oversees Henry’s cases. Once a rising star within the CIA, her career was derailed after a mission went wrong, leading her to the D.I.A., where she now serves as handler for Henry’s team. Though she challenges him and the two often clash, Conrad is always seven steps ahead while Woodrow is rarely more than five steps ahead.
On the live sports front, Fox also announced that James Corden will be hosting a World Cup after series entitled After Hours With James Corden.
Here is a look at the 2026-2027 primetime schedule:
(All Times ET/PT)
Monday:
8:00-9:00 PM Celebrity Name That Tune
9:00-10:00 PM Celebrity Weakest Link
Tuesday:
8:00-9:00 PM Best Medicine
9:00-10:00 PM Doc
Wednesday:
8:00-9:00 PM The Floor
9:00-10:00 PM 99 To Beat
Thursday:
8:00-9:00 PM Hell's Kitchen
9:00-10:00 PM Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test
Friday:
8:00 PM ET FOX College Football Friday
Saturday:
7:00 PM ET Fox Sports Saturday
Sunday:
7:00-7:30 PM NFL On Fox
7:00-8:00 PM The OT/FOX Animation Encores
8:00-8:30 PM The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 PM Animal Control
9:00-9:30 PM Universal Basic Guys
9:30-10:00 PM Grimsburg
Fox's midseason slate will include the dramas Baywatch, The Interrogator, Memory of a Killer and Murder in a Small Town. And the comedies: American Dad!, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy and Krapopolis. The unscripted shows include: Crime Scene Kitchen, Don’t Forget The Lyrics, Extracted, Fear Factor: House of Fear, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service, LEGO Masters, The Masked Singer, MasterChef, Next Level Chef.
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Versant’s First Upfront Presentation Includes Multiple New True Crime Shows
Versant, which is the new company comprised of linear TV channels spun-off by Comcast, held its upfront presentation Monday as part of NBC’s presentation. That is because Versant’s ad sales is still being handled by NBC.
Oxygen True Crime has greenlit the new series Killer DNA with Maury Povich and Snapped: Rich Bitch Rampage, hosted by Lisa Vanderpump. The network has also picked up new seasons of hit series Killer Grannies hosted by June Squibb, Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler and The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher. The special The Hooters Murders: Deadly Shift will also premiere in 2026.
SYFY announced that season three of The Ark will premiere on Wednesday, July 29th.
E! will be the home of The People's Choice Awards, along with the Critics Choice Awards and continued Live from E! red carpet coverage. The network also greenlit the new reality competition series Cocktail Wars hosted by Lance Bass and Joey Fatone. The new unscripted series The Golden Life will premiere this fall.
USA Network has announced that new scripted original series Anna Pigeon will premiere on Friday, August 7th. And season two of The Rainmaker will premiere this fall.
While the various Versant networks have ordered some new programming, execs are looking to live sports to bring in viewers.
Under the brand USA Sports - which includes live sports airing on USA and the Golf Channel, events include 50-plus WNBA games in 2026 on the USA Network including the WNBA Finals. Upcoming coverage across USA Sports platforms includes the NASCAR Cup Series, WWE Smackdown on Fridays, Premier League, Pac-12 college football and basketball, Atlantic 10 basketball, major championship golf on USA Network, weekly PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour coverage on Golf Channel, and more.
The Golf Channel will bring back another edition of the Optum Golf Channel Games – the network's rapid-fire golf competition - later this year and has announced the return of the reality competition series Big Break debuts this August.
Odds & Sods
Byron Allen’s Allen Family Digital will pay $120 million for a 52 percent stake in BuzzFeed, the companies said on Monday. Mr. Allen will become chief executive and chairman of BuzzFeed, replacing Jonah Peretti, the company's founder, who will become president of artificial intelligence.
Jimmy Kimmel confirmed Monday that ABC will not air a new episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the night of Stephen Colbert’s final Late Show broadcast over at CBS.
When Hope Calls: Brookfield has been renewed for a fourth season by Great American Family.
OWN has ordered a 30-episode season twelve of Love & Marriage: Huntsville.
This is a great new piece in Wired: “For screenwriters like me—and job seekers all over—AI gig work is the new waiting tables. In eight months, I’ve done 20 of these soul-crushing contracts for five different platforms. It's bad.”
Ride or Die, starring and executive produced by Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham, premieres Wednesday, July 15th on Prime Video. Here is the official logline: "The series follows best friends Debbie Claybourne (Octavia Spencer) and Judith Burton (Hannah Waddingham) who thought they knew everything about each other, except Judith turns out to be an international assassin. When a mysterious figure emerges from Judith’s past and a hit goes horribly wrong, both of their worlds are turned upside down as they’re forced to go on the run together. It’s a race against time and a road trip across Europe, with law enforcement, highly trained assassins, and some very dangerous criminals at their heels"
Sean Duffy’s return to reality TV brings ethical problems
Before he was the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy appeared in two MTV reality shows in the late 1990s. And now he is returning to his television roots, with The Great American Road Trip, a five-part reality series set to air on YouTube in “celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.” The series follows Duffy as he travels across the country with his wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, and their nine children.
Duffy told Fox & Friends that he had spent parts of seven months on the road trip at the same time he was not only dealing with multiple travel accidents, but also spending six months as the head of NASA.
But as NBC News reports, there are also concerns about the show being funded by some of the same companies that Duffy oversees as Transportation Secretary:
Duffy said on social media that all of the show’s production costs were covered by a nonprofit group, The Great American Road Trip Inc. — not taxpayers — and that neither he nor his family received a salary or production royalties. Sizemore said that covered costs included gas, car rentals, lodging and activities and that taxpayer funds were used only for official government travel.
Critics also raised conflict-of-interest concerns: Several of the show’s sponsors — including Boeing, Toyota, Shell, Royal Caribbean Group and United Airlines — are companies that Duffy’s department oversees and regulates. (Comcast/NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, is also listed as one of its sponsors.)
We frequently hear this disclaimer/excuse being used by Trump Administration officials - that it's okay because some event or action is privately funded and not paid for with government funds.
I would make the argument that at least with government funds, we have some visibility on the spending and don't have to worry about possible corruption issues.
And just from a PR point of view, I’m not convinced that a show encouraging Americans to take long road trips at the same time gas prices continue to rise is the best messaging.
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
MONDAY, MAY 11TH:
BBQ Brawl Season Premiere (Food)
Everybody Is Doing Great (Netflix)
I Literally Just Told You (Bribox)
Pop Culture Jeopardy Season Premiere (Netflix)
Regular Show: The Lost Tapes Series Premiere (Adult Swim)
The Great American Baking Show (The Roku Channel)
The Island (An t-Eilean) (Acorn TV)
Tucci In Italy (NatGeo)
TUESDAY, MAY 12TH:
Chopped Castaways Series Premiere (Food)
Devil May Cry (Netflix)
Homestead Rescue Season Premiere (Discovery)
Marty, Life Is Short (Netflix)
Neighborhood Wars Season Premiere (A&E)
Squatters Series Premiere (A&E)
S10 (Viaplay)
The Mystery Of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special (ABC)
The Punisher: One Last Kill (Disney+)
Untold UK (Netflix)
U.S. Against The World: Four Years With the Men’s National Soccer Team (HBO Max)
Zatima Season Premiere (Paramount+)