New shows coming to NBC and Peacock, including a Kevin Hart 1970s crime drama and an extra NFL game
NBC acquired an additional NFL regular season game on the Saturday before Christmas. It'll also stream on Peacock.
![Philly native Kevin Hart will star in Peacock's "Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist," based on the true story of an armed robbery during Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight.](https://www.inquirer.com/resizer/2hEGUTrukzGr23mFJWD2piLvkEY=/760x507/smart/filters:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/FM6RK62Q2BDLVF7M4MRAIB4YIU.jpg)
NBCUniversal held its annual upfront presentation to advertisers Monday, when Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon asked the most pertinent question: “Why are we here?”
To woo advertisers, mostly, especially as spending shifts from traditional television shows to streaming platforms. But NBC also previewed its upcoming shows and events, which includes the 2024 Paris Olympics hosted by Mike Tirico, which begin July 26. Tirico was joined on stage Monday by Snoop Dogg, who will be part of NBC’s Olympics coverage, along with Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson and Philly native Kevin Hart.
“What has happened to my career?” Tirico joked.
Sunday Night Football — the most popular show on TV for 13 straight years — is back on NBC for the 19th season, and will kickoff Sept. 5 with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of last year’s AFC championship game. Tirico is back for his third season as the main play-by-play voice, and returning alongside him in the booth will be veteran analyst Cris Collinsworth. Melissa Stark will return as sideline reporter, as will rules analyst Terry McAulay, who was kept busy with a number of controversial calls last season.
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NBC will also stream NFL games on Peacock, its subscription service, which is getting a price increase on July 18 to $7.99 for the basic package and $13.99 for its premium tier without commercials (except live events).
The Eagles will start their season on Peacock on Sept. 6, when they take on the Green Bay Packers at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It’s the first time the NFL has scheduled an opening weekend game on Friday night in more than 50 years, and the game will also air locally in Philadelphia on NBC10.
After their upfront presentation, NBC announced it acquired an extra regular-season NFL game on Saturday, Dec. 21, meaning the network will broadcast two Week 16 games the weekend before Christmas. Terms of the deal were not announced. Last year, NBC broadcast two games the Saturday before Christmas, streaming one exclusively on Peacock.
The NFL will announce the full slate of Sunday Night Football games Wednesday at 8 p.m. on the NFL Network, though some games could leak out before then. The Eagles played in two Sunday night games last season.
Peacock originals include Kevin Hart true crime drama and third season of ‘Bel-Air’
Hart showed up to NBC’s upfront to showcase a preview of Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, based on the true story of an armed robbery during Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight.
Joining Hart is a star-studded cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle, and Taraji P. Henson. The show is based on the hit podcast by Will Packer, who is executive producing the limited series alongside Hart. Fight Night is scheduled to premiere in December.
Amanda Seyfried was also on hand to promote the Philly-based crime drama Long Bright River, a new limited series where she plays a police officer patrolling a neighborhood hard-hit by the opioid crisis.
Bel-Air star Jabari Banks announced a third season of the Peacock drama, a reimagined version of Will Smith’s beloved sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, will debut this summer.
Other shows slated to launch on Peacock are the horror thriller Teacup from Saw co-creator James Wan and Laid, a romantic comedy starring Everything, Everywhere, All at Once’s Stephanie Hsu. There’s also the Roman gladiator drama Those About To Die from Independence Day director Roland Emmerich and a remake of The Day of the Jackal starring Eddie Redmayne.
“Peacock continues to prove that the easiest way to make a billion dollars is to spend eight,” Late Night host Seth Meyers joked.
NBC launching two new comedies and a medical drama
As far as NBC’s TV slate, Law & Order: SVU and all the Wednesday night Chicago shows will be back, but there will also be a handful of new series.
Country music star Reba McEntire will make her sitcom return in Happy’s Place, a new Friday-night comedy about a woman who inherits her father’s bar and is forced to partner with the half-sister (played by Blue Beetle’s Belissa Escobedo) she never knew she had.
The Goldberg’s Wendi McClendon-Covey is teaming up with David Alan Grier and Allison Tolman for an Office-style mockumentary called St. Denis Medical, which takes place in an underfunded Oregon hospital. NBC ordered the show last year from Superstore creator Justin Spitzer and Eric Legion, but production was delayed due to the Hollywood strikes.
NBC’s other big launch is Brilliant Minds, a new medical drama staring Zachary Quinto based on the work of neurologist and author Oliver Sacks. Brilliant Minds will air at 10 p.m. on Mondays after The Voice, which will be entering its 26th season with Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé. The less written about Bublé attempting to rap during NBC’s upfront presentation, the better.
One notable omission is the upcoming spin-off of Suits, which was the most-streamed show last year on Netflix and Peacock, according to Nielsen numbers. Suits: L.A. isn’t slated to air its first episode until 2025, according to NBCUniversal executive Jeff Bader.
NBC’s fall 2024 prime time lineup
Mondays
8 p.m.: The Voice
10 p.m.: Brilliant Minds
Tuesdays
8 p.m.: St. Denis Medical
8:30 p.m.: Night Court
9 p.m.: The Voice
10 p.m.: The Irrational
Wednesdays
8 p.m.: Chicago Med
9 p.m.: Chicago Fire
10 p.m.: Chicago P.D.
Thursdays
8 p.m.: Law & Order
9 p.m.: Law & Order: SVU
10 p.m.: Found
Fridays
8 p.m.: Happy’s Place
8:30 p.m.: Lopez vs. Lopez
9 p.m.: Dateline NBC
Saturdays
7 p.m.: Big Ten pregame or Notre Dame pregame
7:30 p.m.: Big Ten Saturday Night or Notre Dame football
Sundays
7 p.m.: Football Night in America
8:20 p.m.: Sunday Night Football