NBC is betting big on the civilian season of “The Traitors” and Peter Krause’s return to network TV to anchor its 2026-27 fall TV lineup.
Like Peacock’s “The Traitors,” the civilian iteration of the show will air new episodes on Thursdays on NBC ahead of the “Law & Order” shows, marking a steep contrast from the crime dramas that have typically populated Thursday primetime. It’s a worthy bet for the network though, with NBC program planning strategy president Jeff Bader telling press, “It’s a hit— it would be a hit on any platform — [with] the size of the audience that it has.”
Putting “The Traitors” in the 8 p.m. hour was a priority for the network, per Bader, though there were limited openings due to sports and the “One Chicago” block, leaving Thursday as the opportune time. “It will be fantastic to have a show to really jumpstart that night,” Bader said. “‘Traitors’ should be broad. It should be male and female. It should hit the target for us.”
After “The Traitors” on Thursdays will come “Law & Order” SVU” and the flagship “Law & Order,” which received a later renewal than its peers. NBC and Peacock president of scripted content Lisa Katz attributed the late renewal to the planning behind the lineup as they welcomed “The Traitors” to Thursday. “It was just trying to put all the pieces and figure out how many episodes and when they would come,” Katz said. “But we’re very excited to have it back.”
After greenlighting four of the eight pilots NBC ordered this season, the network is spacing out its new series debuts. The Krause-led “Line of Fire” and “Newlyweds,” a romantic comedy headlined by Téa Leoni and Tim Daly, will premiere this fall while buzzy new shows “Rockford Files” and “Sunset P.I.” will hold for midseason.
“Line of Fire,” which brings Krause back to the network after starring in eight seasons of “9-1-1,” will debut Mondays at 10 p.m. after “The Voice” at the start of the fall, which will shorten its two-hour slot to one-hour by November, when comedies “St. Denis Medical” and “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” return. “Newlyweds” will air Fridays at 8:30 after Reba’s “Happy’s Place.”
The four shows were selected from five drama pilots and three comedy pilots, including a buddy comedy with Katey Sagal and Jane Lynch, and several other crime procedurals.
“We have a very tight schedule, and we had very specific time periods that we were addressing with our schedule,” Bader said. “It was fantastic this year to actually have pilots to look at and have choices for these time periods and … we ended up picking the shows that we thought would resonate best in those time periods that we have available.”
Katz noted only choosing four of the eight pilots to move forward with was “very difficult,” but noted Universal TV, which produced all the pilots, is “going to see if there’s an opportunity to to find a home for them elsewhere,” despite the shows all being “very intentionally developed for NBC.” “I really hope that people can see them — they were great,” Katz said.
Katz confirmed NBC is hoping to keep bringing pilot season back, but said she hopes the new shows are such hits that they “don’t have as many needs” next year. “I do think being able to have options for more than one option per slot, and to really be able to try some different concepts and and have everybody look at them and see what works best is a privilege. I really hope that we have the opportunity to do it again,” she said. What the perfect number of pilots is each season, however, is left to be seen.
With NBC only axing a couple shows from its lineup, including “Brilliant Minds” and “Stumble,” the network has a hefty slate of shows, meaning that episode orders will be shorter for many series. “We’re trying to maximize the orders for as many shows as we can, which means that it will not be 22 episodes per show,” Bader said. “It’s a puzzle.”
One group that won’t be impacted is the “Chicago” franchise, which returns to its usual Wednesday night lineup. “That will have a full season order as always — all three shows,” Bader said. “That franchise works on every level for us and for Peacock.”
As for on-the-bubble series “The Hunting Party?” It just wrapped up airing its second season, so a final decision is still pending. Katz noted the Melissa Roxburgh-led series has performed well and the network is excited about it creatively. They are “discussing all options” for the show’s future, including a potential move to Peacock.
“We have a very tight schedule. We had to look for opportunities where we could actually grow so,” Bader said. “There are shows that we loved that just couldn’t make the cut — ‘Stumble’ being another one. These are good shows … it really did not perform well enough on linear.”
With NBC entering its second fall with the NBA on its primetime lineup, the network is hoping to capitalize on the audience it is already bringing in with sports, which already boosts ratings, though Bader notes “trying to get the sports audience to watch entertainment, as you all know, has always been a challenge.”
“What I’ve learned is the sports audience likes hits … when you look there’s not a specific type, it’s broad, entertaining shows,” Katz said.
Translating that audience will be especially important for the network after winning the 2025-26 TV season ratings-wise over CBS, which has held the crown since the 2007-08 season, thanks to Legendary February, though Bader notes the network is “realistic” heading into next season.
“This was an amazing season in between the Super Bowl and the Olympics, you know, and then just the excitement of the excitement of the NBA coming to NBC,” Bader said. “We’re realistic about next year. We don’t have the Olympics, we don’t have the Super Bowl, but … it’s really the entertainment side. We just think that we will be generating more …. excitement from this schedule and stability. That’s what’s important.”
The network has also greenlit new game show series based on “Wordle,” the beloved game from the New York Times, which will be hosted by “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie and executive produced by Jimmy Fallon.
And on the live event side, the primetime Emmys will return on Monday, Sept. 14, the 100th edition of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will return on Nov. 26 and NBC will celebrate its 100th anniversary on Dec. 10 with a live three-hour variety special from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
See NBC’s full fall schedule for the 2026-27 season below.
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”
Saturday:
- 7-7:30 P.M. ET – Big Ten Pregame / Notre Dame Pregame (also live on Peacock)
- 7:30-11 P.M. ET – Big Ten Saturday Night / Notre Dame Football (also live on Peacock)
Sunday:
- 7-8:20 P.M. ET – Football Night in America (also live on Peacock)
- 8:20-11 P.M. ET – NBC Sunday Night Football (also live on Peacock)
