An NBC spokesperson is confirming what was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter: Southland’s second season has been pushed back a month, from Sept. 25 to Oct. 23.
Dateline NBC will air Fridays at 9 pm in the interim.
A Peacock insider says moving the show away from the ultra-competitive premiere week, where it would have gone head-to-head with Dollhouse and Medium, guarantees that Southland will get the best launch possible. It will also give NBC four more weeks to promote the critical fave.
I’m usually suspicious about last-minute scheduling shifts, but this one kind of makes sense. What do you think?
Comments (1-15) of 66 Add your comment
agreed. it makes sense. not a bad move from nbc.
Looks like NBC is taking tips from Paramount.
it’s a good sign for dollhouse if nbc is afraid of it…right?!?!
It’s a Friday show on NBC, it’s DOA.
I think they should bring Chuck back NOW!
Of *course* they should bring back Chuck now, just not on Friday nights.
.
Unless they give it a three-year renewal and just leave it alone.
.
— Rob
I thought the same Ksant! Good for Dollhouse for being a threat.
I can understand worrying about Medium, but Dollhouse? Really? Joss is a genius but he doesn’t usually attract a big audience.
Anything up against Medium is going to fail. This move to CBS on Fridays couldn’t be better. This show will attract more viewers than is has on NBC since it started. That’s a guarantee. Once everyone realizes what a crapfest GWhisperer is alongside the very smart Medium, maybe JLHewitt will be working the unemployment line where she belongs.
I hope that I’m wrong about Southland. Like the show quite a bit but Friday is a wasteland for all networks except CBS. What a shame too because CBS has the worst, most predictable dramas on TV.
David was partially right. All 5 networks threw in the towel on Friday nights a few years back. It’s where they send shows to die. I’m gonna miss Smallville.
Except that all 5 networks have cult favs on Friday now. I feel like in this DVR world they’re making a real go of Friday again.
Not a lot of faith in a show that barely made a blip in the Spring. Off the air by mid-season.
Barely made a blip? It was NBC’s highest rated show that week when it premiered.
You’d think they would show it more love but they have Law & Orders to pad out.
Moving it to a later date may backfire — everyone will get fully ensconced in their viewing habits and not feel like adding in Southland when it starts up. I wasn’t planning on watching it anyway but I’ll be watching Dollhouse and taping Medium.
Why don’t they premiere it earlier in September, BEFORE the competition?
I really hope NBC doesn’t screw over this show because it’s the only good drama they’ve got.
Agreed! The only way this would make sense is if the PTB decided to push it back to undo some of the proposed storyline/focus changes brought up at the upfronts a few weeks ago. This is a terrific, slow burn, type of show! Reminds me of that cop show set in LA a few years ago with Neal MacDonough in the lead: Boomtown. That was soooo good and then after a bad launch and too much tinkering, it was gone.
I wouldn’t mind Regina King becoming a central character, but one of my favorites things about SouthLAnd was how the show wove together the whole ensembles different stories – picking up some continuously and then letting them go for awhile and picking them back up. So I don’t want any one or two characters to dominate the show.
My biggest complaint is that the show (and NBC in general – the promos for that new Trauma look ridiculous) has a problem with wanting every storyline to be overly dramatic, but I thought overall, it was a fine start for a show.
I actually never liked Boomtown, but I also hope that NBC doesn’t tinker too much with SouthLAnd.
Dollhouse is a powerhouse haha
That sucks. Was really looking forward to the return that week. But, I guess it’s a good sign that NBC wants more time to promote it than have it get buried on premiere week.
oh Really?why?
NBC’S reasoning seems pretty worthy, but on the other hand, for fans like I and many others, don’t you think that going four or five months without a new episode may make some people feel like the show may be canceled? Not all TV lovers read EW. (I love EW, Though)
Makes sense. Let people watch new programs, get into a new routine, and then, premiere a new show that may be tougher to fit into. Great, great plan.