(Photo by: David Astorga/NBC)
NBC has announced its 2025-26 fall lineup, and the NBA is taking over its schedule for the next 11 seasons. Tuesday nights will now belong to the NBA and WNBA throughout the year for regular season and playoff games.
Two new arrivals have been ordered, with more in development. NBC has ordered a new event series, Surviving Earth, and a new comedy series, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins. NBC has also renewed The Hunting Party and Brilliant Minds for second seasons and has both Dick Wolf franchises and The Voice returning in the fall.
NBC revealed more about its lineup in a press release.
“NBC unveils its 2025 fall schedule highlighting stability for its fan-favorite franchise dramas, huge unscripted hits, the biggest and best live specials and holiday programming, and the celebrated return of the NBA.
Starting in October, NBCUniversal will begin its 11-year agreement to present NBA and WNBA regular-season and playoff basketball games. Peacock will livestream exclusive national Monday night games while NBC/Peacock will present national coverage of regional doubleheaders on Tuesday nights. NBC Sports will also launch “Sunday Night Basketball” in 2026 across NBC and Peacock, providing NBA fans with three consecutive nights of national coverage across NBCUniversal platforms during the second half of the regular season. The playoffs and WNBA coverage begin in the spring of 2026. In addition, primetime television’s #1 program, “Sunday Night Football,” begins in the fall to kick off the NFL season.
On the comedy front, Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe will star in “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.” Executive produced by “30 Rock” creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock and written by Carlock and Sam Means (“30 Rock,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), the series focuses on a disgraced former football player (Morgan), who is on a mission to rehabilitate his image.
As part of NBC’s rolling development cycle, the network is looking to continue to strengthen its comedy pipeline with the pilots “Stumble,” from Jeff and Liz Astrof (“Trial & Error”), and an untitled project from Sierra Teller Ornelas (“Superstore,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”). With NBC’s 52-week scheduling strategy, these pilots – if picked up to series – could air in the 2025-26 season.
NBC strengthened its comedy lineup last season with two new series – “Happy’s Place” and “St. Denis Medical” – that have been renewed for the 2025-26 season. Combined, the series reached nearly 52 million viewers across linear and digital platforms in their freshman seasons. Both these shows will help serve as launchpads for new comedy series with “St. Denis Medical” starting its second season on Mondays in November and “Happy’s Place” beginning season two on Fridays.
In addition to the powerful #OneChicago franchise, “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU,” the NBC drama lineup brings back sophomore series “Brilliant Minds,” starring Zachary Quinto, and “The Hunting Party,” starring Melissa Roxburgh. The shows reached 31 million and 27 million viewers, respectively, this past season across all platforms.
“On Brand with Jimmy Fallon” arrives on the fall schedule as the newest unscripted offering. “The Tonight Show” host will star in a highly addictive competition series in which he starts a premier marketing agency and fills it with the most creative, clever and competitive go-getters he can find.
NBC’s four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series “The Voice” returns this fall with all-star coaches Michael Bublé, Snoop Dogg, Niall Horan and Reba McEntire reclaiming their red chairs for season 28. This electrifying panel vies to discover and coach America’s next singing phenomenon.
Also coming this season is “Surviving Earth,” an incredible look back to see not only how life survived cataclysmic events on our planet, but managed to thrive. The eight-episode special event series will take an incredible journey into prehistory to learn the lessons from past mass extinctions.
Across the entire television landscape, NBC is the uncontested leader in delivering family favorite holiday specials and live events. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returns to the streets of New York on Nov. 27, coming off its 2024 edition where it delivered its biggest audience ever and the most watched entertainment telecast in five years.
Also back are many annual favorites, including the “The National Dog Show Presented by Purina,” “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” and animated classics such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”
NBC comes off an incredibly strong season of highlights, including “Sunday Night Football” as the #1 program for the 14th season in a row in both total viewers; “The Voice” continued to be the most-watched alternative series for the sixth consecutive season; “The Americas” debuted as the #1 most watched new alternative series; and #OneChicago continued to dominate Wednesdays across all of television. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, “Saturday Night Live” was the #1 broadcast show of the season in the demo and the special brought in 21 million viewers for an unprecedented live event.
NBC FALL 2025-26 SCHEDULE (SEPT./OCT.)
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET/PT)
MONDAY
8-10 P.M. – The Voice
10-11 P.M. – Brilliant MindsTUESDAY (SEPTEMBER)
8-10 P.M. – The Voice
10-11 P.M. – ON BRAND WITH JIMMY FALLONTUESDAY (OCTOBER)
8-11 P.M. – NBAWEDNESDAY
8-9 P.M. – Chicago Med
9-10 P.M. – Chicago Fire
10-11 P.M. – Chicago P.D.THURSDAY
8-9 P.M. – Law & Order
9-10 P.M. – Law & Order: SVU
10-11 P.M. – The Hunting PartyFRIDAY
8-9 P.M. – ON BRAND WITH JIMMY FALLON
9-11 P.M – Dateline NBCSATURDAY
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)NEW COMEDY SERIES
“THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS”
A disgraced former football player is on a mission to rehabilitate his image.
The series stars Tracy Morgan, Daniel Radcliffe, Erika Alexander, Bobby Moynihan, Precious Way, Jalyn Hall.
Writers Robert Carlock and Sam Means executive produce with Tracy Morgan, Tina Fey, Eric Gurian and David Miner. Director Rhys Thomas also executive produces (pilot only).
The series is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, Little Stranger, Bevel Gears and 3 Arts.
NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES
“ON BRAND WITH JIMMY FALLON”
An innovative unscripted series that follows what happens when Jimmy Fallon starts a premier marketing agency and fills it with the most creative, clever and competitive go-getters he can find.
Fallon recruited Bozoma Saint John as the On Brand Agency’s Chief Marketing Officer, where she will mentor the creatives and evaluate their work.
In each episode, the On Brand Agency creatives will work with a major brand in need of a big idea for a massive, high-priority campaign – from creating earworm jingles and unbelievable activations to producing the most quotable commercials and must-have merchandise. They will have unprecedented access to the client’s businesses before pitching their vision to a brand representative, along with Saint John and Fallon, with only the best ideas moving on to proof of concept and the opportunity to see their campaign brought to life on the national stage after each episode.
The “On Brand” format will be licensed globally by NBCUniversal Formats, a division of Universal Studio Group.
“On Brand with Jimmy Fallon” is produced by B17 Entertainment and Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Electric Hot Dog. Executive producers are Jimmy Fallon, Brien Meagher, Rhett Bachner, Pip Wells and Kelly Powers. Creative Artists Agency’s (CAA) Media & Entertainment Partnerships division serves as a collaborative business partner with NBCUniversal to bring leading brands to the show.
“SURVIVING EARTH”
NBC is going way back in time to see how life not only survived cataclysmic events but thrived in the unscripted special event series order “Surviving Earth.”
A co-production between Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group, and UK indie Loud Minds, the eight-episode “Surviving Earth” will take an incredible journey into prehistory to learn the lessons from past mass extinctions.
Adopting cutting-edge digital technology, each episode transports the viewer back to meet the bizarre and amazing creatures and breathtaking landscapes of a vibrant lost world. Audiences will witness how life finds a way to survive on a planet where meteors fall, super volcanoes erupt, seas boil and the land moves. From the creators of “Walking with Dinosaurs” and “Primeval,” these are the stories of the survivors, fighters and lucky ones that shaped the world we live in.”
The premiere dates for NBC’s fall lineup will be announced later.
What do you think? What do you plan to watch on NBC next season?
We all know that NBC’s weekly NBA coverage will take-up the literal entirety of that network’s Tuesday schedule. But just why does all-season NBA Tuesdays HAVE to be on a broadcast network at all as opposed to a cable network or a streaming platform? (“All-season” meaning BOTH HALVES of an American Broadcast Television season; NFL only has the first half of a broadcast season.) It’s bad enough “Dateline” HAS to be two hours each Friday, I just wish there could be an opt-out clause before those 11 seasons are up. Space for scripted programming on NBC’s primetime schedule is really… Read more »
Only looking forward to new episodes from “Happy’s Place”. Predictable, but quite wholesome fun. Nice to forget about the day for a bit.
The rest isn’t doing anything for me, if I’m honest.
The big 4 networks are looking like The CW. More reality than scripted shows.
Network fall TV schedules are starting to look like HellCable. Only difference is when we do it down here, we openly admit to filling channels with bad programming specifically to torment the damned.