NBC has set its fall schedule for the 2026-2027 broadcast season, putting a non-celebrity version of "The Traitors" on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and using it to launch a night that now runs through "Law & Order: SVU" and "Law & Order." The move gives Emmy-winning host Alan Cumming a broadcast berth in a format that has already drawn attention, while the network also keeps its long-running drama blocks in place on Wednesday, Monday and Friday nights.
On Thursdays, "The Traitors" will serve as the lead-in for "Law & Order: SVU," with "Law & Order" following at 10 p.m. NBC recently renewed "Law & Order" for a 26th season, reinforcing the network’s bet on the franchise even as it shifts other parts of the schedule around it. "The Hunting Party," which aired on Thursdays after the "Law & Order" block last fall, is still awaiting word on whether it will return for a third season, and it remains the only NBC primetime scripted show without a formal renewal or cancellation.
Lisa Katz, NBC’s president of scripted programming, pushed back on the idea that "The Hunting Party" had been sitting in limbo because it was on the edge of the lineup. She said it was, in her view, a misrepresentation to call it a bubble show, and described the process as a matter of sorting through the available slots, episode counts and scheduling options. The network, she said, was working through a lot of math.
The rest of NBC shows its fall grid by preserving familiar lanes. The "One Chicago" block stays on Wednesday nights, with "Chicago Med" opening at 8 p.m. before "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago PD." On Mondays, new drama "Line of Fire" will debut in September at 10 p.m. after a two-hour episode of "The Voice," which will include Kelly Clarkson as a coach for that launch installment. In October and November, "Line of Fire" will continue at 10 p.m. behind a one-hour "The Voice," while "St. Denis Medical" takes the 8 p.m. slot and the second season of "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" shifts to 8:30 p.m.
Friday nights will also hold steady, with "Newlyweds" set for 8:30 p.m. after new episodes of "Happy’s Place." NBC is saving two more scripted projects for later in the season: a reboot of "The Rockford Files" starring David Boreanaz will bow in January, and "Sunset PI" starring Jake Johnson will follow in February. Katz said the network held both for midseason largely because of the time periods they are going into, adding that NBC sees Thursday at 8 as a strong fit for "Traitors" and, by extension, for "Rockford." That leaves NBC with a cleaner fall map than the one it entered last season with, but one open question still shadows the schedule: whether "The Hunting Party" gets the call for a third season, or disappears while the rest of the lineup settles in around it.
The network’s strategy is clear enough. NBC is leaning on proven franchises, slotting in a reality title with a known host, and using midseason to stage the launches it thinks need more room. What it has not done yet is close the door on "The Hunting Party," and that unanswered decision is now the last piece hanging over a schedule that otherwise looks fully set.
