Even though they’re NOT saying that Leno will be taking over for Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show, NBC does know that the ill-conceived Jay Leno Show is going to be gone after the airing of the Winter Olympics. This leaves the network with some time on their primetime schedule to fill.
Per Variety, Law and Order will air on Mondays, Parenthood, a new dramedy based on the 1989 Steve Martin film will air Tuesdays. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit will fill two hours on Wednesday with a repeat airing at 9/8c and a new episode at 10.
Jerry Sienfeld should feel right at home on Thursday night with his new reality show The Marriage Ref, wherein celebrities will listen to the marital problems of us regular folk and decide which party is the real pain in the ass. [source link also below] Friday nights are rounded out by two hours of Dateline NBC beginning at 9/8c. Incidentally, the new Lisa Kudrow celebrity genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? will lead-in Dateline beginning on March 5th. Friday Night Lights will replace the reality show on April 30th.
For those of you keeping track at home that is three hours of Law and Order in weekday primetime and two new reality shows that are produced by former NBC stars who will remind us that this network was once popular. Stay tuned for the new Law and Order spin off Law and Order: Celebrity Pet Crimes.