Little Big Shots and Genius Junior Premiere Dates Revealed

NBC has revealed yet another piece of their spring schedule. Per the Twitter accounts for the respective shows, the third season of Little Big Shots and the first season of game show Genius Junior will premiere on Sunday, March 18. Little Big Shots will premiere at 7:00, presumably airing for two hours, as its usual timeslot has been 8:00. Genius Junior, another kid-centric unscripted show, this one hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will premiere at 9:00.

NBC has yet to reveal what will air in the 10:00 timeslot on Sundays, and whether or not Little Big Shots will be the regular occupant of the 7:00 timeslot, or if something else, such as Dateline, or Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly. Last season Shades of Blue aired in the 10:00 timeslot, and it has been renewed for a 10-episode third season. The recent announcement that Shades of Blue star Jennifer Lopez will appear in a Will & Grace episode as her Shades of Blue character indicates a certain likelihood that Shades of Blue will air in-season, rather than waiting until the summer, and Sundays at 10:00 is the one timeslot currently open for the show this spring. It is also unknown what NBC will air on Sunday, March 11. It's possible that they are avoiding the return of American Idol, but it is also possible that they plan on making an aggressive move on the night.

What do you think of this news? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

NBC Renew/Cancel Watch: 'Heartbeat' Certain to be Canceled

Week 27

KEY

• Show title (Average adults 18-49 rating to the nearest tenth / Most recent rating)

[F] - Indicates a Friday-night show, which will typically have lower ratings
[O] - Indicates an NBC-owned show, which will typically have a higher chance at renewal

CANCELED

• Heroes Reborn (1.3 / 1.0) [O]
• The Player (0.8 / 0.8)
• Truth Be Told (0.6 / 0.4) [F][O]
• You, Me and the Apocalypse (0.7 / 0.6)

CERTAIN TO BE CANCELED

• Heartbeat (1.2 / 0.9)

LIKELY TO BE CANCELED

• The Mysteries of Laura (1.1 / 1.2)
• Telenovela (1.0 / 0.9) [O]
• Undateable (0.8 / 0.8) [F]

ON THE BUBBLE

• Crowded (1.4 / 1.0) [O]

LIKELY TO BE RENEWED

• The Carmichael Show (1.2 / 1.3)
• Grimm (0.9 / 0.9) [F][O]

CERTAIN TO BE RENEWED

• None

RENEWED

• The Blacklist (1.5 / 1.3)
• Blindspot (2.1 / 1.5)
• Chicago Fire (1.8 / 1.6) [O]
• Chicago Med (1.8 / 1.5) [O]
• Chicago P.D. (1.6 / 1.4) [O]
• Law & Order: SVU (1.7 / 1.5) [O]
• Shades of Blue (1.2 / 1.0) [O]
• Superstore (1.5 / 1.4) [O]

ANALYSIS

Heartbeat premiered to a modest 1.4 rating following The Voice on Tuesday, but dropped to a not-so-modest 0.9 on Wednesday. Because Heartbeat already went fractional in its second episode, I have decided to skip the "bubble" stage and immediately label it as "certain to be canceled." Does NBC now wish it gave The Mysteries of Laura a full-season order? Probably. Does The Mysteries of Laura now have a shot at renewal? Not so fast...but maybe. It isn't "certain to be canceled," just "likely"...

Also, you may have noticed that I moved The Carmichael Show up to "likely to be renewed." After two weeks of performing decently behind Little Big Shots, I thought this move was only fair. Even though it's not saying much, TCS is NBC's #2 comedy. With that AND critical acclaim, I think it's safe to say that TCS definitely has more than a 50% shot at renewal.

POLL OF THE WEEK

TV Talk: What Should NBC Do with 'Little Big Shots?'

NBC has found a brand-new hit in its new reality show, Little Big Shots. Its ratings have remained in the mid-high 2s for every episode so far, which can almost been seen as a megahit for today's TV standards. However, because this show is such a big hit for NBC, a question has arisen that almost no one can agree on: what should NBC do with Little Big Shots next season? I will present a few different options down below, and at the end of the article there will be a poll for you to vote on which option you agree with the most. Let's take a look:


Option 1: Move to Fall (Thursdays at 8/7c)

This option presents the idea that NBC will want to air Little Big Shots in the fall instead of waiting until midseason. Since NBC airs Sunday Night Football in LBS's original timeslot during the fall, most people seem to think Thursdays would be the best place to air it instead. With this thought, another popular idea is airing Superstore and a new comedy after that, immediately following Little Big Shots. LBS would essentially be the platform to relaunch Thursday-night comedies on NBC. If comedies don't end up airing after, then the slowly-fading The Blacklist will most likely be in this slot. LBS could bring some much-needed life back into that hit of the past. No matter what follows it, Little Big Shots would definitely help at bringing NBC Thursdays back to life.

Option 2: Move to Fall (Wednesdays at 8/7c)

This option is for the people who think NBC should air Little Big Shots in the fall, but don't quite agree with airing it on Thursday nights. NBC has been struggling with the Wednesday at 8/7c timeslot for quite some time now, so Little Big Shots could potentially be the perfect solution for this problem.

Option 3: Use As a Bridge Between "The Voice" Cycles (Mondays at 8/7c or 9/8c)

Instead of immediately airing Little Big Shots in the fall, I have seen a lot of people bringing up the idea of possibly using this show as a bridge between the two cycles of The Voice. This option is for the people who think NBC should air it on Monday nights during this gap. Assuming NBC places a brand-new drama at 10/9c this fall, LBS could be the perfect lead-in to this show if aired at 9/8c instead of waiting to air the brand-new drama once The Voice returns again. NBC could also air LBS at 8/7c during this time, or even double-pump episodes from 8-10. If you vote for this option, just specify which sub-option (8/7c, 9/8c, or both) you prefer in the comments below.

Option 4: Use As a Bridge Between "The Voice" Cycles (Tuesdays at 8/7c)

Like the previous option, this one takes the idea of airing Little Big Shots as a bridge between the two cycles of The Voice--but on a different day. When The Voice goes off-air, Tuesdays at 8/7c also becomes a vacant slot. NBC seems to have also struggled with airing shows here, which often seems to hurt whatever the network is airing at 9/8c. Little Big Shots would be a great fix to this slot and would definitely help out whatever is airing immediately after at 9/8c (most likely Chicago Med or a new show).

Option 5: No Change (Sundays at 8/7c)

Finally, this is the option for the people who don't want the show to move AT ALL and air Little Big Shots exactly the same way as this current season. NBC finally found a fix to their post-SNF Sunday nights, so why start all over next season? This is the most consistent option and goes along with the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."


Now tell me, what do YOU think?

Little Big Shots Renewed for Season 2

That's right, just two episodes into its run (and one episode in-timeslot), NBC has decided to green light a Season 2 of the Steve Harvey-hosted kids competition Little Big Shots. In its Sunday at 8 time period premiere, the show received a 2.8 A18-49 rating, and grew half a ratings point in the half-hours.

This isn't the first show to get renewed after only two episodes; in fact, FOX decided to renew Empire after its first two episodes as well.

What do you think? Where will NBC air the 2nd season? Let us know in the comments below!

Little Big Shots Ratings--Season 4 (Spring 2019)