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NBC Adds Jimmy Smits Drama, 2 New Comedies For Fall

Jimmy Smits returns to his NBC roots, playing a lawyer on 'Bluff City Law' this fall.
Jake Giles Netter/NBC
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Courtesy NBCUniversal
Jimmy Smits returns to his NBC roots, playing a lawyer on 'Bluff City Law' this fall.

Only three new shows will debut this fall in NBC's new "year-round lineup," as the network saves The Good Place, Manifest, Will & Grace, Blindspotand a new sitcom starring Saturday Night Liveveteran Kenan Thompson for later in the 2019-2020 TV season.

Expect to see a lot of familiar faces on NBC in the next 12 months.

Smits, who won an Emmy for NBC's L.A. Lawin 1990, plays a Memphis lawyer in Bluff City Law,the network's only new drama.

Cincinnati native Diana Maria Riva, whose credits range from The West Wingand Everybody Loves Raymond to Man With A Planand Dead To Me,will be a series regular in NBC's Sunnysidesitcom. Kal Penn plays a former New York councilman busted for public intoxication who moves in with his sister.

NBC's 'Sunnyside' sitcom stars (from left) Joel Kim Booster,  Poppy Liu, Samba Schutte, Kal Penn, Cincinnati native Diana Marie Riva and Moses Storm.
Credit Courtesy NBCUniversal
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NBC
NBC's 'Sunnyside' sitcom stars (from left) Joel Kim Booster, Poppy Liu, Samba Schutte, Kal Penn, Cincinnati native Diana Marie Riva and Moses Storm.

The West Wingveteran Bradley Whitford plays a Princeton music professor overseeing a small-town church choir filled with "singers that are out of tune in more ways than one" in a sitcom called Perfect Harmony.

Appearing in midseason series are Fran Drescher and Steven Weber (Indebted), Russell Hornsby and Michael Imperioli (Lincoln), Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly) hosting Little Big Shotsinstead of Steve Harvey; and Thompson, a SNLcast member since 2003.

This Is Usfans will see plenty of their favorite show, with NBC giving the drama a three-year renewal.

ABC will announce its schedule Tuesday, and CBS on Wednesday. Here's a link to my "Countdown To TV Cancellations" listing shows on the bubble.

NBC's publicity photo for Bradley Whitford's 'Perfect Harmony.'
Credit Courtesy NBCUniversal
NBC's publicity photo for Bradley Whitford's 'Perfect Harmony.'

CANCELED:  I Feel Bad, Marlon, Midnight Texas, Timeless, ReverieandTrial & Error.

BACK FOR MORE: NBC Sunday Night Footballwith Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels, American Ninja Warrior, The Blacklist, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., Ellen's Game of Games, Good Girls, The Good Place, Law & Order: SVU, Making It; Manifest, New Amsterdam, Superstore, The Voice, Will & Grace; America’s Got Talent: The Champions, Dateline NBC, Hollywood Game Night, The Wall, World of Dance, Little Big ShotsandThis Is Us.

Six shows are still on the bubble. NBC announced that "decisions are yet to be made" on Abby’s, A.P. Bio, The Enemy Within, The InBetween, Titan GamesandThe Village.

'SNL' veteran Kenan Thompson plays the father of two daughters (Dani Lockett, left and Dannah Lockett) on 'The Kenan Show.'
Credit Ron Batzdorff/NBC / Courtesy NBCUniversal
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Courtesy NBCUniversal
'SNL' veteran Kenan Thompson plays the father of two daughters (Dani Lockett, left and Dannah Lockett) on 'The Kenan Show.'

MIDSEASON:Dramas include Council of Dads, about a dying man (Tom Everett Scott) who asks his friends to be role models for his four children; Russell Hornsby (Grimm) as a forensics expert based on the best-selling book The Bone Collector;andZoey's Extraordinary Playlist starring Jane Levy as a computer expert who can hear people's thoughts and desires through songs.

The midseason comedies are The Kenan Show and Indebted,with Drescher playing the broke mother who moves in with her son (Adam Pally).

THE LINEUP (New programs in bold caps):

SUNDAY:7 p.m., Football Night In America;8:20 p.m., NBC Sunday Night Football.

MONDAY:8 p.m., The Voice;10 p.m., BLUFF CITY LAW.

TUESDAY:8 p.m., The Voice;9 p.m., This Is Us;10 p.m., New Amsterdam.

WEDNESDAY:8 p.m., Chicago Med;9 p.m., Chicago Fire;10 p.m., Chicago P.D.

THURSDAY:8 p.m., Superstore; PERFECT HARMONY;9 p.m., The Good Place;9:30 p.m., SUNNYSIDE;10 p.m., Law & Order: SVU.

FRIDAY:8 p.m.,The Blacklist;9 p.m., Dateline NBC.

SATURDAY:8 p.m., Dateline Saturday Night Mystery;10 p.m., Saturday Night Livereruns.

Copyright 2021 91.7 WVXU. To see more, visit .

John Kiesewetter joined the WVXU news team as a TV/Media blogger on July 1 2015, after nearly 30 years covering local and national broadcasting for The Cincinnati Enquirer. He’ll be posting news about Greater Cincinnati TV, radio and movies; updating your favorite former local TV/radio personalities or stars who grew up here; and breaking news about national TV, radio and media trends. You’ll also learn about Cincinnati’s rich broadcasting history.