Strike survivors key to NBC’s fall line-up

After helping NBC survive the strikes, two dramas will be rewarded with cushy timeslots this fall.
“The Irrational” (shown here) will be at 10 p.m. Tuesdays, after the second “Voice” night. “Found” will be at 10 p.m. Thursdays, after two “Law & Order” shows.
They’ll be joined by just one new drama – “Brilliant Minds,” with Zachery Quinto – and two new comedies. One, from the “Superstore” producer, is set in a hospital and will be paired with “Night Court”; the other, starring Reba McEntire, will be paired with “Lopez vs. Lopex.”
To make room, the network is moving “Law & Order: Organized Crime” to the Peacock streamer and dropping several others. They includes “Magnum P.I.,” the sci-fi shows “Quantum Leap” and “La Brea” and the Jon Cryer comedy “Extended Family.”
When the strikes began a year ago, NBC had an advantage: It had given early starts to “The Irrational” (a psychology professor solves crimes) and “Found” (a former kidnap victim helps others … and keeps her former captor locked in the basement).
Facing reruns on the other channels, both did fairly well in the ratings. Now they’ll be back, alongside only one new NBC drama. “Brilliant Minds” is apparently based loosely on the life of Oliver Sacks, the brilliant neurologist who was portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie “Awakenings.”
NBC – once known for its “must-see” comedies – has been confining its comedies to two half-hours on Tuesdays. Now it will add two more on Fridays; that helps make room for “Happy’s Place,” with McEntire inheriting half ownership of her dad’s bar … but sharing it with a half-sister she never knew.
For mid-season, NBC has two reality game shows – the returning “Deal or No Deal Island” and the new “Destination X.” It also has Tom Hanks narrating a sweeping, 10-hour look at natural history in North America.
It also has “The Hunting Party,” with an elite team tries to round up escapees from a secret prison. That stars Melissa Roxburgh – whose previous show (“Manifest”) was canceled by NBC before it could explain its core mystery. The schedule:
— Monday: “The Voice,” 8 p.m.; “Brilliant Minds,” 10.
— Tuesday: “St. Denis Medical,” 8; “Night Court,” 8:30; “Voice,” 9; “Irrational,” 10.
— Wednesday: “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.”
— Thursday: “Law & Order,” 8; “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 9; “Found,” 10.
— Friday: “Happy’s Place,” 8; “Lopez vs. Lopez,” 8:30; “Dateline,” 9-11.
— Saturday: College football.
— Sunday: Pro football.