NBC Boss On ‘Line Of Fire’ Pickup, ‘Newlyweds’, ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’

EXCLUSIVE: NBC‘s fall 2026 scripted lineup kicked off with the Sept. 21 collection premiere of Line Of Fire, starring Peter Krause and Hope Davis. After a robust launch and week-to-week scores features, the drama a couple of household of federal regulation enforcement brokers entangled in a thriller has develop into the primary new 2026-27 broadcast collection to get a again order as NBC has picked up 5 further scripts.

The premiere episode’s multi-platform viewership has grown to just about 12M (together with encores) to date, bettering the Monday 10 PM time interval by +48% in Live+3 MP whole viewers vs. final fall.

“We’re so excited that the audience seems to be responding as we did, we think it’s such a special show,” NBC and Peacock Scripted Content President Lisa Katz stated. “What I love most about it is you have a show that has so many different access points: you have the cases, then you have the family drama and the mystery. It’s a very ambitious idea, and I think that [creator] Josh Safran’s done a wonderful job of balancing it in a way. I think we got so lucky with this incredible cast led by Peter and Hope and sophisticated storytelling that I feel like reminds me of some shows we did in NBC in the past.”

If the additional scripts get transformed to an episodic order, that may carry Line of Fire‘s first season to 18 episodes, which might match the season size of a latest NBC drama recognized for its subtle storytelling, This Is Us.

“I think for this show, given the storytelling, 18 feels the sweet spot, and also with what our Monday night schedule looks like and where the opportunities are,” Katz stated of the newcomer. “So that would be the goal.”

As a ten PM drama, Line Of Fire is posting robust DVR numbers and it is also doing properly on Peacock. What’s extra, Episode 2 grew a whopping 47% amongst Live+Same Day adults 18-49 on NBC.

“It’s continuing to gain momentum, it’s grown week over week, which I haven’t seen happen in so long, so clearly, people are responding and telling people, and they’re watching,” Katz stated.

To additional gasoline phrase of mouth, in a synergy transfer, the Line of Fire pilot episode will likely be getting a promo run on sibling cable community Bravo on Oct. 14. Episode 4 premieres on NBC tonight.

Don’t Call It A (Broadcast) Comeback

There appears to be one thing within the water this fall with venerable franchises defying their age as CBS’ NCIS dramas and ABC’s Dancing With the Stars all returned up from their most up-to-date season premieres and NBC’s Chicago Med received the evening in whole viewers with its season opener final week. Is broadcast tv again?

“I hope so, it was never gone for me, but I think that people, with these shows that you get to watch weekly for multiple episodes, and you get to spend time and revisit these characters and their stories week after week, year after year, I think is meaningful, so I’ve believed in broadcast all along,” Katz stated. “I’m fortunate enough to be able to do streaming and broadcast, and I think that broadcast shows and that cadence and that rhythm and the ability to air weekly is just something that people value, and I’m glad to see that. Seems like other people agree with me right now.”

In addition to their steady linear power, Wolf Entertainment’s Chicago and Law & Order collection have been huge next-day-on-Peacock attracts, with all 5 collection, together with Line Of Fire, firmly within the streamer’s Top 10 since their premieres.

“It’s great that they’re coming back,” Katz stated. “And Chicago Fire is going to be 300th episode, SVU 600 episodes, and people aren’t tired of it, they’re eating it up. We’re very fortunate with Dick Wolf and the showrunners and the cast, and the storytelling I think is as strong if not better, so it’s great that people are continuing to watch.”

Any plans to finish any of the 2 long-running exhibits hitting milestone episodes this season?

“No plans, they’re going strong,” Katz stated

NBC’s 2027 Pilot Season & Dick Wolf’s Next Franchise

Dick Wolf got here near increasing his NBC footprint once more this season with the pilot What the Dead Know. It didn’t get picked as much as collection in May however was put in redevelopment, with star Taylor Schilling’s choice prolonged and a brand new author, Dr. Death co-creator Ashley Michel Hoban, at present co-executive producer on Fox’s Doc, introduced in to pen a brand new script.

“That pilot’s in contention, and we’ve bought some other development from Wolf Entertainment, continuing to try to find the next franchise. Because, as you know, Dick doesn’t do pilots or series; he does franchises. So we’re trying to find what will be the next one, and What the Dead Know is definitely one of them.”

The new Wolf Entertainment hopefuls are among the many crop of initiatives NBC has within the works as a part of the 2026-27 growth cycle.

“We’re still doing the (typical) broadcast cycle, so we’ve been hearing pitches the last few months, and we’ve bought a few projects from them that will be on the cycle to hopefully develop, shoot,” Katz stated of Wolf’s staff. “This pilot season proved very successful in terms of helping us find the right shows, and with Line of Fire‘s performance, I feel very good about it and eager to do it again.”

NBC shocked some when it introduced again the January-May pilot season by ordering eight pilots — 5 dramas, three comedies — earlier this 12 months. The community guess on TV stars as leads of all of them, together with David Boreanaz headlining The Rockford Files reboot, which goes into manufacturing for a January launch. It’s a technique NBC plans to proceed.

“The goal is to make great shows that break through, and how’s that going to happen? If you don’t have the IP in the case of Line of Fire, but you have a really compelling, well-executed show, then how can we stack the deck? By bringing in Peter and bringing in Hope — both of them are associated with such high caliber projects, I think it gave it a legitimacy, and also bringing in their fans. And then also we have these younger cast members,” Katz stated. “Rockford is IP, people know it and are familiar with it, but might not exactly know what it is. And then you have David, a tried and true television star who starred in three long-running successful series, so I feel like it’s about the balance between fresh and familiar, proven stars and new stars, and just being able to find that alchemy.”

NBC’s model of pilot season is about to return in 2027 with comparable variety of pilots to 2026, Katz stated.

“In the early days when I used to do pilots, we were doing 20-25 comedy and drama pilots a year, and that feels maybe excessive,” she stated. “I think it’s about doing the right number and the right ones that really feel like you want to be able to see the chemistry of the cast, to see if the concept works. But I would also say we’re open to, if something came that was a bigger idea that we wanted to go, which we did with The Hunting Party where we did script-to-series. That’s also on the table, and it really just depends on what the right model is. But I think for us it’s similar to last year, and then seeing how the new shows perform and what the needs are, and being able to respond accordingly.”

‘Newlyweds’ Shakeup & Multi-Cams’ Older Viewer Skew

Going by way of a pilot as proof of idea typically might not be sufficient. New multi-camera comedy Newlyweds, headlined by Téa Leoni and Tim Daly, which did a pilot, is present process a change on the helm as Gail Lerner, who co-created the collection with co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, introduced on Friday that she had been fired as showrunner amid production. What occurred?

“That truly was an instance of creative differences, and we feel like that concept of a romantic comedy in a multi-cam format was very winning. And that cast is phenomenal with Téa, Tim, and Jamie,” Katz stated. “So, we’re working to find the right person and move forward, and we’re still really, really invested and committed to it, and feel like it’s a great companion to Happy’s Place too. Both multi-cam shows, and we love that Tim and Téa are married, and [Happy’s Place co-stars] Rex [Linn] and Reba [McEntire] are a couple; we’ve got some real-life couples.”

Newlyweds, which filmed the eighth episode of its 13-episode order on Friday, was scheduled to go on hiatus this week as search is underway for a brand new showrunner. Could that be prolonged if a brand new individual will not be discovered rapidly or they want extra time to stand up to hurry?

“We don’t know yet, but because we’re not premiering till later, we feel like we can stay on schedule,” Katz stated. Newlyweds and Season 3 of Happy’s Place debut Oct. 23.

With the exception of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, which is an extension of a longtime comedy franchise, all multi-camera comedies which can be working lately appear to be centered on characters of a sure age performed by stars equivalent to Leoni & Daly, McEntire, Shifting Gears‘ Tim Allen and Leanne‘s Leanne Morgan. NBC is developing a sitcom headlined by Frasier alum David Hyde Pierce for subsequent season. Is the multi-cam style that gave us Friends and The Big Bang Theory now solely working for older individuals?

“It’s interesting. I think for us we try to center it around a star and a voice, and I think also it’s such a specific form,” Katz stated. “Multi-cam is a very different format than a single-cam, and I think some of the people that have experience in it tend to be older. That seems how it’s worked for us when we look at Reba or Tim and Téa or George Lopez [star of NBC’s Lopez vs Lopez], but it’s also people that have a strong point of view and voice or experience to share. So I think that’s been really helpful in terms of how we’re building those.”

NBC’s Staggered Fall 2026 Rollout & Peacock Collab

For a long time, broadcast networks lived and died by Premiere Week in September when all new and returning collection debuted, all vying for consideration. That custom is gone, with the networks choosing extra strategic rollouts. NBC’s this season is especially unfold out as scheduling has to work round NBA video games and the community’s post-season baseball protection. Only one scripted collection, Line of Fire, opened in September; it launched behind the season premiere of The Voice on Sept. 21. There was one different leisure collection, The Traitors: New Blood, a civilian model of the hit Peacock actuality hit, that began off in September, with One Chicago and the Law & Order franchise becoming a member of final week.

What are the benefits and downsides of such a staggared rollout?

“I’m really grateful to our scheduling and marketing teams and the collaboration because it feels like we were able to focus on a few things at once, and by using The Voice, which — I don’t work on The Voice or Traitors: New Blood but I am watching them live or on Peacock next day — I think they’re so great this season,” Katz stated. “So by having those, Line of Fire, now we have the Chicagos back, in a few weeks, we’ll have the comedies back. It feels like we’re able to focus on a couple priorities, then launch those and move on to the next. I know everybody used to get so excited about Premiere Week, and it’s all happening. It feels like this strategy has proven, particularly this year, to be working, so I think it’s a good one.”

NBC’s new and returning scripted collection are premiering alongside the debuts of Peacock originals — the mixed fall rollout kicked off with The Paper Season 2 launch on Peacock Sept. 9 and ends with the Dig premiere on the platform Nov. 23, with community and streaming debuts in-between. Scheduling was performed holistically throughout linear and streaming.

“I think that we’ve become over the past few seasons much more aligned in terms of using the NBC next day as another programming move on Peacock,” Katz stated. “So, we’re not trying to launch a Peacock original at the same time as we’re launching a new NBC show because we want to be able to platform and highlight each show and give it its due, and also looking at what might be a handoff to something else and which shows can benefit from being scheduled around them, even though they’re on different platforms. I think that that’s also been really successful, how they can be complementary.”

‘The Paper’ Renewal & ‘FNL’ Reboot Status Updates

The first of NBCU’s fall premieres was Season 2 of The Paper. There hasn’t been lots of details about its efficiency. Is it potential for it to get a 3rd season?

“Yeah, we have a writers’ room that has been working for Season 3. It only launched a month ago, so it’s still newer, but we thought the second season was great, the audience response and consumer response has been really good, saying as good or better than the first season,” Katz stated. “And talking about our technique of NBC and Peacock complementing one another, we haven’t had the NBC comedies on but, so we’re hopeful getting these comedies again on NBC will assist the engagement on Peacock and produce extra comedy viewers. We are desperate to see how The Paper performs as soon as St. Dennis and Reggie come again and once we launch Happy’s Place in Newlyweds.

The Paper is a successor to 1 beloved NBC collection, The Office. Peacock has been growing a reboot of one other, Friday Night Lights. Not in the mean time, although.

“It’s on pause,” Katz stated in regards to the new FNL.

Also on indefinite maintain is the live-action Ted collection after creator Seth MacFarlane said earlier this year that there are not any plans for a 3rd season of the dear endeavor.

“Right now, we are focusing on the animated version,” Katz stated.

Peacock Programming Strategy: White Wine Thrillers, 101 Studios

NBCUniversal’s $27 billion NBA deal and the push for Peacock profitability, achieved for the primary time in Q2 2026, has put some constraints on the streamer’s slate, with room for 12 scripted originals a 12 months along with Peacock’s sizable unscripted portfolio. The platform went by way of 13 months with no new scripted collection greenlight from May 2025 till June 2026. There have been a number of pickups since, together with The Break-In, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Before I Let Go and The Fast & the Furious collection.

“Part of it is, we’ve had some leadership changes, so we spent the past year or so really trying to be incredibly thoughtful and intentional about the kinds of shows and what will work,” Katz stated. “And I think when you look at the things that we’ve picked up — and we’ve renewed some shows as well, like Five Star Weekend –– I feel really excited that they feel like we’re really catering to some specific fandoms and things that can help hopefully break through. Whether it be Dungeon Crawler Carl, which has this enormous rabid fan base, or it’s Fast and Furious, where we have the opportunity to tap into that franchise, or Before I Let Go, Kennedy Ryan’s book which she has, again, this really passionate fan base.”

The pending spinoff of Peacock’s father or mother NBCUniversal from Comcast has not had an impression on its programming technique to date however the timing of the streamer’s launch has, Katz stated.

“Peacock was one of the later to market streamers, and we’re catching up a bit, so I think a way to do it is to find things that people have to tune into, and we love doing things that are original, like All Her Fault, or we like doing things that can tap into a fan base that we can explore,” she stated. “So I think that we’ve come up with a great strategy. It took a minute to get there and find the right things but now I think we’re in a really good rhythm.”

Peacock’s All Her Fault helped is a part of a wave of female-focused thriller collection dubbed white wine thrillers. The streamer has stayed on development with The Break-In, from the All Her Fault staff, as properly different female-skewing dramas, together with The Five Star Weekend, which had a thriller component, and Before I Let Go.

“I think people really turn up for these shows that have some mystery, suspense thrillers, a relatable theme,” Katz stated. “I think when you talk about All Her Fault, and you just say the first sentence of what happens, a mom went to pick up her son and he wasn’t there, and also the husband was like, ‘Why didn’t you check the number?’ I think that resonates with people in a way that is really powerful. Plus, you have incredible writing, direction, casting — all the elements came together. I would say Five Star Weekend is not a thriller and just a story about female friendship and a bit of, again, something that felt emotional, relatable, had food and Nantucket scenery and things that you wanted to spend time there. I know people like to categorize things, so yes, that’s one of the things. But I think we’re open to all different kinds of ways to reach the audience.”

Universal IP-based collection equivalent to Fast and the Furious and Ted however, Peacock has been shopping for, growing and greenlighting fairly just a few female-leaning collection. The business hypothesis has been that the main target is knowledgeable by the arrival of Taylor Sheridan collaborators David Glasser, whose 101 Studios produces all Sheridan collection, and Chris McCarthy, in addition to the Jan. 1, 2029 transfer from Skydance to NBCU by Sheridan himself. Sherdan and 101 Studios are recognized for his or her lineup of male-skewing hit collection equivalent to Yellowstone, which streams on Peacock, Landman, Tulsa King and MobLand.

Indeed, the primary Peacock venture recently announced from 101 Studios and McCarthy underneath their NBCU offers is The Chairman, a Matthew Weiner drama starring Eddie Murphy in his scripted collection debut. Is Peacock’s growth designed to accommodate the output coming from 101 Studios — and shortly Sheridan?

“We’re really excited to be working with them and hope they can bring some of the success that they’ve had elsewhere,” Katz stated. “And when you have people that are so great at what they do, you’re like, how can we supplement that? Like on NBC, if it’s something that Wolf Entertainment can do, they’re going to do it, and they’re gonna be the best at it. So we look for things that are different than a Wolf show. And I think similarly, knowing the kinds of shows that 101 and Taylor do, I think there’s plenty of other shows, like all the ones I just listed, I think Dungeon Crawler Carl, Before I Let Go, Ted animated, Five Star. Those aren’t the shows that they’re going to be doing. So it’s like taking advantage of what they’re bringing. But there’s so many other audiences that we can serve, and so we’re focusing on that as well.”

‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’: Production Update On TV’s Hottest IP

One of essentially the most anticipated upcoming collection on any platform is Peacock’s adaptation of Matt Dinniman‘s hugely popular novel Dungeon Crawler Carl, from showrunners Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer, Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door and Universal Global Television. Its progress is being intently watched by followers since the series’ June greenlight.

“We are currently in the process of meeting with directors, and then we’ll move on to casting, but the room started about a month ago, and we’re getting material and underway,” Katz stated of the collection, which is focusing on a 2027 manufacturing begin.

Not lengthy after Universal Studio Group poached Jordan Moblo from Netflix to run Creative Acquisitions and IP Management for the studio, he optioned Dungeon Crawler Carl when it was nonetheless self-published.

“Jordan Moblo in IP fell in love with it and got it. And then when we heard it, everybody — when these special things come and they’re so original and so unique, you just jump on,” Katz stated. “So we’re so grateful that we obtained in on the proper time, and we’re so enthusiastic about that one.

Katz has been in a position to witness first-hand Dungeon Crawler Carl‘s immense reputation.

“I was taking my son to camp, and he had it in his backpack, I sent it with him, I’m like, you’re not going to be on screens, you should read this book,” she stated. “And then we got to the airport, and there were two people in the boarding area that were both reading. Once you are aware of it, It’s everywhere.”

Katz and her staff rapidly jumped on the sister studio’s TV adaptation to set it up at Peacock. Had they waited, the venture could have gone on the open market, with everybody pursuing the now white-hot IP.

“I feel like the goal is always to find the best stories and that one, we all were like, we have to do this,” she stated. “So we’re really excited.”