NBC Shuffles Schedule, Sets Premieres

NBC has shifted a few pieces of its fall schedule around, sending "Chuck" to Monday nights to pair with "Heroes" and turning on the "Friday Night Lights" an hour earlier.

The network is also banking that last week's big premiere for "The Singing Bee" can carry over to the fall, pairing the show with 90-minute episodes of "The Biggest Loser" on Tuesday nights. Additionally, Thursday comedies "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" will kick off with hour-long episodes and "Deal or No Deal" will move one of its weekly editions to Friday.

The biggest headline in the scheduling changes is the move of rookie series "Chuck," which stars Zachary Levi as an underemployed twentysomething who inadvertently becomes a high-value government asset. The show, from executive producers Josh Schwartz and McG ("The O.C."), moves out of a difficult Tuesday-night spot and into the 8 p.m. Monday spot, where it will lead into "Heroes" and another new show, "Journeyman."

All three shows have some element of fantasy -- Levi's Chuck has a massive spy database downloaded into his head, the "Heroes" have their powers and the central character in "Journeyman" (Kevin McKidd) is a time traveler. The network is also hoping to use "Sunday Night Football" as a launching pad for the Monday lineup.

On Fridays, "Las Vegas" and "FNL" have swapped timeslots, with "Lights" moving into the 9 p.m. hour, following "Deal," and "Las Vegas" and new cast member Tom Selleck settling at 10 p.m. "Las Vegas" will get a two-hour premiere on Friday, Sept. 28, with "Friday Night Lights" opening the following week.

The premiere dates for NBC are as follows (all times Eastern, new shows in bold):

Sunday, Sept. 9

7 p.m. "Football Night in America"
8:15 p.m. "Sunday Night Football"

Tuesday, Sept. 11

8 p.m. "The Biggest Loser" (two hours)

Monday, Sept. 17

8 p.m. "Deal or No Deal" (last Monday airing)

Monday, Sept. 24

8 p.m. "Chuck"
9 p.m. "Heroes"
10 p.m. "Journeyman"

Tuesday, Sept. 25

9:30 p.m. "The Singing Bee"
10 p.m. "Law & Order: SVU"

Wednesday, Sept. 26

8 p.m. "Deal or No Deal"
9 p.m. "Bionic Woman"
10 p.m. "Life"

Thursday, Sept. 27

8 p.m. "My Name Is Earl" (one hour)
9 p.m. "The Office" (one hour; new timeslot)

Friday, Sept. 28

8 p.m. "Deal or No Deal" (new timeslot)
9 p.m. "Las Vegas" (two hours)

Thursday, Oct. 4

8:30 p.m. "30 Rock"

Friday, Oct. 5

9 p.m. "Friday Night Lights" (new timeslot)

Thursday, Oct. 25

9:30 p.m. "Scrubs"