I'm just gonna come right out and say it: 2014-'15 was not a great season for NBC. First, it tried to fix what wasn't broken by moving their flagship hit The Blacklist from its coveted post-Voice slot on Monday to the much more competitive Thursday night, and the ratings dwindled accordingly. Then, it completely dismantled its reputation as the go-to network for comedy by canceling existing sitcoms Parks & Rec and About A Boy without offering any worthy replacements. Finally, it failed to develop any compelling new series whatsoever, axing seven out of eight freshman series — including State Of Affairs, Katherine Heigl's heavily-advertised return to television — leaving Debra Messing's crime procedural The Mysteries Of Laura as the sole survivor of this particularly brutal season. Luckily, Laura fans can now stop wondering if their show is coming back and start wondering when The Mysteries of Laura is coming back.
I've got good news and bad news for you. Let's get the bad news out of the way first: NBC has only ordered 13 episodes for Season 2. (Of course, the network always has the option of ordering more if ratings look good.) The good news is, you won't have to wait until January for this shortened season. (CBS, which similarly renewed its struggling drama Person Of Interest for a 13-episode season, is holding that show for a midseason premiere.) Thankfully, Laura is on NBC's fall slate, which means — if it starts around the same time as it did in Season 1 — we're looking at a Sept. 16 premiere date.
The network appears to have learned its lesson from The Blacklist, as it hasn't tinkered drastically with its schedule for the upcoming fall season. Season 2 of Laura will be airing in its same ol' time slot: Wednesdays at 8 p.m. (which will pit it against comedies The Middle and The Goldbergs on ABC, Survivor on CBS, new drama Rosewood on FOX, and Arrow on The CW). So get ready for a brand new case load, Mystery solvers.
Images: Eric Liebowitz, Barbara Nitke/NBC
