The TV Column

Blacklist episode gets coveted post-Bowl spot

NBC’s hit drama The Blacklist, starring Megan Boone and James Spader, will air a special episode following today’s Super Bowl.
NBC’s hit drama The Blacklist, starring Megan Boone and James Spader, will air a special episode following today’s Super Bowl.

Are you ready for some football?

That's a rhetorical question on Super Bowl Sunday.

But are you ready for a mind-numbing 12 hours of pregame, actual game and postgame, followed by a special episode of The Blacklist? I wouldn't even bother getting out of my jammies if I were you. Just stock up on chips and dip and arrange for someone to check on you from time to time.

First of all, there's Postseason NFL Countdown from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN. Switch over to the NBC NFL special, Together, We Make Football, airing at 11 a.m. The official NBC Super Bowl pregame begins at noon.

That programming block, featuring Bob Costas and the Football Night in America crew, covers NFL minutiae (including, no doubt, deflated footballs) until 5 p.m. ahead of the actual game coverage from 5 until 9 or so.

Idina Menzel (Frozen) is set to sing the national anthem. Once she lets it go, kickoff is expected at 5:30 with Al Michaels handling the play by play and Cris Collinsworth the analysis. Michele Tafoya will prowl the sidelines.

Halftime will star Katy Perry and feature Lenny Kravitz, so expect her more family-friendly repertoire. That is, "Roar" and "Firework" are in, "I Kissed a Girl" is out.

The postgame show wraps it up from 9 to 9:15, then NBC takes advantage of all the fans too stuffed to change the channel and airs Part 1 of a special edition of The Blacklist. Part 2 concludes at the series' new time of 8 p.m. Thursday.

In tonight's episode, Red (James Spader) goes after arch criminal Luther Braxton, played by guest star Ron Perlman of Sons of Anarchy.

Why did NBC risk alienating fans and move The Blacklist, one of its most popular dramas, from its cozy slot on Mondays to highly competitive Thursday night? Follow the money.

NBC has given up trying to regain its former comedy glory days on Thursdays. Kids, ask your folks about "Must-see TV." These days, the programming juggernaut that is Shonda Rhimes has made ABC the dominant force on Thursday -- the most important night on TV because viewers are planning their weekends and advertisers want to reach them.

Rhimes is the dynamo behind ABC's triple Thursday whammy of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder.

Amaze your disgruntled Blacklist friends by reciting this esoteric explanation (as quoted in Variety) from Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment: "The multi-pronged strategy behind moving The Blacklist, which has shown enormous linear ratings and record time-shifting, is to not only enliven our Thursday night lineup but also create two desirable time slots -- lead-outs from The Voice [7-9 p.m. Monday] and The Blacklist [9-10 p.m. Thursday]."

He lost me at linear ratings.

Nine episodes deep into the 22-episode Season 2, The Blacklist is a complicated series to explain. Those who haven't seen the show should catch up using On Demand or at least read a comprehensive plot summary. Spader's sterling performance as former government agent Raymond "Red" Reddington is well worth the effort.

The basics: Brokering shadowy deals for criminals across the globe, Red was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives until he mysteriously surrendered at the beginning of Season 1.

Now the FBI sort of works for him as he identifies a "blacklist" of politicians, mobsters, spies and international terrorists. Red will help the FBI catch all these bad guys only as long as Liz Keen (Megan Boone, Law & Order: Los Angeles) continues to work as his partner.

There's more to that relationship than meets the eye.

Cats, dogs, kids. As I report in today's TV Week insert, there are alternatives for those who don't want to watch the Super Bowl.

Kitten Bowl II comes to Hallmark Channel at 11 a.m. and Puppy Bowl XI airs at 2 p.m. on Animal Planet. But that's not the most bizarre counterprogramming out there.

At 11 a.m., TLC and Discovery Life channels roll out the first Enfagrow Toddler Bowl featuring "America's cutest little future quarterbacks and fans." The barely disguised infomercial encores at 1 p.m. on Discovery Family Channel.

The half-hour will follow a gaggle of tots (ages 1 to 3) "as they go diaper to diaper in a series of physical challenges and brain-boosting games that represent crucial learning and growth developmental stages for toddlers."

And fish. Finally, the best Super Bowl alternative will be on the Nat Geo Wild Channel from 5 to 9 p.m. when Fish Bowl II airs. The four-hour special will feature Goldie the goldfish and her guest star, Charlie the clownfish. They take the bowl to a farm. Yep. That's it for four hours -- fish in a bowl on a farm.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 02/01/2015

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