NBC Looks to Past Stars for Prime-Time Turnaround

Looking for what has been an elusive turnaround in prime time, NBC announced an aggressive new schedule Sunday, crowded with new shows and familiar names both in front of and behind the camera.

The network will try to rebuild its once-formidable Thursday night comedy lineup behind two of its stars from the past â€" Sean Hayes and Michael J. Fox. And it will try to use the strength of its hit singing competition, “The Voice,” to introduce a new drama on Mondays and new comedies on Tuesdays in the second half of the season.

NBC plans to introduce a record 17 new series in the season, aiming to keep fresh programming on the air as much as possible year-round. In all, the network will add six new comedies, eight new dramas and three new reality shows.

The schedule, announced by NBC’s chairman of entertainment, Robert Greenblatt, amounts to a full-scale effort to reconstruct NBC’s schedule with every night of the week affected, except Sundays in the fall, which will still be devoted to the network’s strongest asset, N.F.L. football.

Perhaps the most crucial changes come on Thursday, where NBC loses the only true hit comedy it has developed over the past decade, “The Office.” NBC will introduce three new comedies on that night, with the new series starring Mr. Hayes (‘Will and Grace”) getting the central spot at 9 p.m. That show, “Sean Saves the World” is about a gay divorced father trying to raise a teenage daughter.

It will be followed by Mr. Fox’s return in a show named after him, in which he plays a father coping with his family and Parkinson’s disease.

The other new Thursday night comedy is “Welcome to the Family,” about a couple who have to meld their quarrelsome families. NBC will lead off the night with the return of “Parks and Recreation” at 8 and end it with the drama “Parenthood,” a positive story for NBC this year and now getting the once-prime drama spot on the network.

But the drama NBC clearly has highest hopes for is “The Blacklist,” which stars James Spader as a most-wanted criminal who agrees to help the authorities track top criminals, but only with the help of a new, obscure F.B.I. agent. It will enjoy the 10 p.m. Monday slot, following “The Voice.”

The previous occupant of that time period, “Revolution,” posted some early good ratings. Now it will try to survive on its own on Wednesdays at 8.

NBC also is going for horror on Friday by adding to its successful “Grimm” series with a limited run of “Dracula,” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

NBC FALL SEASON 2013:

MONDAY 8-10 p.m. - “The Voice”; 10-11 p.m. - “The Blacklist”

TUESDAY 8-9 p.m. - “The Biggest Loser” (new day and time); 9-10 p.m. - “The Voice” (new time); 10-11 p.m. - “Chicago Fire” (new day and time)

WEDNESDAY 8-9 p.m. - “Revolution” (new day and time); 9-10 p.m. - ”Law & Order: SVU”; 10-11 p.m. - “Ironside”

THURSDAY 8-8:30 p.m. - “Parks and Recreation” (new time); 8:30-9 p.m. - “Welcome to the Family”; 9-9:30 p.m. - “Sean Saves the World”; 9:30-10 p.m. - “The Michael J. Fox Show”; 10-11 p.m. - “Parenthood” (new day and time)

FRIDAY 8-9 p.m. - “Dateline NBC”; 9-10 p.m. - “Grimm”; 10-11 p.m. - “Dracula”

SATURDAY Encore programming

SUNDAY 7-8:15 p.m. - “Football Night in America”; 8:15-11:30 p.m. - “NBC Sunday Night Football”

NBC MIDSEASON 2013-14 SCHEDULE

MONDAY 8-10 p.m. - “The Voice”; 10-11 p.m. - “The Blacklist”

TUESDAY 8-9 p.m. - “The Voice”; 9-9:30 p.m. - “About A Boy”; 9:30-10 p.m. - “The Family Guide”; 10-11 p.m. - “Chicago Fire”

WEDNESDAY 8-9 p.m. - “Revolution”; 9-10 p.m. - ”Law & Order: SVU”; 10-11 p.m. - “Ironside”

THURSDAY 8-8:30 p.m. - “Parks and Recreation”; 8:30-9 p.m. - “Welcome to the Family”; 9-9:30 p.m. - “Sean Saves the World”; 9:30-10 p.m. - “The Michael J. Fox Show”; 10-11 p.m. - “Parenthood”

FRIDAY 8-9 p.m. - “Dateline NBC”; 9-10 p.m. - “Grimm”; 10-11 p.m. - “Crossbones”

SATURDAY 8-10 p.m. - Encore and specials programming; 10-11 p.m. - “Saturday Night Live” (encore)

SUNDAY 7-8 p.m. - “Dateline NBC”; 8-9 p.m. - “American Dream Builders”; 9-10 p.m. - “Believe”; 10-11 p.m. - “Crisis”