There was a time when Thursday night on NBC was truly `` must-see TV '' -- and it was thanks to comedies . The lineups changed gradually over the years , but they always brought in huge ratings and trounced the competition . The golden age began in the 1980s with a lineup of classics including the top-rated `` The Cosby Show , '' `` Family Ties , '' `` Cheers '' and `` Night Court . '' The 1990s brought the debuts of `` Seinfeld '' and `` Friends , '' which went on to become two of the decade 's top TV sitcoms . Those days are long gone . On Friday , NBC announced a new midseason schedule completely absent of Thursday night comedies . `` Parks and Recreation , '' the last of the string , is set to finish its run on Tuesdays . The new Thursday will have hit drama `` The Blacklist '' as its centerpiece . The day has been on the horizon for years . After `` The Office '' and `` 30 Rock '' ended and `` Community '' was canceled , Thursday comedies began to dwindle . Shawn Pasternak , a hardcore TV watcher who posts his musings at @ ShawnCP92 , said ABC and CBS have made strides on Thursdays in recent years , loosening NBC 's grip on the night . `` What was really interesting to me was what happened last season , when NBC made a concerted effort to sign NBC Must See TV Thursday alumni Sean Hayes and Michael J . Fox to very prominent sitcom deals , both of which flopped completely in the 9 p.m. hour , '' he observed . It 's also a sign of changing TV viewing habits , Diane Gordon of The Surf Report said . `` Today 's viewers watch TV in entirely different ways than they did in the 1980s and 1990s and broadcast networks are hit hardest by this change , '' she said . `` Many viewers , especially younger viewers , watch shows on demand via DVR and via streaming services like Hulu , Netflix and Amazon . This means there are almost no TV shows that are appointment TV like there were in the '80s and '90s . '' That could have signaled the real end for NBC 's comedy legacy on Thursdays . Nows , NBC 's Monday hit drama `` The Blacklist '' will make the move to that night , following a prime showcase after the Super Bowl . NBC is hoping to make a ratings dent in ABC 's Thursday night dramas , not to mention CBS ' Thursday night comedy lineup , led by `` The Big Bang Theory . '' This comes in a season where many of the canceled shows have been comedies , including NBC Thursday night shows `` Bad Judge '' and `` A to Z . '' `` As a longtime fan of TV comedy , it 's sad to see a broadcast network make this decision , '' said Gordon . `` I hope they 're not permanently abandoning the Thursday comedy lineup . ''
NBC announces that Thursday comedies will be replaced by drama in the new year . `` The Blacklist '' will be the centerpiece of the new lineup . Thursday has been the home to hit NBC comedies for over three decades .