NBC KEEPS "ER" ON AIR

NBC president Kevin Reilly has announced that the Peacock network will abandon their original plans to put "ER" on a 13-week hiatus during the winter.

Initially, NBC was going to launch a new series "The Black Donnellys" about an Irish family with Mafia connections living in New York at some point mid-season. The idea was to keep the veteran medical drama rerun-free this season, as the network was somewhat disappointed with its ratings last year.

NBC which is known for its "super-sizing" of sitcom episodes as much as earlier starts for its popular shows, reflected its lack of confidence in "ER" by changing its official timeslot from 9:59pm to 10:01pm.

The drama which is now in its 13th season, however, managed to beat out new shows on ABC and CBS, the two networks that have larger audiences in the 9pm hour and gain audience as opposed to last season.

For this reason, NBC will not only keep "ER" on Thursday nights all season long, but it may also increase this year's episode order from the standard 22 to 24 or more. I suppose, after all these years, good ole "ER" is still a safer bet than the somewhat gloomy and risky "Black Donnellys".