No one likes to hear about their favorite shows being delayed, but it’s even more annoying when appointment viewing gets pushed back. If you are a This Is Us fan, you may not be super pumped to hear that the February 5 episode of the NBC drama is being delayed to make room for President Trump’s State of the Union address.
Originally, the State of the Union address was expected to air earlier this week on January 29. However, after the government shutdown, President Trump ultimately decided to swap the date of the 2019 State of the Union address, shifting it to February 5 instead. Unfortunately, on that date This Is Us unknowingly had a big episode planned.
Because the major networks generally air the State of the Union address (along with the more newsy channels) as it is unfolding, it is not a huge surprise that NBC ultimately made the decision to bump the February 5 episode to February 12 and so on and so forth. With that in mind, NBC will not be the only channel airing the State of the Union address. ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN and Fox News have all also committed to airing the State of the Union address live. Work has to go into a televised address and the February 5 date should give enough time to plan for the televised event.
This is changing a lot of This Is Us dates, however, not simply the date at the beginning of next month. Since one episode has to change the plan for all episodes is also having to change. The finale was originally supposed to air on March 26. Now, EW says the episode will air on the evening of April 2. It's a small difference, but I'm sure it's a bit of scheduling nightmare for all of the people involved with marketing and getting the show to air weekly.
This isn’t the first time the Trump Administration has cause a change to This Is Us’ schedule. Back in 2017, it also happened when President Trump addressed Congress during a joint session.
The change in date has a bright side. At least if we miss an episode now, the series will continue airing into the month of April, which will give us a little bit of additional time with characters like Randall, Kate and Kevin. Getting an extra week of new television in the spring is never a bad thing. Plus, it’s not like the episode in question is being pulled from the air completely.
Although, you can’t please everyone.
Barring, February 5, new episodes of This Is Us air on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, only on NBC. To take a look at what else is heading to TV as the weather -- hopefully -- starts to warm up, take a look at our midseason premiere schedule.
