The end of the 2025 TV schedule also marks the end of one sitcom's time in a prime slot on NBC. The Paper has been pulled from its time slot on Monday nights before the first season even finished airing, which is bad news for viewers who don't have a Peacock subscription. It's good news, however, for Taran Killam and Jenn Lyon's new sitcom, Stumble.
The linear run of The Paper is coming to an early end on NBC, according to Variety, and the rest of the first season will be missing from its original time slot when the 2026 TV schedule kicks off. The first seven episodes aired on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET. NBC will still broadcast the last three episodes, but on a much less enviable day. The remaining installments are set for Saturday, January 3, with no time listed at the time of writing.
Normally, a show being pulled from a prime weeknight slot would bode very poorly for its future, but that's not necessarily the case with The Paper. While I checked it out for the first time when the pilot aired on NBC, what I saw was actually an edited version of the episode that was already an option on streaming.
The Office spinoff starring Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Oscar Nunez is a Peacock original, with every episode of the first season available for binge-watching. The show perhaps not performing well on NBC isn't a sign that the end is nigh; a renewal for Season 2 isn't ruled out just because it's not finishing a linear run on Monday nights.
And what's bad for fans who have been watching weekly on NBC is actually good for fans of another mockumentary: Stumble.
Stumble is a freshman mockumentary about the world of cheerleading, with real-life coach Monica Aldama on board as an executive producer. Starring SNL alum Taran Killam, Claws vet Jenn Lyon, and Wicked's Kristin Chenoweth, the new comedy was given a Friday night time slot. Although that didn't work so well for Lopez vs. Lopez, which was cancelled back in the spring, the Stumble showrunners shared why it was "so flattering" to be paired with Reba McEntire's Happy's Place on Fridays.
Now, NBC is giving it a big push that will move it beyond its usual night. While new episodes of the comedy will continue airing in the 8:30 p.m. ET time slot on Fridays, the network will start broadcasting Stumble reruns in The Paper's previous 8:30 p.m. ET time slot on Mondays beginning on January 5.
The goal from NBC execs is reportedly for Stumble to gain some extra exposure by airing on Mondays, which is both a more popular night for network TV in general and behind the wonderful St. Denis Medical. The Stumble reruns will air on Mondays through February 2. NBC's usual Olympics coverage will take over primetime for most of February, and then Tracy Morgan's The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins will take over the post-St. Denis slot starting on February 23.
All of this is to say that The Paper being removed from weekly broadcast isn't the end of the world since it's a Peacock original, and the change could be good for Stumble having a future beyond Season 1. Every episode of both shows so far is available streaming on Peacock now as well.