NBC’s spring schedule underwent a pretty sizable makeover Thursday with the official announcement of a new drama from producer John Wells, a new night for Kings and a premiere date for Amy Poehler’s comedy.

The Wells show, Southland, will debut at 10 p.m. ET Thursday, April 9, taking over for ER after that series ends its 15-year run on April 2. That date is three weeks later than initially planned; the network earlier decided to tack on three episodes to the final season, leading up to a two-hour finale on the second.

Southland, which stars Ben McKenzie (The O.C.), Regina King (Ray), Michael Cudlitz (Life, Grosse Pointe Blank) and Tom Everett Scott (Saved, ER) as LAPD officers, has a six-episode order and will fill out the timeslot through the end of the season.

Its scheduling on Thursday nights means that Kings, which was to have taken the 10 p.m. Thursday spot, will move to Sunday nights. It will now premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, March 15 and will settle into the 8 p.m. timeslot the following week.

The Amy Poehler show, which still doesn’t have a title, does now have a premiere date. The show, a mockumentary in which she plays a local government functionary with big ambitions, will debut at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 9, leading into The Office. The show was created by Office executive producers Greg Daniels and Mike Schur.

NBC has also scheduled its cooking competition Chopping Block — which had been set for summer — to premiere at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 11. The show, hosted by renowned British chef Marco Pierre White, challenges couples to open and run a restaurant in New York.

Source: Zap2It