NBC to expand 'Sing Off' finale and sneak 'Perfect Couples' next Monday

This just in: NBC will use a newly expanded finale of hit competish "The Sing Off" next Monday to preview midseason sitcom "Perfect Couples."

"The Sing Off" finale will now run from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 20, leading into an episode of "Perfect Couples" at 10:30 p.m.

The "Perfect Couples" episode won't be the show's pilot, but instead an episode that NBC execs felt was one of its strongest. "Perfect Couples" will still bow in its normal Thursday at 8:30 p.m. slot on Jan. 20, when NBC officially launches its new six-comedy lineup.

In extending "Sing Off" an extra half hour and pairing it with "Perfect Couples," NBC won't run a repeat of "Chuck" at 10 p.m. as originally planned.

Season two of "The Sing Off" has turned into a surprise hit for NBC this month. Monday night's episode set series records (3.3/9 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall), and so far the show has averaged a 2.9/8 in the 18-49 demo, up 26% vs. last year.

In other NBC scheduling news, Peacock will pre-empt "Chuck" repeats on Dec. 27 to air a repeat of its time-buy telepic "A Walk in My Shoes." And on New Year's Eve, Friday, Dec. 31, the net will air two episodes of "Minute to Win It" at 8 p.m and 9 p.m., leading into "NBC’s New Years Eve with Carson Daly" at 10 p.m.

"Perfect Couples" centers on three different couples with very different relationships. Shoe stars Kyle Bornheimer, Christine Woods, David Walton, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Hayes MacArthur and Olivia Munn. Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri are exec producers, through Universal Media Studios.

Meanwhile, over at Fox, the network has reversed course yet again on how to air its remaining episodes of "Running Wilde." Fox had announced that it would run the show's final segs in December, but then scrapped those plans.

Guess what: "Wilde" is back on. Fox will indeed air the final segs on Sunday, Dec. 19 (at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.); Sunday, Dec. 26 (at 9:30 p.m.) and Tuesday, Dec. 28 (a one-hour finale at 9 p.m.). Until it decides not to again.