'Grey' move has NBC red

Peacock shifts 'Apprentice' back

By Nellie Andreeva

Dec 21, 2007, ET

UPDATED 9:05 p.m. PT Dec. 20, 2007

The Thursday night scheduling tango between NBC and ABC continued Thursday morning when ABC officially announced that it will move the last original episode of "Grey's Anatomy" from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10.

That led to a reversal in NBC's Wednesday decision to push the premiere of "Celebrity Apprentice" from Jan. 3 toJan. 10 to avoid the first-run "Grey's."

NBC said Thursday afternoon that "Apprentice," hosted by Donald Trump, will now launch Jan. 3 as originally planned.

On Jan. 3, "Apprentice" will face the Orange Bowl on Fox as well as possible interruptions for news coverage of the Iowa caucus.

While scheduling tweaks in response to a rival network's scheduling changes are normal, multiple back-and-forths like those with "Grey's" and "Apprentice" are rare.

They underscore the heated rivalry between ABC and NBC, whose top programming executives, Stephen McPherson and Ben Silverman, are engaged in a public feud.

'Grey' move has NBC red

Peacock shifts 'Apprentice' back

By Nellie Andreeva

Dec 21, 2007, ET