Here's Why It Won't Be A Super Tuesday For 'This Is Us' Fans

This Is Us Season 4 has been intense ever since the series returned in January. The mid-season premiere gave viewers Rebecca's first diagnosis something was wrong. Then the "A Hell of a Week" trilogy put all three triplets through their paces. Those were followed by both "The Cabin" and "Clouds," which were emotional roller coasters. With "New York, New York, New York" on the horizon, fans are on the edge of their seats. But "New York" will not be seen on it's regular Tuesday slot. Fans are horrified; why isn't This Is Us airing on March 3? Blame politics, again.

On the one hand, it's easy to see why NBC wants Tuesday to be a big deal for drama. Monday has the two-hour version of The Voice. Tuesday had a one-hour episode of the same, and following it up with a strong dramatic series cinches the night for the network. But if the broadcast producers had known This Is Us was going to be quiet this level of hit, they might have reconsidered. Tuesdays are problematic, especially in election years.

It starts with Election Day, which Congress made fall on a Tuesday beginning in the mid-1800s. Since then, everything else falls on Tuesdays as well. The State of the Union is always on a Tuesday. And on presidential election years, there's "Super Tuesday" when a vast majority of the country votes in the primaries.

This Is Us gets hit every year by the SOTU. This year, it's also getting smacked by Super Tuesday coverage to boot.

At least This Is Us is not the only show getting preempted. So is everything else on NBC that usually airs on Tuesdays, including The Voice and New Amsterdam. ABC will delay the new episodes of mixed-ish and black-ish by a week, and CBS will not air NCIS, FBI, and FBI: Most Wanted.

Instead, those tuning into NBC will find results coming in from 15 primaries in the fight for the Democratic nominations. Those states voting are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia, plus the territory of American Samoa.

The results will also roll in all night, with states like Virginia closing the polls at 7 p.m. ET, while California doesn't do the same until 11 p.m. ET. For political junkies, it's one of the biggest nights of the Presidential calendar year. But for This Is Us fans, it's just another, very un-super delay.