The second season of "This Is Us" will showcase a major episode right after next year's Super Bowl and promises to deliver the heartfelt moments the show is known for with fans. A cast member also convinced Sylvester Stallone to appear on the program.
NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt told the Television Critics Association during the summer press tour in Los Angeles earlier this month that an episode of "This Is Us" will air right after "Super Bowl LII" on the biggest night in television in 2018.
Greenblatt expressed, "It's going to be an extraordinary and... [very] emotional episode of television."
It won't be a standalone installment but rather one that will tie into events of the previous episode. Nevertheless, Greenblatt said that it will be able to bring in new viewers as well as keep the old ones too.
The NBC executive said, "[Creator] Dan [Fogelman] wants it to be very easy for someone to come into it rather than have them go, 'What is going on here?' At the same time, I think he really wants to pay off things for the [existing] fans."
As was learned last season, football was a big part of the Pearson family where Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) taught his wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore) the rules of the game. When Jack died, Rebecca made it a ritual to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers with his ashes.
It was also revealed that their children, Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Kevin (Justin Hartley), were conceived on the night the Steelers won "Super Bowl XIV."
In related news, critically acclaimed actor and writer Sylvester Stallone will make a guest appearance in the new season. It was revealed that Ventimiglia was the person who reached out to Stallone to come guest on the show. Ventimiglia co-starred in 2006's "Rocky Balboa" as the son of the titular character.
Ventimiglia stated, "I picked the phone up and called him, and he was very engaged and receptive and excited and the emails went back and forth."
The acting gig could give Stallone an opportunity to get award nominations for television.
"This Is Us" season 2 premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.
