Original Episodes of NBC's THE VOICE & SUPERSTORE to Air During Rio Olympics

Capitalizing on the highly-anticipated Rio Olympics, NBC will air special original half-hour episodes of the network's #1-rated comedy, "Superstore," and TV's #1 reality series, "The Voice," on Friday, Aug. 19 and Sunday, Aug. 21 (the night of the Closing Ceremony), respectively. Both episodes will begin at 10:30 p.m. following Olympics coverage.

"The Olympics give us a unique chance to expose some of our strongest shows to millions of viewers who might not otherwise see them," said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt. "So we wanted to showcase our great new comedy hit 'Superstore' with a special Olympics-related storyline, as well as blow the doors open on this fall's blind auditions of 'The Voice' featuring Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus - our two new coaches - alongside Blake and Adam. Much appreciation to Mark Lazarus and our sports division who bring us the gift of the Olympics every two years."

"Superstore" stars America Ferrera and Ben Feldman and a unique family of employees at a super-sized megastore.

Ferrera is the store's most stalwart employee who holds the place together, and Feldman plays the naive dreamer determined to prove work doesn't have to be boring. Their fellow associates include a unique collection of characters played by Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos and Nichole Bloom, who are overseen by the clueless store manager played by Mark McKinney.

In its initial season, "Superstore" averaged a 2.1 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers overall in "live plus seven day" ratings from Nielsen Media Research, making it the season's #2 new comedy on the Big 4 networks behind only CBS's "Life in Pieces," which benefited from a "Big Bang Theory" lead-in.

Following the Closing Ceremony will be the first 30 minutes of the 11th cycle of "The Voice," which returns Sept. 19 in its regularly-scheduled time period. The preview will pull back the curtain on two female coaches for the first time ever as Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus will take their places in the red chairs next to Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.

A singer, songwriter, actress and philanthropist, Cyrus hosted both the VMA's and "Saturday Night Live" in 2015. She was named Artist of the Year by MTV in 2013 and has released five #1 albums as well as seven top-10 songs. She also made an indelible mark performing on the "Saturday Night Live 40thAnniversary Special" in 2015.

A 15-time Grammy Award winner who has sold 35 million albums and 30 million singles, Keys is a world renowned artist and activist. She has released five studio albums, beginning with 2001's megahit "Songs in a Mirror," which reached #1 on the Billboard R&B charts and went 7x platinum. All four of her other studio albums - "The Diary of Alicia Keys" (2003), "As I Am" (2007), "The Element of Freedom" (2009) and her most recent, "Girl on Fire" (2012) - also hit #1.

For the 2015-16 season, the regular Monday and Tuesday editions of "The Voice" combined for an average 3.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 13.2 million viewers overall, according to "live plus seven day" averages from Nielsen Media Research. "The Voice" ranked #1 for the season among alternative series in adults 18-49 and consistently led NBC to nightlong wins on both Monday and Tuesday nights.

"Superstore" was created and written by Justin Spitzer, who also serves as an executive producer with director Ruben Fleischer, David Bernad and Gabe Miller & Jonathan Green. "Superstore" is produced by Universal Television, Spitzer Holding Company and The District.

"The Voice" is a presentation of MGM Television, Talpa Media USA Inc. and Warner Horizon Television. The series was created by John de Mol, who serves as executive producer along with Mark Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Jay Bienstock, Lee Metzger and Chad Hines.

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