Other than ESPN’s wonderful opening segments on Saturday mornings that had Ian Darke and Steve McManaman at the grounds of English football stadiums around England plus the always informative half-time chats between Paul Dempsey and Pat Dolan on Setanta, this weekend will be the first time ever in Premier League US soccer history where we have pre-match, half time, post-match and shoulder programming that are actually worth watching.

Instead of just tuning in when the match is getting ready to kick off and running away as soon as the final whistle blows, the quality and quantity of original Premier League coverage this opening week that has the potential to completely blow us away with 47 hours of EPL coverage coming to us in the first week.

Here’s the complete schedule of Premier League programming from NBC Sports for tonight through next Friday (all times Eastern):

Friday, August 16

7pm Premier League Preview Show, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) — This is the same show we’ve grown accustomed to from TWI/IMG.

Saturday, August 17

7am Premier League Live, NBCSN — The coverage to open up the Premier League season kicks off early in the morning with Rebecca Lowe hosting. Expectations are that the live footage from the grounds will begin as soon as the Premier League/TWI/IMG cameras are live, which means we’ll be able to see the teams lining up in the tunnel as well as experiencing the pre-match atmosphere.

7:45am Kick-off between Liverpool and Stoke City, NBCSN

9:45am Premier League Live, NBCSN — After the first match of the season, the discussion will go back to the studio with Lowe, Robbie Earle, Robbie Mustoe and Kyle Martino.

9:55am Kick-off between Arsenal and Aston Villa, NBCSN

9:55am Premier League Extra Time kicks off on participating TV providers. Games featured are Norwich-Everton, Sunderland-Fulham, West Bromwich Albion-Southampton and West Ham United-Cardiff.

Noon Premier League Live, NBSCN — The post-match reaction and analysis goes back to the studio for the team of Lowe-Mustoe-Earle and Martino.

12:30pm Kick-off between Swansea City and Manchester United, NBC — Note that the action switches from NBC Sports Network to the over-the-air NBC network where Arlo White will be commentating the match for NBC alongside Lee Dixon.

11pm Match Of The Day, NBCSN — The two-hour program shares the same name as the 50-year-old BBC classic, but it’ll be a different show that’s inspired by MOTD format of showcasing the highlights from the day. Rebecca Lowe is hosting alongside analysts Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe.

Sunday, August 18

8am Premier League Live, NBCSN — The coverage will lead up to the first match of the day.

8:30am Kick-off between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur, NBCSN

10:30am Premier League Live, NBCSN — The coverage will analyze what happened in the Palace-Spurs game, as well as lead into the next match.

10:55am Kick-off between Chelsea and Hull City, NBCSN

1pm Premier League Goal Zone, NBCSN — The brand-new 30-minute show will feature the goal highlights from the weekend of Premier League matches. The show features Rebecca Lowe, Kyle Martino and Robbie Mustoe.

11pm Match Of The Day 2, NBCSN — The program shares the same name as MOTD2 that used to be hosted by Colin Murray in England, but it’ll be a different show that’ll showcase the highlights from the day. Rebecca Lowe is hosting alongside analysts Kyle Martino and Robbie Mustoe.

Midnight Premier League match on replay, NBCSN — One of the matches from the weekend will be shown on tape delay.

Monday, August 19

2:30pm Premier League Live, NBCSN — The discussion will lead into the next match.

3pm Kick-off between Manchester City and Newcastle United, NBCSN

Midnight Premier League match on replay, NBCSN — One of the matches from the weekend will be shown on tape delay.

Tuesday, August 20

2am Premier League Review Show, NBCSN — The popular TWI/IMG review show returns to the airwaves for the new season reviewing all of the matches from the weekend.

7am Premier League match on replay, NBCSN — One of the matches from the weekend will be shown on tape delay.

Midnight Premier League match on replay, NBCSN — One of the matches from the weekend will be shown on tape delay.

Wednesday, August 21

2am Premier League Review Show on replay, NBCSN

7am Premier League match on replay, NBCSN — One of the matches from the weekend will be shown on tape delay.

2:30pm Premier League Live, NBCSN — The discussion will lead into the next match.

2:45pm Kick-off between Chelsea and Aston Villa, NBSCN

Thursday, August 22

7am Premier League match on replay, NBCSN — One of the matches from the past week will be shown on tape delay.

Friday, August 23

2:30am Premier League Match Pack, NBCSN

7am Premier League News, NBCSN — A new Premier League news show (presumably from Premier League Productions?)

7:30am Premier League match on replay, NBCSN — One of the matches from the past week will be shown on tape delay.

Get your DVRs ready!

Don’t forget that the above schedule doesn’t include all of the live coverage of Premier League matches via the NBC Sports Live Extra app.