Good news!! NBC has renewed COMMUNITY, THE OFFICE, and 30 ROCK for new seasons, according to Michael Ausiello. That means that their entire Thursday night comedy lineup will be back (Parks and Recreation has already been renewed).
At the start of the 2009-2010 fall season, critics were rooting the hardest for “Modern Family,” “Glee” and “Community.” At the halfway mark, two of those early favorites have shot ahead of the pack, while the squad from Greendale Community College is still trying to catch its breath.
The debut of the NBC sitcom attracted 7.7 million viewers, but since then it has averaged 5.4 million, enough to get a full-season pickup on a struggling network, but not enough to qualify it as a hit or guarantee a second season.
“We’re No. 1 among Asian pervs,” said actor Ken Jeong, who, like the rest of the cast assembled on set this January afternoon is more interested in cracking jokes than analyzing why their sitcom is off to a slow start.
There’s every reason to believe that with some patience and promotion, the sitcom will develop into a fan favorite.
“I’m really proud of the show we’re doing,” said Yvette Nicole Brown, who portrays the gang’s den mother. “I feel like the people who were meant to find the show will find the show, and I’m glad NBC has given us a full year to find that out.”
Here are the thoughts of comedian Donald Glover, 26, who plays Troy on the NBC sitcom “Community.” on Black History Month:
“We [America] are made of so many different parts. That’s important, to look at all the achievements that have been made. As for Black History Month in general, I’m kinda like, ‘Eh. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I don’t think a month is really substantial. I don’t think it’s a thing that can be bundled into a month. In a larger aspect, I don’t want to be categorized. I think a lot of African Americans have a lot of trouble trying to break out of categories of what people think they are and who they are, and you don’t ever want to label yourself.”
Joel McHale, the star of NBC’s hit sitcom Community, will be taking to the national pavement once again, bringing his brand of undeniable yucks to select cities:
• April 30: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
• May 7: Mystic Lake Casino, Minneapolis, MN
• May 8: Chicago Theater, Chicago, IL
• June 25 and 26: Borgata Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
The 88, who performs the theme for NBC’s Community, and have had songs featured in You Me and Dupree, Grey’s Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, and ads for Sears and Target, are headed back in time to tour with The Kinks. Well, not really. Instead, they will be the back-up band for the upcoming solo tour by The Kinks’ singer and songwriter Ray Davies.
The TV Addict – Good News: Working in its favor: The show seems to get funnier week after week. Plus, if there’s one thing NBC does do right, it’s nurture ratings anemic freshman comedies (see: THE OFFICE, PARKS AND RECREATION and 30 ROCK) Working against it: Emphasis on ‘ratings anemic,’ with COMMUNITY averaging a mere five million viewers and regularly coming fourth in its timeslot. Renewal Odds: Positive.
TV Squad:
As for the comedies, ‘Community’ is weak ratings wise, but so is ‘Parks & Recreation.’ If one has to go to make way for new product, it’ll be ‘Community.’ Still to be determined is ‘Parenthood,’ which has aired yet. NBC needs a massive cardiac jolt so don’t be shocked to see nice shows like ‘Community’ and ‘Mercy’ dumped. It’s not fair, but that’s TV.
THR has an article assessing the chances of shows being renewed for a second season, and good news for Community:
Ratings for the NBC comedy may not be hot, averaging a 2.6 with DVR added. But it has been a solid performer on Thursdays and NBC likes the show. With “Parks & Recreation” having received an early pickup with lower numbers, expect another semester. 90% (renewal chance)
Decisions as to which network shows will be asked back for the 2010-11 season will made over the next couple of months.
For NBC’s new comedy “Community,” it’s like being a college freshman with a 2.0 GPA — it’s doing OK but there’s no guarantee it will return for a sophomore year.
For those of you who have not found this cool comedy, “Community” features the biggest band of misfit schoolmates since “The Breakfast Club.” Their leader, Jeff, is an ex-lawyer (Joel McHale) who’s more interested in the social aspects of community college than making the grade.
The show has received critical support, but when it comes to viewers, “Community” falls in the middle of the 130 network programs on the five networks.
A solution for the low ratings from Chevy Chase, who plays the world savvy community college student Pierce, has him thinking like a transfer student. “We could go to another network,” Chase sarcastically suggests during an interview on the set.
NBC announced season finale dates for a variety of shows that extend all the way to Tuesday, May 25 with the season’s climactic episode of “The Biggest Loser” (8-10 p.m. ET).
Community last episode of the season (and we are still hoping that NBC will renew the show for a second season) is Thursday, May 20, 8-8:30 p.m.
Community NBC (communitynbc) is a fansite for the TV show Community on NBC. Community NBC aims to bring the latest news and information on the TV show “Community”. If you have any information that you wish to share with us, please send an email to admin@communitynbc.com.
Communitynbc.com (Community NBC) is not affiliated with NBC and is part of the SimchaBucks Network.