NBC’s comedies get shit ratings pretty much across the board. Sure, The Office does OK, but it’s been slipping lately and even at its peak wasn’t nearly as high as CBS’s behemoths. But when literally not a single NBC comedy is a big hit it’s hard to justify canceling the ones with mediocre ratings yet rabid fanbases. So that’s good news for us! The prognosticators over at TV by the Numbers, who have a pretty solid track record when it comes to these things, predicts that Community, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec and Whitney will all get picked up for new seasons. We don’t have long to wait to find out for sure; NBC will announce its fall schedule at its upfronts on May 14th.
In addition to some of our favorite low-rated comedies getting renewed, NBC also looks like it may start fall a little early this year in order to get a boost from its Olympics coverage. Apparently, new comedies Go On (Matthew Perry’s new show), The New Normal (“a heartwarming comedy about a blended family of a gay couple, Bryan and David, and a cash-strapped waitress and mother of one Goldie, who becomes a surrogate to help them have a child”) and Save Me (Starring Anne Heche, who “after an accident, starts to believe she is channeling God”) will all premiere in late August following the London games. And you know how much crossover there is between fans of competitive ribbon dancing and wacky sitcoms! In any case, it’s not totally clear just how this will play out. Will a newly revamped Wednesday night kick off in August with these new shows and Whitney, with our old favorites hanging back for a traditional September premiere in September, or will the entire fall schedule be moved up? We’ll see on the 14th.
