Nellie Andreeva

UPDATED: NBC has renewed midseason drama Parenthood for next season. While not an out-of-the-gate hit, Parenthood has been a solid performer in the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot,  averaging a 3.2 ‘Live Plus 7′ rating/9 share in adults 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers overall and topping regular competition in the hour, including CBS’ well-received freshman drama The Good Wife. Parenthood is the second freshman scripted series NBC has renewed, following the early pickup for comedy Community. On the unscripted side, NBC recently renewed freshmen Marriage Ref, Minute to Win It and Who Do You Think You Are?

The early renewal of Parenthood was done for planning purposes, so the writing staff can be locked in and writers and producers have plenty of time to work on Season 2, NBC and UMS’ scripted programming chief Angela Bromstad said. But  the network also wanted Parenthood and Community “to feel rewarded” with early pickups not tied to NBC’s fall development, she said. “Those are shows we believe in.” The fate of several other scripted series, including freshman Mercy, Chuck and Heroes, will depend on the number of new series NBC decides to pick up, with partial orders  for the bubble series seriously considered. (Heroes had been looking promising for a 13-episode final chapter” to air in the fall.) Parenthood, based on Ron Howard’s movie, is produced by Imagine Television and UMS. Jason Katims created the series and is executive producing with Howard, Brian Grazer and David Nevins.

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