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It worked big time for the premiere of Fox’s comedy New Girl, and NBC will now stream the second episodes of its promising new comedies Up All Night and Whitney in their entirety before they air. NBC has struck a deal with Yahoo to have the Wednesday episode of Up All Night and the Thursday episode of Whitney streamed and promoted on Yahoo’s site starting tomorrow morning. Following a 2-week stint of having the pilot of New Girl pilot available on iTunes, VOD, airplanes, Hulu and in hotels, the Fox comedy blew past any ratings projections to open with a 4.8/12 in adults 18-49 and 10.3 million viewers last week. The Yahoo deal does not include NBC’s third new comedy, Free Agents, which appears headed to a quick cancellation.
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The streaming of NEW GIRL worked because of Zooey’s appeal and huge fanbase amongst both men and women (men and women of a key, young demographic too). WHITNEY can’t work this way, because it’s not a good enough show. It can be, but not yet. Two Broke Girls will last, so she’ll have one show on the air, but this self-titled one won’t be around for long. Unfortunately, the billboards are better than the series. I don’t blame NBC or her for trying though; she’s semi-known but not well-known, like Jerry Seinfeld was at the debut of his sitcom, and the star is appealing, like Jerry… plus, it’s a throwback laugh-track sitcom, which is what Jerry’s was. But also like Seinfeld, who needed a season and change to figure itself out, Whitney needs to be re-tooled — unfortunately, networks ain’t so kind these days, so Whitney’s days are likely numbered.
And Up All Night could benefit from losing Maya Rudolph… oh, and stop trying to be so “hip”. The dialogue is brutally contrived. Tries to be so “clever”! So “now”! Lol stop! You know you’re not laughing when you hear the actors say their lines on the dailies, writers/producers, but you’re so convinced America will find it clever that you force a snicker outta yourself. Terrible.
Maya Rudolph is the best & funniest thing on the show. Her divalicious character is great. It’ll be nice to see her adjust to the baby. The wooden and permanently surprised Will Arnett — it’s a wonder he’s still on TV. Looking like Zoltar from Battle of the Planets. And Mariah Carey’s husband was delightful as well. Christina Applegate rocks!
Yay up all night!
This sounds like an interesting idea, but why doesn’t NBC add Community. If any show was tailored to being promoted this way Community is it.
That’s more of a Sony show.
I can see how this would be effective for a pilot, but why would someone want to stream the 2nd or 3rd episode of a show they haven’t seen before?
Let me know when they put it on iTunes, Ive never heard of this “Yahoo” thing they speak of.
Que?!! They no cancel Whitney? Chale!!!
As opposed to streaming it on, say, a service people actually use, like Netflix, iTunes, Hulu or Amazon?
They should stream it on Friendster. Nobody will watch there, either.
Whitney is hilarious and definitely a refreshing 25 to 55 crowd sitcom. It’s about time we had some adult humor here without children!
And we’ve got enough drama reality at home, so it’s great to be entertained once again with Whitney.
The writing will get better as all shows progress and find their palette of colors, their niche. It’s art. Give it a chance to sink in.
No laff tracks here, though. A live audience as it’s being recorded like Drew Carey, Mork and Mindy, and Happy Days. The magic happens in real time, and the actors have the benefit of playing off the audience rather than just the writers laughing off-camera. See for yourself by attending a show!
Just give it a couple of seasons and you’ll see the return of the real sitcom, aka Whitney, and NBC will reap the benefits once again!
Does previewing an entire show that affect the Nielsen ratings?
I totally agree with this. I found the pilot enjoyable and though Whitney is extremely unlikable in real life, she’s undeniably a talented and funny actress.
Whitney = FAIL.
Ah, Ms. Cummings. This young comedian recently appeared on one of the late-night talk shows and proceeded to act like a blithering idiot while trying to flirt with Gerard Butler, who was trying to promote his lame movie, “Machine Gun Preacher”. I felt bad for Whitney. First a lame show, followed by a lame late-night appearance.
I remember a time when funny people used to be actually, well, funny. Guess that doesn’t count for much any more. Just show up, exude pseudo spicy braggadocio and have a tart tongue — then cue the laugh track. Whitney’s clock is ticking from 15 minutes to zero with alacrity. Count on it — her show will end up on the dust heap of failed NBC experiments, right along with “Outsourced”, “Daddio”, “Fired Up” and “Inside Schwartz”….
Please, Bobby, don’t hurt ‘em!
But true, out of the three single-gal sitcoms that preemed last week, Whitney is definitely the weakest. And no, it’s not because of the studio audience. It’s just that Whitney herself isn’t appealing or funny, at least to me. The supporting characters had funnier lines.
I watched the New Girl pilot on my TiVo. It was not funny. For a comedy, this isn’t good. I don’t think this one will last.
My first read of the headline saw “steam up” and I thought yes, that’s what those shows need. Then I realized it said stream and my heart sank. If they don’t retool Whitney and Up All Night they are both doomed.
I have been seeing the “previews” for “Whitney” and have been impatiently for it to air. I have never been a big fan of most new up-n-coming shows but this one has caught my attention. Please tel this dummy what I need to do to watch tha streaming epps on Yahoo!
Whitney is AWFUL. Awful awful awful awful awful. Painfully unfunny. Nothing is worse than a good looking chick who thinks she is funny. Please, please cancel that show so we never have to hear from her ever again.
This is wonderful news.
Now, in addition to not watching these shows when they’re broadcast over the air, I can also not stream them from a website that I never go to.