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UPDATED: It looks like NBC‘s 30 Rock will be back for a likely abbreviated seventh and final season. I hear the Emmy-winning comedy has closed deals with its key high-level writers to return for what is expected to be a final season of 13-14 episodes. Among those who have signed on to go back are co-executive producers Jack Burditt and Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan. As for NBC’s other bubble comedies, newbie Whitney does not appear likely to return. Fellow freshman Up All Night has been looking better, but its executive producer Jon Pollack just moved to NBC’s newly picked up comedy series Go On as a co-executive producer. Is this a bad sign for the future of the family/workplace comedy starring Christina Applegate or just a case of staff turnover? (UPDATE: It looks like it’s the latter — I hear that the show is actively looking for a new co-showrunner to replace Pollack, an indication that NBC intends to renew the freshman comedy.) Meanwhile, veterans Community and Parks And Recreation both are in the running, with Parks’ renewal considered likely. I hear that, like 30 Rock, all returning NBC comedy series are likely to get short orders. That would save some coin and allow NBC to pick up more new comedies.
Related: ‘New Normal’, ‘Revolution’ & ‘Save Me’ Picked Up To Series At NBC
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Say good-bye to Up All Night. A network would never let a showrunner move to a new show if they were planning on even possibly picking it up… Unless they didn’t like the showrunner. But considering they just hired him to do a new show, they do like him and Up All Night is dead! Now if they’re just smart enough to cancel some more of their “everybody loves them but no one actually watches them” comedies.
I think Whitney’s a pretty bad show, but it’s clearly a stronger property than Up All Night. The fact that NBC is willing to bow to Lorne as a producer instead of a show that should be more likely to renew than Up All Night, given its numbers, is so silly.
In what way is “Whitney” a strong property than “Up All Night”?
Ratings…
For real… UP ALL NIGHT is miles above WHITNEY
I liken Whitney to the first season of The Office. People just don’t get it. It’s a hilarious show and I pray it returns. And not just because of the eye candy. All one has to do is watch the early episode with the engagement surprise in the park. Once those ducks walk into the scene, forget it. I practically wet my pants laughing. It’s a BRILLIANT show, and I’m not paid to say that. Ignore all the haters, Whitney. It’s what people do when something is so good.
While “Whitney” wasn’t great TV, it has potential to go places & has the ability to grow. Like it says above, the “everybody loves them but no one actually watches them” comedies are what hurts NBC the most. If done right, comedy can do well for the network and actually dig them out of the hole. But the network insists on launching comedies around their low rated ones.
Dammit Whitney!!!, i really want you to come back
“Whitney” not coming back. Imagine that.
Well, seeing as NBC “sister” network E! just gave Whitney her own “Chelsea-esque” talker, I would say that the network wanted to keep her around, but not her show. Its still sad that the “good” Whitney show (2 Broke Girls) turned out to be so bad, yet got picked up by CBS and the “bad” Whitney show turned out to be good in the end, but canceled.
People who say Whitney is good, obviously has never watched Whitney.
People who say Whitney is bad should obviously check their grammar.
If Community gets a short order, I’m gonna sob my face off.
I feel the same way about Parks and Rec!! WHYYY
I will sob alongside you
And you have my bow..
And my AXE!
It would be time to start sending Evil Troy & Abed Mustaches to NBC again…
And one more thing…….
How are Community & Up All Night better shots at returning when the both of them performed poorly compared to Whitney? While the margins were not a whole lot better, every tenth of a point makes a difference.
This loyalty towards SNL alum & critics who adore these comedies is what will kill NBC. I’m glad the new comedies are slightly more broad and appealing.
Because Whitney was almost universally panned because of its terrible writing. Community is critically better.
Community is MUCH, MUCH BETTER!
You haven’t actually looked at the ratings, have you? Community and Up All Night have both averaged higher than Whitney in the spring, thus far.
Actually no…Whitney scored higher in the 18-49 demo for the last few episodes than Parks & Rec and Community have lately.
‘Community’ goes up against ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’, which are two of the highest rated shows on television.
‘Whitney’ goes up against… can anyone name a Wednesday show worth watching in the 8 PM slot?
As much as I LOVE Community, the show does not do substantially better versus reruns of Big Bang and no Idol/Xfactor competition. Its a niche show that truly belongs somewhere like FX (or other cable outlet) where it would more than likely retain most of its audience while getting more leeway to become quirkier and more meta than it already is.
I will be sad if its canceled outright, but I did not expect it to be picked up for more than the “half order” as seems it may be. P&R is the one that is strange to me. I was under the impression that P&R got substantially better numbers than it seems to be doing.
All in all, NBC just does not have the “brand power” to promote their own shows these days. When Biggest Loser is your biggest ratings, its hard to promote sitcoms to that audience. Those sitcom viewers are watching New Girl and Cougar Town during that reality show block.
a little show called Survivor. ever heard of it? does about 9.5 million viewers on an off night.
Umm, Whitney also was up against American Idol.
I’m wondering if you know what average means. Plus, your statement really isn’t even true in P&R’s case (it’s a tie).
Nearly every show has tanked a bit in the past few weeks for whatever reason, including other networks and big ratings shows like Big Bang Theory. Despite Whitney not even running during this time, it is still lower for spring averages than any other veteran sitcom. That’s really bad for a freshman show.
What B said.
What Amy said.
Do your homework UP ALL NIGHT conistantly did better ratings than WHITNEY – which sucked.
UP ALL NIGHT best new comedy on that network, hands down
Have you done yours?
Obviously, Homework has done their homework. UP ALL NIGHT was the best new comedy on the air this season. It did have better ratings than WHITNEY. UP ALL NIGHT is like EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND. No one watched it for the first 2 or 3 seasons, then once people started watching it, it blew up. UP ALL NIGHT needs time to find it’s place on NBC. It’s a good show with good actors and writers.
Swoosh? Just like that? 13-14 episodes not a full season? Too short. A ground-breaker on so many different levels and worthy of the legacy of “Mary Tyler Moore” and yet completely different, novel, original. I hate to see it go. Still, maybe this will give Fey the time to get the green light (finally) for her pet project “The Rural Juror.” Fingers crossed.
Short orders, with the option of picking up the back nine if they perform well, I guess.
I expect NBC will probably use shortened ’30 Rock’ and ‘Community’ seasons (optimistic here) to bridge ‘The Voice’ on Tuesdays.
TUESDAY (fall & spring)
The Voice/ NEW COMEDY/ NEW COMEDY/ Parenthood
TUESDAY (winter)
Community/30 Rock/ COMEDY COMEDY/ Parenthood
Would NBC actually consider giving ‘Office’ a shortened season? GASP. Not that it deserves a much bigger episode order than 30 Rock & Community. But still – the times they could be a changing.
If Community is renewed they won’t be giving it a 13-episode season. It needs 17 to reach the 88 for standard syndication and they aren’t just going to leave it 4 episodes short of 88. If they choose to renew it it’s gonna be for at least 20 since the main argument for communities renewal is the syndication next season.
It’s already been sold into syndication on Comedy Central. Ordering more episodes is mostly just to be nice and put a few more on CC. But it could be very well be just 13. Or less! Or more! But sorry, there’s no right answer.
Six seasons and a movie!
Problem being, Community has already been picked up for syndication.
That’s certainly an idea.
I don’t care how many episodes of Community we’ll get. I just want the study group to graduate.
EXACTLY.
Parks and Recreation is NOT on the bubble. It is NBC’s 2nd highest rated comedy and has had the most stable ratings.
Think they’re making the right move on 30 Rock. It’s earned it’s place in TV’s hall of fame and now it’s time to give it a dignified send off.
Well said. Totally agree. Now if only The Office would read that memo.
Word.
Give it a final season, however long, but sign Tina Fey and the others associated with the show to new deals so they can develop new shows. It’s a shame that NBC couldn’t have launched “30 Rock” behind “Friends” or another strong show; perhaps then it could have blown up like it should have. Still, it has loads of talented people working on its shows, and once they get growing lineup, these people can get the audiences they deserve.
Parks & Rec, Community, and 30 Rock = best comedies on NETWORK TV… so NBC wants to give them a short order … why??? NBC brass are fools.
Based on their ratings, no. No they are not.
Yes, because ratings are the only thing that determines a show’s quality.
Yeah, ratings don’t have anything to do with the show’s quality, but it does have to do with how much money they can make off of it. The higher a show is rated, the more they can charge for commercial time, and that is where the station pulls in its money.
Nielsen system does not represent the entire tv watching population and certainly not the fans of these shows. It’s fairly outdated and it should be updated.
But what about syndication? ’30 Rock’ is already there and ‘Community’ and ‘Parks and Rec’ must both be creeping up on 100 episodes.
If they’re just going to replace their good, low-rated comedies with garbage like ‘Whitney’ and ‘Chelsea’ then why bother? Surely a comedy with a fanbase and syndication rights is worth more than a universally panned, low-rated monstrosity…
snesfreak – since you snarked back: the medium of TV was created and still exists to SELL ADVERTISEMENTS not to entertain you or myself. So, no , ratings do not equal quality nor will they ever. But ratings NOT QUALITY determine what gets to stay on the air.
*nothing* on NBC gets ratings, though. it’s better to have good shows that get shitty ratings than shitty shows that get shitty ratings.
NBC needs to look at ITSELF. They have great shows but no one is tuning in.
It’s not the creatives, it’s the network promotion.
Agreed. Just look at the Super Bowl…
They had the biggest platform on the planet to use to promote their shows. We get one 30 second ad for all of NBC’s Thursday comedies with some Russian peasent turning a wooden wheel and two hours of commercials for ‘The Voice’ and ‘Smash.’
How do they expect these shows to improve their ratings without promotional help? Word of mouth only goes so far.
Also, NBC reaches a younger demographic than CBS & Fox. That younger demographic watch the shows on Hulu and during the week on their DVRs. No one schedules their life around TV anymore.
I really don’t care about anything else NBC had to offer next season, but short ordering parks & rec will cause mass hysteria. Ok, maybe not that, but its fan base will be pissed.
THIS.
I tried on three different occasions to watch Up All Night, usually when there was just nothing else on, but I could never get into it. Just not that funny, which is not so great for a comedy. The talent Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolph was completely wasted here. Obviously I can’t be the only one who thinks this because few people (in comparison) are actually watching it.
I don’t understand why Parks is still considered a bubble show…I thought it was pretty clear that it’s the new Office.
I swear if Whitney gets cancelled, it will ruin my “Pilot pick up week”, its the only new show i’m worried about, the other ones i like are safe.
Community needs to come back! After all of the fan support it has gotten since the hiatus, it would really be devastating if NBC just got rid of it.
Oh dear! Community is simply marvelous, it’d be so awful to see it go! D: I’m thankful for hulu at least slightly revealing the huge fan base that doesn’t watch it on TV. Six seasons and a movie – fingers crossed!
After sticking with Community and Parks and Rec for this long, NBC would be stupid not to renew them for at least one final season, especially since in both cases this will tip the episode count into a higher value syndication bracket. Better to bring those back then take a gamble on another season of Up All Night, which will never make it 3 more seasons.
Not surprised to see Whitney in question. Some stand-ups translate well to sitcom like whitney herself. Loading a whole cast with unknown standups makes for too many non-actors missing a note here and there and becoming a symphony of sharps and flats. Here’s hoping for a better idea in its place.
Parks and Recreation needs 20 episodes to reach syndication numbers. It would be stupid to give it a shortened season when just a few more episodes would push it to syndication territory. I say it will get at least 20.
Hopefully NBC doesn’t piss of the 3 million viewers who are still watching 30 Rock, P&R and Community. Yes, 3 million. Critically acclaimed or not, NBC is losing buckets of money on these shows and the ratings are getting worse, not better.
It really looks like they’re ramping up to clear the decks.
Community needs at least 17 eps to reach the minimum number necessary for syndication. I think they’ll get them considering it has already made a deal with Comedy Central.
One word: syndication. NBC needs all the money they can get. They just need to give Community and Parks and Rec new time slots.