Here’s a brief rundown of what we know so far about the shows that are coming back next season. As Josh alerted last night, “Community” is back for 13 episodes, though more have not been ruled out. “30 Rock” has also been renewed for a FINAL season of 13 episodes. “The Office” will be back, as well. There has been no official renewal, but Ed Helms, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer all re-upped for next year yesterday. They wouldn’t do that unless there was a reason for them to return.
Moreover, while it’s not official, everyone and their dog knows that “Parks and Recreation” will be renewed, as will “Up all Night.” The question is when will they be renewed, and for how many episodes? So, fans of NBC’s Thursday night line-up, the only thing you REALLY need to worry about is whether “Community” will continue with the stubbornly inaccessible episodes next season, like last night’s and the “Inspector Spacetime” episode.
I should also note that “Parenthood” was renewed for another 15 episode season, which is great. They are also poised to renew “Celebrity Apprentice” for TWO MORE YEARS WHAT THE F— IS WRONG WITH YOU, NBC? Oh, and “Fashion Star” has been picked up for another year, too.
Meanwhile, over on ABC, there were a lot of renewals announced yesterday, none of which were a surprise. But before even you ask: NO. There is no word on either “Happy Endings” or “Don’t Trust the B—- from Apt. 23,” although BOTH are expected to be given renewals. Again, the number of episodes remains the only real question. I could actually see those two splitting time in the post-”Modern Family” slot again next year.
As for the renewals, they were: “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Modern Family,” “Suburgatory,” “The Middle,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Castle,” and “Revenge.” ABC also renewed “Dancing with the Stars,” “Shark Tank,” and “The Bachelor.”
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Thank God Shark Tank got renewed, I don’t want my girlfriend to lose what is inexplicably her favorite show on television.
Terrifying look-see at venture capitalism in action. I shudder to think how Uproxx is monetized.
… whether “Community” will continue with the stubbornly inaccessible episodes next season, like last night’s and the “Inspector Spacetime” episode.
Opinions not necessarily those of entire Warming Glow staff.
I don’t know- try showing any episodes from the back half of this season to someone who has never seen it and see if you can create a fan. Not necessarily a criticism, but Community seems to be content catering directly to that audience.
Agree with Chazz. I still find it enormously entertaining, but only because I get it. It has gotten to be completely self-referential. Again, I like it, but it is not going to grow like this. If they are OK with that and want go out with a 13 episode bang, cool. Coolcoolcool.
Eh, I don’t entirely buy into the whole concern over “inaccessible” episodes. In an era with Netflix, DVD, streaming(!), and torrents(!!), it’s easier than ever to get caught up between or during seasons. You can plow through the first three seasons in like a week or two if you want. I’d rather they make the show they want and put it in the viewers’ court to get it than have them smooth out the sharp edges to try to lure in casual viewers.
I like shows that reward people who watch them regularly.
Valid point DG- I think it’s a tough road to hoe for a struggling sitcom as meta and self-referential as Community so I appreciate that they are sticking with it.
I guess the bigger question is have the recent episodes been good, funny, or at least accessible enough for a first time viewer to want to catch up via netflix, streaming etc? I’m not sure they have.
I would rather have a great show that rewards repeat viewings and following it to provide a richer experience than claptrap like Big Bang Theory that you can turn on whenever just to see Sheldon Cooper be rude and smugly asexual.
I think the problem was that they got yanked with little notice, not knowing if they were coming back, and given little opportunity to re-jigger for a wider audience. This might be the opportunity.
Danger, you’re still looking at this from a WG point of view. To get the numbers you need to stay on TV, you need to bring in people who wouldn’t know a torrent from tourettes.
I’m still loving it, but understanding what some people are haters.
Bob — Not quite my point. I’m not saying people should watch torrents instead of the live episodes all the time. I’m saying there are a lot more ways to get caught up now than there used to be, so if people want to get into the show, it’s not that hard. They can see all the previous episodes THEN start watching live. It won’t pull in the same number of viewers as a more cookie-cutter CBS-style comedy, but I’d rather have a smarter, weirder, more interesting show that rewards its viewers for consistently tuning in for four or five seasons than a diluted version of the show I like that goes on for seven. You’re free to disagree, but that’s my take on the whole thing.
Danger- I completely agree (I’m a late comer to Community and did exactly that). I just don’t think the number of americans that can/would do that support a prime-time comedy.
NBC’s approach boils down to “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and if it is broke, might as well leave it alone too because you’ll only break it even worse.”
If P&R and Happy Endings get renewed, this will be the first season in the history of ever that nothing I absolutely love got cancelled. Thank you, TV gods.
I hope UNC gets hit with a tournament ban.
It is a complete travishamockery (and so totally typical of NBC) to cancel the most original and best written show on their network, “Awake”. Bastahhds
While I love full seasons, maybe getting into a format more like British series with shorter seasons will allow for the best episodes and not filler because we need 22 episode seasons. More concise story telling and maybe more room in the line-ups for other quality comedies.
I think shorter seasons are the way to go. I like to use FX and AMC as examples as they have the best original programming right now IMO, HBO up there too and they have shorter(12-13) seasons
While it’s fair to question the quality of Community lately — my opinion: spotty, inconsistent, but still better than most crap on TV — I just don’t understand the criticism of it being self-referential and a show that only rewards consistent viewing. I mean — from what I can gather of the WG commentariat, we all love/loved Justified, the Sopranos, the Wire, Mad Men, etc. Or, you know, shows that reward consistent viewing and make call-backs to previous seasons. Why should comedies be held to a different standard? That’s not a rhetorical question — I’m legitimately curious if there’s a reason to judge Community differently.
Well, generally, comedies are not highly “serialized”, as it were. My complaint is not that that is a bad thing per se, because I have watched the show from the beginning, and as a result, enjoy it immesely. The issue is that at this point, the way the show is going, it is catering only to fans like me, who have been there from the beginning. Almost every episode since the hiatus, would, in my opinion, make absolutely no sense to anyone not already familiar with it. Now, since this is year 3, that would not exactly be a-typical of most shows, but for a show with such modest ratings, it can be really hard to grow. Someone watching the show for the first time the last month or so would be hard pressed to want to try the show out through NetFlix or Hulu or whatever, at least in my opinion.
In my view, almost all of the episodes in the three series you describe stand alone. There’s more context and reward if youre a regular viewer, but you can really pick it up anywhere in the middle. Community will just delve into its own navel for an entire episode. And I like that navel. Well, Annie’s navel.
If they cancel Happy Endings then I am boycotting ABC!
The Office seems like it’s going to get a makeover. In the past week or two I’ve read that Catherine Tate and Mindy Kahling have signed offers to star in other sitcoms. BJ Novak will cowrite the Kahling show, Dwight Schrute will get his own spin-off show, James Spader is leaving, and of course, Toby (whatever his real name is) is leaving. Thank Jeebus because that show stinks.
Hey, easy on the Celebrity Apprentice. Absolute silence during the Celebrity Apprentice can earn you some CrissPoints.
If someone was unable to access last night’s Community episode, screw ‘em. It was awesome.
Grey’s Anatomy is still on the air? I thought that show was done like 3 years ago. Also I hope they drastically improve The Office.
It should’ve been canceled three years ago but it stayed on and is surprisingly awesome again.
Was last nights episode of Community that stubbornly referential? Ignore the scene in the mental ward for a moment. Everything stood on it’s own. Hating Brett Ratner, riding an ATV into the library, having funny looking hair and being ocd about your clothing play into those characters’ traits but as jokes they stand on their own. I mean look at Chang zapping his own balls and snorting dorritos, that’s as baseline lowest common denominator as you can get.
Well, when you put it like that… BRING IT ON TWO AND A HALF MEN!
Happy Endings and Parks and Rec renewed! (according to TV columnists on Twitter)