First, the good news. According to Vulture:
Some beloved [30 Rock] characters are coming back for a farewell episode. Chief among them: Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters), a.k.a. the Beeper King, Liz’s horrendous ex-boyfriend. He’ll be on the season’s seventh episode, which airs November 29 and is titled “Mazel Tov, Dummies!” (Via)
STERN RULES BABA BOOEY. And now the bad. NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke spoke to TV Guide about the future of the network, specifically as it concerns to their sitcoms, and she said:
“We just want a different brand. We don’t want a narrow brand in the sense of some of those shows that we inherited here, which we’re huge fans of, [but] have a very narrow audience.” (Via)
Meaning, Parks and Recreation and Community (also, Up All Night and its bizarre retooling, but meh; The Office and 30 Rock are already done after this season). In reference to their beloved by the Internet, hated by the masses sitcoms, Salke says, “It would be easy if we hated those shows, but we actually love those shows,” which would explain why, despite their miserable ratings, Parks and Community will have aired five and four seasons, respectively. They’ve learned from their low-rated “mistakes,” though, which is why the Dwight Schrute spinoff The Farm is a thing that will only exist in the useless trivia section of our minds, right next to knowing that Geoffrey Lewis played Claude Cainmaker on Mama’s Family. As for the future of the Peacock:
It’s not simply a question of single-camera verse multi-camera comedy, or hip young adult ensembles verse traditional family comedy. For the future of NBC comedy, Salke points to Go On, The New Normal, and the network’s 22-episode mega-commitment for a Michael J. Fox sitcom next season.
So, Community-lite? Go On, or Goon, has the makings of a good show, if they ever ditch Matthew Perry’s Sadness as the main character. More Brett Gelman, please.
NBC also has a script in development from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, starring Anne Heche; the pilot Gates, based on a UK series about parents navigating the politics of their kids’ school; a script starring The Office‘s Craig Robinson; a project based on the feature About A Boy; a comedy from Ali Wentworth based on her marriage to George Stephanopoulos; and a sitcom starring The Voice‘s Cee Lo Green, based on his life.
If the last one is called Fowl Play and also stars Cee Lo Green’s bird, NBC, consider your problems fixed. It worked so well for Animal Practice after all.
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Go On is good. Silence your complaints.
Go On is good. I feel like Go On is the Comedy NBC always wanted, but Community is what they got instead.
It could be very good if Matthew Perry ditched the Mr. Sunshine act. It’s a shame to spend so much time on that when you’ve got Gelman and Seth Morris on your roster.
Go On is frustrating because they’ll have two episodes in a row that show progress and it looks like maybe everyone is starting to hit their stride and then they air an episode that takes multiple steps back. This has happened twice and there have only been 8 episodes. Granted, that is only 8 episodes and this is the show’s first year, but it is still frustrating.
Go On has only partially lost me so far with the Pleasantville bit in the one dude’s head. Otherwise, I like Matt Perry. It might be because he was the only Friends guy who wore a belt when he tucked his shirt in.
Has anyone else noticed that they’re really pushing their live audience shows lately (Whitney, Guys With Kids in particular)? Desperate push to build the audience, or a new trend?
I have seen this. They don’t really push Parks and Rec and treat Community like crap and they wonder why the audiences are small for these shows.
They are promoting the hell out of Revolution, Go On, The New Normal and, oh, hey, look, these shows are successes.
The NBC executives (even before Comcast took over) can’t seem to understand that there is a correlation there between people that know about the show (when it airs and when it is a new episode versus a repeat) and the ratings it receives.
Whenever you show that Cee Lo pic with the bird on his shoulder my brain flashes a split second of Pink sitting on his shoulder.
That’ll be a hundred and fifty grand, NBC. You’re welcome.
well on the plus side ill be able to continue to scale my tv viewing down.
I will watch a show called “Goon” if it’s an ongoing series about Sean William Scott committing heartwarming violence in the hockey rink or if it’s about an ugly guy and his crazy sidekick killing zombies in a noirish otherworld.
I love that you made both references, Dan.
No-Irish Underworld. So you got a problem with the Micks huh? You gonna have an even bigger one after we’re done with you.
is there any chance that another network picks up either community or parks after nbc?
I feel like Community would be a good fit for Comedy Central.
Nah, CC is too raunchy and not always as funny. FX definitely in my opinion.
Also, I only recognize “Animal Practice” as “Monkey Hospital”.
Community and Parks and Rec would be a great pickup for Netflix. Community has so much replay value it would be great to return it to its creator for a final season on Netflix.
final season? how about two more and a movie.
Parks and Rec, as much as I’ve loved watching it develop throughout the seasons, does seem to be nearing the end of its run. What started as a fun show that poked fun at–but also managed to show the importance of–local government through a cast of quirky characters has turned into a rather flat and boring affair.
I just watched this last weeks Go On and I have decided that I like it more than Community. I KNOW this is sacrilegious around these parts and let me be the first to say that I adore Community. I did however realize that I have been watching a show about dealing with loss in a funny manner. I am not applying my situation to any one else. And forgive me if I’m being presumptuous …. but I kind of feel they are nailing it on the ups and downs of losing someone (in a humorous light of course). I don’t think the Community comparison is fair… this show is hitting and succeeding on something different than outcast and fish out of water situation. It’s about loss and moving on and I’m not sure “Community Lite” is a fair comparison. I think, for me, it speaks to me. I just watched this last weeks Go On and I have decided that I like it more than Community. I KNOW this is sacrilegious around these parts and let me be the first to say that I adore Community. I did however realize that I have been watching a show about dealing with loss in a funny manner. I am not applying my situation to any one else. And forgive me if I’m being presumptuous …. but I kind of feel they are nailing it on the ups and downs of losing someone (in a humorous light of course). I don’t think the Community comparison is fair… this show is hitting and succeeding on something different than outcast and fish out of water situation. It’s about loss and moving on and I’m not sure “Community Lite” is a fair comparison. I think, for me, it speaks to me, and I think it merits it’s own conversation.
They should can goon and bring back community with some more spare chang