NBC’s great comedy purge of 2013 is complete, and there are only two survivors. The cult favorite Community was renewed for a fifth season, joining Parks and Recreation as the lone survivor of the comedy bloodbath. Ryan Murphy’s freshman sitcom The New Normal was cancelled.
The renewal for Community is a slight surprise as the show hasn’t done much in the ratings and has been through a lot in the past year. Creator Dan Harmon left, problems with Chevy Chase led to him leaving the show and the fourth season was pushed back to mid-season on Thursdays after originally being scheduled for Fridays in October.
The renewal of Community might be because, starting in the fall, it will start to run in syndication on Comedy Central, which might give it a boost among new viewers.
Ryan Murphy’s The New Normal, on the other hands, was cancelled, just like the network’s four other new comedies of the past season. Combined with the cancellations of Up All Night and Whitney and the ends of 30 Rock and The Office, this means nine of the 11 comedies NBC aired this past season are dead. That’s a very high mortality rate.
Community and Parks and Recreation will be the only remainder of NBC’s comedy line-up, joining a host of new shows that includes ones starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Hayes.
Also,in news that will surprise no one, Smash is officially cancelled after two seasons. The move to Saturday nights was kind of a giveaway.
What’s New?
NBC has already ordered nine new shows four next season, and now it has three more to join them.
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Welcome to the Family: A white family and a Latino family come together in this comedy when their kids fall in love and have an unplanned pregnancy. The show stars Glee‘s Mike O’Malley and Desperate Housewives‘ Richardo Chavira.
The Blacklist: A drama starring James Spader (Boston Legal) as the world’s most wanted criminal who turns himself in and gives up the names of the people he’s worked with, but he’ll only talk to one new agent who he seemingly has no connection to.
The Night Shift: A medical drama about Army doctors working in San Antonio.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
