After sitting on NBC’s shelf for over a year without a premiere date, the virtually canceled comedy “Friends with Benefits” went through a pair of potential premiere dates in less than a day.
After a flurry of initial reports that “Friend with Benefits” would be burnt-off on Saturday nights starting later in June, NBC has settled on a Friday, August 5 launch for the comedy.
“Friends with Benefits” will air back-to-back new episodes in the 8 p.m. hour on Fridays through September 9, running through 12 episodes in six weeks.
“Friends with Benefits” had been the last of NBC’s 2010-2011 new shows awaiting an air-date, following the two-and-out cancellation of “The Paul Reiser Show” and the current Thursday showcase for “Love Bites.”
Although there’s rarely cause for optimism when a series hovers in limbo for 14 months and then gets sent to the wasteland of Fridays in August, “Friends with Benefits” actually has a strong creative pedigree. The comedy’s pilot was written by “(500) Days of Summer” scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, directed by “Wedding Crashers” helmer David Dobkin.
The last of this development cycle’s comedies about pretty young people at different stages in their relationships (NBC already canned its other entry in the genre, “Perfect Couples”), “Friends with Benefits” stars Ryan Hansen, Danneel Ackles, Zach Cregger, Jessica Lucas and Andre Holland.
NBC’s “Friends with Benefits” will hit the small screen two weeks after the theatrical release of the raunchy romantic comedy “Friends with Benefits,” starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. Try not to get confused.