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.
