Two episodes in, according to EW, Fox has already decided to pick up The Mindy Project for a full season, while ordering six more episode of Ben and Kate, which I believe brings that show to 19 (or nearly a full season). Despite a sudden interest in comedies, the new season has been scarce with quality ones, and — for better or worse — the Fox freshman comedies are the best of the bunch, although I am finding Matthew Perry’s Go On increasingly likable. The Mindy Project is kind of a mess, but a mess with the right ingredients to be a solid sitcom, while Ben & Kate is my favorite new sitcom of the season (and second favorite show, behind The Last Resort), even if Ben is grating.
In other news, guess who is coming to NBC’s Community this season?
The fourth season of Community — which we already know will include mustache rides and a take on The Hunger Games, plus guest stars Matt Lucas, Malcolm McDowell, and James Brolin, is now also adding Brie Larson in a guest role. The details of her character have been kept under wraps. In case you need reminding, Brie Larson is fantastic.
Not so fantastic? CBS is turning the Cameron Diaz movie, Bad Teacher, into a television series. I had a lot of hope for that film — how bad could a raunchy, sexpot Cameron Diaz character be? — but it was ultimately disappointing, thanks to the writing of Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, the guys who wrote Year One, as well as the Ghostbusters 3 script (no wonder it still hasn’t been made). They’ll be serving as exec producers on the project. The good news, according to Vulture, is that it comes from a writer on Community and Happy Endings, Hilary Winston.
Finally, NBC is also greenlighting Bear Grylls’ first network series, an action-adventure reality competition, Get Out Alive, set to air next summer. Details are scant; all we know is that it will feature teams of two engaging in a competition “beyond their most extreme imaginations in the wild.” NBC has ordered eight episodes of the series.
