A community for fans of NBC's Community

FOX recently announced that American Idol will air on Wednesdays-Thursdays instead of Tuesdays-Wednesdays. This comes on the heals of a very busy offseason for the most-watched TV show in the US.

Because AI airs at 8 pm, Community now will have to compete with American Idol’s results show.

What does this mean for Community?

First the obvious: ratings will probably go down. However, I think CBS and Big Bang Theory will suffer more than Community. BBT has a lot more to lose than Community, and I think Community’s audience is a bit more niche and passionate than BBT.

Strangely, I think this could be good news for Community in the long run; if Community can hold its numbers pretty steady in the face of two of the top-rated shows in America, I think NBC will be a lot more lenient and likely to renew Community.

In all, this past week has really made me optimistic for Community’s future.

{ 0 comments }

After a week or two of this rumor floating around, NBC has officially announced a three-hour comedy block on Thursday nights. Community is staying put at 8:00 to open up the night and will lead into a new sitcom, Perfect Couples.

These changes take place starting January 20.

Here’s the new schedule. Shows at new times have been bolded. Shows not currently in the Thursday lineup have been italicized.

• 8:00 — Community
• 8:30 — Perfect Couples
• 9:00 — The Office
• 9:30 — Parks and Recreation
• 10:00 — 30 Rock
• 10:30 — Outsourced

Compare this to current schedule:

• 8:00 — Community
• 8:30 — 30 Rock
• 9:00 — The Office
• 9:30 — Outsourced

Here’s my analysis:

• My guess is that this is a good sign for Community: Maybe NBC has accepted it for the cult hit that it is (a la Chuck) and is okay with the show putting up mediocre numbers against its stiff competition as long as DVD sales and good reviews keep coming in.
• Moving on to other shows, the great news that could turn into bad news is that the excellent Parks and Rec has the best possible time-slot, following up The Office. Parks and Rec gets a number of viewers very similar to that of Community. My biggest concern here is that NBC will have shorter patience with the show since it’s in a valued time-slot. Still, this is a vote of confidence from NBC.
• 30 Rock’s jump from 9:30 to 8:30 did not cost the show very many viewers (less than 10% it seems), and it appears NBC is hoping that will happen viewers will stick with the show despite another move.
• The two shows that have the potential to suffer most from this new lineup are the two new shows: Outsourced and Perfect Couples. For Perfect Couples, Community does not serve as a great lead-in. Outsourced on the other hand has stayed afloat in large part to following The Office. Even with that, viewer count has dipped below five million. I predict Outsourced nosedives following 30 Rock and is not renewed.
• So, what’s the deal with Perfect Couples? It sounds painfully generic, to be honest, but I’ll give it a shot. Its one distinguishable characteristic for me is the casting of Olivia Munn, who has potential as a crossover star, but I tend to think she’s a bit annoying. Again, we’ll see.
• For the record… shows I want with all my heart to be renewed: Community, Parks and Rec. Shows that I enjoy but wouldn’t miss much at this point: The Office, 30 Rock. Show I dislike: Outsourced.

{ 3 comments }