NBC shelves ‘Community’ season 4 premiere for ‘Grimm’ repeats
Six seasons and … more waiting.
For the second time in less than a year, NBC has opted to push back new episodes of “Community,” but on this occasion they may be doing something that angers more fans than ever: they are airing repeats of “Grimm” in its place at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. (Yes, we know that the same thing is happening with “Whitney,” but we don’t really hear that many people talking about that show with the same sort of passion.)
So what is the reason for this move? In a statement, the network claimed that the delay was so they could put more of their focus for the time being on promoting new series rather than helped to launch old ones on a new night:
“Given the success we’ve had for the past four weeks – including winning the first week of the season in A18-49 – we’ve decided to continue to concentrate our promotional strength on our new NBC shows that are scheduled Monday through Wednesday and have therefore decided to hold COMMUNITY and WHITNEY from their previously announced premieres of October 19th. Without having to launch these comedies on Friday at this time, we can keep our promotion focused on earlier in the week — plus we will have both comedies in our back pocket if we need to make any schedule changes on those nights. When we have a better idea of viewing patterns in the next few weeks, we will announce new season premieres of WHITNEY and COMMUNITY.”
While we are as upset as anyone to have to go longer without seeing more Greendale adventures, we do really feel that this is the right move. Why? In delaying “Community,” you are giving a little bit more of a show for it to get higher ratings on another night. It honestly probably would have tanked on Fridays, and with “Animal Practice,” “Guys with Kids,” and “Up All Night” all floundering, there are three spots in the schedule that could be “Community’s” later this season that give it a little bit more of an opportunity to actually succeed in the ratings … and none of them are up against “The Big Bang Theory.” So, fellow Human Beings, patience may be a virtue. We’d much rather wait than see “Community” flounder on Fridays.
What’s your reaction to this news?