Sunnyside canceled by NBC; Will & Grace premiering early

The first cancellation of the fall TV season is here, not that this one is going to surprise many people out there. NBC is officially pulling Sunnyside from the schedule, meaning that you are going to have no real opportunities to see the Kal Penn comedy coming up down the line … at least on live television.

Here is the silver lining if you do enjoy the show — NBC is going to be placing the remainder of the series online.  Not only that, but Penn is hoping to shop the series around to online outlets. Here is some of what he had to say on the subject in a post on Twitter:

Upped to an 11 episode order for digital while we shop this baby around! 11 funny, heartwarming patriotic episodes of the most diverse show on tv for ya. I love our INSANELY talented writers & cast & crew!

Do we think that there’s a good chance someone picks it up? In this current climate, we wouldn’t rule it out … but it was clear in the early going that this wasn’t going to be a right fit on NBC for a number of different reasons. It couldn’t generate a lot of publicity before the premiere, it didn’t get good numbers from the start, and it couldn’t build anything up over time.

The reality here is very much this: It’s hard in order to build a devoted audience with a new show on network TV, especially a comedy. There are just so many options that are out there and it’s hard to get anyone to commit to watching something when they think “oh I’ll go ahead and watch it later.”

Here, of course, is the silver lining: The new season of Will & Grace is going to be premiering earlier than expected. Now, it’s going to be launching on Thursday, October 24 — one week from this Thursday! That gives the show just enough lead-up time to get people aware that it is coming back.

What do you think about Sunnyside being canceled over at NBC? Be sure to share right now in the comments, and remember to stick around for some other news. (Photo: NBC.)