NBC has decided that fan favorite Community needs to kicked around even more. In one giant middle finger to us fans, the peacock network -flush with success of some their shows topping out in the all important 18-49 demo for the first time in about five years- has announced they'll delay the October 19th season four premier.
While it seems obvious the network has never liked the show -they've treated it almost from Day 1 as a red-headed stepchild- they've been on fans shit list since they gave the heave-ho to series creator Dan Harmon back in May.
While the cast have been positive since then and have tweeted pics and stories since they resumed production back in August, most were keeping a wary eye on what direction the thirteen episodes the network ordered for this fourth -and probable, last- season of one the smartest, funniest sitcoms on TN now (notwithstanding, of course, 30 Rock and Parks & Rec).
This is NBC's official statement:
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.
What this means for the fate of Community is unknown. It seems possible, that airing the shows as lead-ins to Grimm where not looking good. Or at least Community was tracking better than the abysmal Whitney, which got a surprise renewal in May. That show has gone through some extensive retooling, including a change in cast for season two.
Still, without any concrete premier information, no matter how well Community is tracking or not, it still seems apparent NBC has no idea what to do with this clever show.
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