The struggling Peacock network is taking a new direction with its primetime lineup, and that means cleaning house. Until this week, the once-dominant network had been suspiciously mum on its plans for next season. That all changed with a giant info dump from NBC execs which included the fates of veteran sitcoms “30 Rock,” “Community” and “Parks and Recreation.”
All three critical darlings will be given abbreviated “send off” seasons followed by immediate termination. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, NBC’s long-running Thursday comedy lineup has never garnered stellar ratings. The limited order of 13 episodes for each show must have seen like a good compromise solution for the network that has seen itself slide from first to fourth place over the last decade.
P & R was pretty good. As mentioned it did seem like The Office just in a different setting when it started however it seemed to find its own identity after awhile.
I know people seemed to hate Community. But I liked it. It took risks a lot of the time and wasn't content being just a "traditional" sitcom. Maybe that was its downfall! However I didn't see how it could last really more than a couple years anyway.. The same length as actual community college.
As far as 30 Rock goes... I've never seen that show so no personal loss there.
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Edit.. Sounds like P&R maybe got renewed for 22 episodes now so... Rumors abound! Hard to know which news is accurate.
No word yet on the Peacock's other Internet darlings, Parks & Rec and Community, but the latest from people who know these things is that the unconfirmed report that they were being canceled is incorrect, and they will indeed be returning for additional seasons, though those too may be shortened to make room for a raft of new sitcoms that were picked up earlier this week.
UPDATE: Community has now been renewed as well. Only 13 episodes have been ordered, but HitFix says that number could grow to 22, and, at least for now, the fourth season may not be the show's last.