Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Fox Surprisingly Orders Full Season of The Mindy Project, More Ben and Kate Episodes; NBC Delays Whitney, Community Premieres
Despite struggling in the ratings for their first two airings, Fox has picked up six additional episodes of Ben and Kate and nine additional episodes of The Mindy Project, bringing both new Tuesday night comedies to full-season orders or close to it, after just two airings. Ben and Kate will get 19 total episodes, while The Mindy Project gets the full 22 episodes. Ben and Kate posted only 3.22 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating for its second episode last Tuesday, down more than 30% from its 2.1 18-49 rating premiere, which wasn't that great. Meanwhile, The Mindy Project posted just 3.68 million and a 1.9 18-49 for its second episode last Tuesday and that was down more than 25% from its 2.4 18-49 rating premiere, which was disappointing.
While this is surprising indeed, it is good to see networks give comedies a chance. NBC gave Go On and The New Normal full season pick-ups last week, and they haven't been that great in the ratings either, especially The New Normal. As for other new sitcoms, things look very bleak for NBC's Animal Practice, while Guys with Kids could go either way depending on how it does in the next few weeks (and if it continues to build solidly out of its lead-in). ABC's The Neighbors has aired twice so far and ABC is mulling ordering three more scripts, so that could be a good sign for more episodes...depending on how it does the next few weeks. New sitcom Malibu Country starring Reba McEntire will premiere on ABC in a few weeks. CBS has struggled with Partners on Monday nights, but in reality it is doing better than what Fox just picked-up, though CBS has a higher standard, especially on a better performing comedy block. I still don't think Partners will get more episodes ordered.
The Mindy Project is a new single-camera comedy from Emmy Award-nominated writer/producer and New York Times best-selling author Mindy Kaling (The Office) that follows a woman who, despite having a successful career, desperately needs to break bad habits in her personal life. A new episode airs tonight at 9:30/8:30c on Fox. Ben and Kate is a new single-camera young ensemble comedy that follows odd-couple siblings as they push each other out of their comfort zones and into real life. A new episode airs tonight at 8:30/7:30c on Fox.
Sticking with network comedy news, NBC has (thankfully) delayed the launch of new seasons of Whitney and Community (a match made in hell). Both comedies were set to move to Fridays starting October 19, airing back-to-back in the 8pm hour. Like we mentioned on our story above, new NBC comedy Animal Practice has struggled on Wednesdays at 8, so NBC might be waiting to see how it does in the next week or two. And if it continues to do poorly, you might see Whitney paired with new fellow multi-camera sitcom Guys with Kids on Wednesday nights. As for Community, it could move back to Thursdays replacing second year comedy Up All Night at 8:30pm, which has done awful so far this season. All of this is premature, but we do know that Whitney and Community will not be launching their new seasons on Friday, Oct. 19. Here is NBC's statement to the press:
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 19. 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.
As of now, NBC will stick with repeats on Fridays at 8pm. The Voice aired last week (Oct. 5) and Grimm is scheduled this Friday (Oct. 12). If NBC does pull Animal Practice and Up All Night from their current spot, perhaps those two comedies will be Friday bound instead of just being pulled? Still too early to speculate, but that could be an option. Or they will just be pulled without being re-scheduled. All we can is, stay with us...
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, August 8
Happy's Place - "Don't Sweat It" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bobbie asks Isabella to move in with her, but when Isabella sees that Bobbie likes to address conflict head on, Isabella decides it might not be the best idea.
Happy's Place - "Dear Jack" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Bobbie catches Isabella doing a slow-fade breakup with her long-distance boyfriend, she convinces her to send a Dear John letter; Steve brings in a review praising Chef Emmett's cooking and acknowledging the tavern's bartender, "Abby."
Electric Bloom - "How It All Came Out in the Wash" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Jade and Posey experience opposite feelings about their first crushes. Meanwhile, Tulip discovers an exciting new talent.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 4)
Friday, August 8
- Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Renée Rapp (The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Renée appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Pamela Anderson (Stacked/Home Improvement) - Pamela is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Marc appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Gillian Jacobs (Love/Community) and Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) - Gillian and Paul are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Steve Buscemi (Miracle Workers) - Steve talks about Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - Kelsey talks about his book Karen: A Brother Remembers on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- The Jonas Brothers (Jonas/Jonas LA) - The Jonas Brothers perform in the Citi Concert Series on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Christopher Lloyd (Taxi/Stacked) - NBC's Today catches up with Christopher in the 9am hour.
- Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) - Matt co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony talks about Sketch on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement/My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) - Oliver is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) - Jack talks about HGTV's Zillow Gone Wild on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
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