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
Tuesday, August 16
What We Do in the Shadows - "Pine Barrens" (FX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Nandor and Lazslo air out their differences on a hunting trip at an isolated cabin; Nadja has a girls' night; Guillermo reconnects with his family for the first time in 12 years.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)
Tuesday, August 16
- Bob Odenkirk (The Larry Sanders Show) - Catch Bob on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Al Franken (LateLine) - Al guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi is a musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murray is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Vanessa Bayer (I Love That for You) - Vanessa will be on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
- Brett Gelman (Fleabag/Married/Go On) - Brett appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
- Kyle Richards (Down to Earth) - Kyle is a guest on a repeat of Watch What Happens: Live at 3:30am on Bravo.
- Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
- Rebel Wilson (Super Fun Night) - Rebel will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
- Sterling K. Brown (Starved) - Sterling talks about Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Jodie Sweetin (Fuller House/Hollywood Darlings/Full House) - Jodie is a guest on E!'s Daily Pop at 11am.
- Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Big Day/Jake in Progress/Just Shoot Me!) - Wendie talks about her new movie Mack & Rita on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
- Melba Moore (Melba) - Melba will be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
- Suraj Sharma (How I Met Your Father) - Suraj appears on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (April-August)
04/05 - Up All Night - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
04/26 - The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room for Daddy) - The Complete Fourth Season
04/26 - Jackie Gleason TV Treasures - 70th Anniversary Collection (including Honeymooners Rarities)
05/03 - No Activity - Season Three
05/13 - The Donna Reed Show - The Complete Seasons 1-5 (Time Life)
05/31 - Becker - The Complete Series (2022 Release)
06/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Eleventh Season
06/14 - Hacks - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/14 - Rutherford Falls - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season One / Season Two
07/19 - The Neighborhood - Season Four
07/19 - Reno 911! - The Hunt for QAnon (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/26 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Three / Season Four
08/16 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season (Warner Bros. - Canada)
08/16 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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