Viacom's Comedy Central Renews The Office & Parks and Recreation; E! Gets New Jason Kennedy Series

Monday, November 18, 2019

Viacom's Comedy Central Renews The Office & Parks and Recreation; E! Gets New Jason Kennedy Series

Viacom announced continued stays in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Pawnee, Indiana. Under the new pact with NBCUniversal, Comedy Central extended its exclusive cable deal for legendary comedy The Office through 2021. After that, the series will continue to air through 2025 in a non-exclusive window on Viacom Media Networks. Additionally, Viacom renewed its cable deal for equally iconic sitcom Parks and Recreation. All 125 episodes will be able to air on Comedy Central, the #1 brand in comedy, through 2024. For Viacom, the deal was closed by Barbara Zaneri, EVP, Viacom Program Acquisitions Group (VPAG) for an undisclosed sum, along with a World's Best Boss mug and a new statue of Li'l Sebastian for the NBCUniversal lot. Previously this year VPAG acquired the exclusive cable rights to Seinfeld, for Comedy Central, TV Land and Paramount Network.

The Office is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from March 24, 2005 to May 16, 2013, lasting nine seasons and 201 episodes. It is an adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name and was adapted for American television by Greg Daniels, a veteran writer for Saturday Night Live. It was produced by Universal Television in association with Daniels' Deedle-Dee Productions and Reveille Productions. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. To simulate the look of an actual documentary, it was filmed in a single-camera setup, without a studio audience or a laugh track. The Office starred Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B.J. Novak, Melora Hardin, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling, Craig Robinson, Ellie Kemper, Kate Flannery, Angela Martin, Phyllis Smith, Leslie David Baker, Oscar Nunez, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Paul Lieberstein, Rashida Jones, Amy Ryan and others.

Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation is an American political satire television sitcom that aired on NBC from April 9, 2009 to February 24, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 125 episodes. The series was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur and produced by Universal Television in association with Deedle-Dee Productions and Fremulon. It presents a documentary-style look into the everyday lives and antics of public officials, who work in the local Parks and Recreation office and pursue various projects to make their fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, a better place. To simulate the look of an actual documentary, it was filmed in a single-camera setup without a studio audience or a laugh track. The series starred Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Retta, Jim O'Heir, Paul Schneider, Billy Eichner, amongst others.

Jason Kennedy

E! announced that E! News' Jason Kennedy will host the new series In the Room, where he will take viewers inside celebrity homes for in-depth interviews and conversation around their latest projects, products, passions and more. The series will air several primetime specials before its full launch in early 2020. The first special airs on Wednesday, December 4 at 8pm ET/PT and features Kennedy in a rare sit down with four-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady. In this all-new interview, the New England Patriots quarterback opens up about his family and wife, environmentalist and supermodel, Gisele Bündchen, how his on-field success has brought on a different level of scrutiny, and why he'd rather not be called the "G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time)", despite being the winningest QB in NFL history.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, December 22

Bob's Burgers - "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the power goes out two days before Christmas, The Belchers must spend the holiday at Mr. Fischoeder's family's old hunting lodge.

Krapopolis - "Krapocalypse" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis is stuck in a time loop trying to save the city.

The Simpsons - "The Man Who Flew Too Much" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The new and improved Pin Pals travel to Capital City for their first ever state bowling championship.

Universal Basic Guys - "The Devil You Know" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark insists on teaching his son Darren how to throw a handmade boomerang that was gifted to Darren by his father; the two soon find themselves on a trek deep into the Jersey woods; David is the recipient of a sex doll that he swears he didn't order.

The Great North - "The Lies Aquatic Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
While Beef is away, the Tobin fishing boat goes missing; the Tobin siblings wildly speculate on what could have happened.

Krapopolis - "National Lampoon's The Odyssey!" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family takes a vacation to Storgos for Shlub's mother's birthday.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Full-Frontal Dottie" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Excited by her physical therapy progress, Dottie insists she is ready to return to MaxDot, much to Bob, Douglas and Christina's dismay.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 16)

Friday, December 20

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters/HouseBroken/Catastrophe) - Sharon is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Colton Dunn (Superstore) and Diona Reasonover (Clipped) - Colton and Diona are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - NBC's Today catches up with Zachary in the 9am hour.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy talks about Mufasa: The Lion King on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. He can also be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kerry talks about The Six Triple Eight on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Marsden (30 Rock) and Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - James and Ben talk about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney talks about Max's Fast Friends on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Access Daily with Mario & Kit has the best of Henry and Kit Hoover, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - The Talk celebrates 15 seasons with a special finale episode; friend of the show Howie Mandel makes his 21st appearance on the show when he stops by one last time with a surprise for the hosts on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.