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

Tuesday, January 28

The Conners - "Mud Turtles, A Good Steak and One Man in a Tub" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Becky thinks that Jackie’s new friend Dawn (guest star Cheryl Hines), a restaurant supplier, is only cozying up to her to sell them things they can’t afford for the Lunch Box. Darlene is thrilled when Harris gets into Central Illinois State, but Harris might have found a better offer on her own. When Dan finds himself in an embarrassing situation nursing an injury, Louise (Katey Sagal) tries to help him out.

Bless This Mess - "The Letter of the Law" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Rio is bummed she can’t afford to go to Iceland for her best friend’s wedding, so the nuptials are moved and brought to the farm. Meanwhile, Rio is forced to take on Deb’s mail route after she quits, and Mike and Jacob help Rudy get over Constance.

mixed-ish - "True Colors" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Paul is shocked to hear from his estranged mother who wants to visit for Rainbow’s 13th birthday and soon learns more about why she abandoned him. Meanwhile, Rainbow sees turning 13 as a huge turning point in her life and wants a big birthday party, but Alicia wants to celebrate all the things Rainbow missed out on over the years while on the commune.

black-ish - "Adventure to Ventura" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Dre worries Diane and Jack don’t know how to fend for themselves and sends them out on an adventure, only to realize it’s his overbearing worries that hold the twins back. Meanwhile, Junior gets into a tricky situation at work when he befriends Josh in hopes of scoring a positive peer review.

Schitt's Creek - "Maid of Honour" (Pop, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Moira shares the newly released "Crows" movie trailer with the Jazzagals; Johnny and Roland find a suspicious bag of money at the new motel.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 27)

Tuesday, January 28

Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) - Catch Ben on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William drops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ashton Kutcher (The Ranch/Two and a Half Men/That '70s Show) - Ashton visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm.
Tony Rock (Living Biblically/All of Us) - Tony is a panelist on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Kumail stops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Aidy Bryant (Shrill) - Aidy appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Miles Brown (black-ish) - Miles is a guest on The Real, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Fox's The Resident on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Hot in Cleveland/Jake in Progress/Just Shoot Me!) - Wendie talks about Disney Channel's The Owl House on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Life) - Nia talks about Poisoned Love on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Bill Pullman (1600 Penn) - Bill talks about The Sinner on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on the BUILD Series at 12:15pm.
Janeane Garofalo (The Larry Sanders Show) and Grant Rosenmeyer (Oliver Beene) - Janeane and Grant are guests on the BUILD Series at 2pm.