Thursday, May 9, 2013

NBC Renews 'Parks and Recreation'; Cancels 'Whitney,' '1600 Penn,' 'Guys with Kids' & 'Up All Night'

        Thursday, May 9 - After picking up five new series earlier today and renewing five drama series last week, NBC has officially renewed its first veteran comedy - the Amy Poehler-fronted Parks and Recreation.

        Parks and Recreation - from producers Mike Schur and Dan Goor whose FOX comedy pilot Brooklyn Nine-Nine was picked up to series yesterday - was considered a lock for renewal for most of the season. It remains a constant force in the ratings and critical acclaim while the rest of the network's comedy slate is either ending this season (30 Rock, The Office) or pulling abysmally-low ratings (Go On, The New Normal, Whitney, Community).
        It is currently unclear how many episodes the network has ordered for the upcoming sixth season or what time slot the series will occupy. NBC will present its fall 2013 schedule to advertisers this upcoming Sunday.

        UPDATE - Speaking of low-rated comedies, the proverbial ax has fallen down on mutli-camera sitcom Whitney after two seasons and 1600 Penn after just one. Whitney co-stars Chris D'Elia and Zoe Lister star on the NBC comedy pilot Undateable and the CBS comedy pilot Friends With Better Lives respectively - both of which are still looking for series orders. 1600 Penn co-star Benjamin Stockham won't be out of work for long as he has a leading role on the new comedy About a Boy which NBC ordered to series earlier today.

        UPDATE (2) - As NBC continues to make its renewal/cancelation decisions on its various veteran series, it has decided to cancel both Guys with Kids and Up All Night. Guys with Kids aired for one season with mostly mediocre ratings. Up All Night lasted two seasons and despite several valiant attempts at retooling just never took off with an audience. Up All Night's cancellation formally frees Will Arnett up to star in the untitled Greg Garcia multi-camera comedy pilot at CBS - which looks likely for a series order. Comedy series still awaiting news at NBC include Go On, The New Normal and Community as well as freshman drama Hannibal - all of which could theoretically go either way.