NBC is still continuing to find new depths to how much it can torture Community fans. In the past, the Peacock Network has put the show on hiatus, fired creator Dan Harmon, and gave it a late premiere for its truncated fourth season in the “Friday night death slot,†but apparently, that’s not enough. Vulture reports that NBC has decided to delay the new seasons of Community (and Whitney) indefinitely. Both shows were set to premiere next week on Friday, October 19th, but they’ve been taken off the schedule, with NBC releasing the following statement:
“Given the success we’ve had for the past four weeks… 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.â€
The statement from NBC reveals another bummer, in that the network specifically isn’t spending its promo money on its Thursday night block, which needs it the most. The press release also mentioned that there’ a possibility Community (and Whitney) will be used to fill in for any sitcoms the network cancels or takes off the schedule over the next few weeks. While it’s sad we’ll have to wait a while longer to catch the new season of Community (and Whitney), it actually may benefit the shows by keeping them out of the “Friday night death slot,†which has been a notoriously difficult day to air new shows for decades.
In other Community news, new showrunners David Guarasco and Moses Port gave a rare interview to Vulture, saying exactly what you’d expect them to about not changing the show and trying to keep it the same for the fans. In the interview, Guarascio and Port reveal that they turned down the job the first time it was offered to them, share some season 4 spoilers, and discuss how surprisingly easy it is to work with Chevy Chase. Also, Community’s writers will be conducting a Reddit AMA this Friday at 8:30PM EST, exactly one week ahead of the date/time the show was originally scheduled to debut its new season. No word on whether the AMA will be delayed, as well.