Last night’s super funny and sweet Ben and Leslie wedding episode of Parks and Recreation and the Inspector Spacetime convention episode of Community failed to draw in more viewers - in fact, they each hit series lows. Parks got a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.03 million viewers overall, and the show’s second new episode got a 1.4 and 2.91 million. Community received a 1.1 rating and 3.8 million overall viewers.
While the continued low ratings are bad news for these shows, the network they’re airing on isn’t doing much better. For the February “sweeps†period - which stations use to score high ratings so they can determine ad rates - NBC fell to fifth place, behind ABC, CBS, Fox, and Spanish-language Univision. At least Parks and Rec and Community aren’t airing on those other networks where they’d be expected to pull in big numbers. With 30 Rock and The Office ending their runs this season, these are NBC’s only veteran sitcoms that have a chance at renewal next year. NBC is looking to make a comeback in the fall, having ordered more comedy pilots - and more pilots overall - than any other network. Hopefully, Parks and Rec and Community will be amongst these new shows when they debut in the fall.