Fall First Look: NBC Thursday Night Comedies

While NBC Thursday nights have always been very influential in pop culture, this year is a big one for the network. Months ago, it was announced that 30 Rock would have a shortened 13-episode seventh season that would also mark the end of its' run. Now, word comes today that NBC's highest-rated scripted series The Office will end this spring after nine seasons. So what exactly does this mean for the network's new season of shows? How will this affect not only 30 Rock and The Office, but their Thursday night mates Up All Night and Parks and Recration, and to a further degree, all the new NBC comedies and future pilots for the 2013-2014 TV season? Told ya it was a big year for the network, didn't I?

First, let's talk about how The Office and 30 Rock plan on going out with a bang this year. As many fans of the show will tell you, the quality of The Office has severely declined in recent years. Some point at the departure of original showrunner Greg Daniels after Season 5 as the show's darkest hours, while some blame the lack of funny on the loss of leading man Steve Carell after Season 7. Regardless, now seems to be the best time to end the show, which won the Emmy for Best Comedy Series in 2006. Heading into the last season, Daniels is taking over once again and working on rewarding, artistic episodes for the fans. He tells Entertainment Weekly, "We're planning a very big exciting last season. We're going to have a lot of faces coming back...All questions will be answered this year." Pertaining to that last part, that means that, yep, we'll finally see who's behind the camera! With new and exciting creative possibilities, returning characters, and new faces (including the severely underrated Jake Lacey and Greek's Clark Duke), it's possible The Office could jump back from it's ratings slump and rebound in it's final season. Over at 30 Rock, much less has been said about the show. With only thirteen episodes, creator Tina Fey has expressed interest to write episodes she'd always dreamed about (although she did say a Bugsy Malone inspired episode would probably never happen, darn!). In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fey says this final season "will be about [her character Liz's] road, potentially, to motherhood." Additionally, she said this season will include many of her favorite guest stars from the past including Dean Winters, Isabella Rossellini, Michael Sheen, and Fey's ultimate "get" Selma Hayek, whom Fey says has agreed to try her best to fit another episode in. Finally, the final episode of 30 Rock will be an hour-long episode, but when it will air is anybody's guess. While the season premieres in October, a finale may not come around until January or (if NBC plans correctly) February sweeps.
But enough about those two shows! What about NBC's other Thursday comedies? Up All Night is planning a bit of a reboot after an uneven first season. While the show certainly had star power (the three leads are all Emmy nominated: Christina Applegate (who actually won her Emmy), Will Arnett, and Maya Rudolph), it failed to find it's tone at first. Between juggling Applegate's job working as a producer on Rudolph's show and Applegate and Arnett raising a child, the show never found the right balance. With that in mind, Rudolph's show has been scratched for season two and her focus will be as a support system for Applegate and Arnett. Additionally, a new series regular has been added for this season: Luka Jones, who will play the younger, divorced brother of Applegate. Finally, Will and Grace's Sean Hayes will join the show for a few episodes as a friend of Ava's. NBC certainly has faith in the show, putting it between 30 Rock and The Office. But NBC's best comedy is now poised to become it's biggest comedy.
Despite an egregious snub for a Best Comedy Series nomination at the Emmys this year, Parks and Recreation had a phenomenal fourth season and is getting ready for a road trip in the season premiere. Amy Poehler's character, Leslie, is taking a trip to visit her boyfriend, Ben (played by Adam Scott) in Washington DC with some of the team from the Parks and Rec department. Shooting on location has also allowed the show to get actual politicians to guest star on the show including Senators Barbara Boxer (California), John McCain (Arizona), and Olympia Snowe (Maine). Additionally, the show set itself up last year for two really exciting storylines: Leslie's election onto the City Council, which will still allow her to work for the Parks department and interact with the rest of the cast, while still making time for new characters to be introduced through her work on City Council; and Andy's possible enrollment in police academy, which any fan of the show will tell you just sounds really freakin' awesome. It should definitely be a big year for Parks!
Of course, it's hard to not see that 30 Rock and The Office are going to leave a big hole in the NBC programming schedule, and it'll need to rely on it's newest comedies to really come out strong. A few weeks ago, I predicted that while Animal Practice probably wouldn't be a good player for NBC, their best chance of a new hit was the Matthew Perry comedy Go On. Also coming up this fall is Ryan Murphy's latest The New Normal, the Jimmy Fallon developed Guys with Kids (but don't worry, it looks pretty bad), and returning comedies Whitney (yikes!) and Community (yippee!). Saved for midseason is Washington DC-set 1600 Penn, the Dane Cook starrer Next Caller (which only got a 6 episode pick-up), and the Anne Heche question mark Save Me. With two major holes in it's programming, NBC could really use a hit right now. Regardless, the network is already preparing for the 2013-2014 season! Yesterday, NBC announced, a full year ahead, that it had picked up a full season of a new comedy project from executive producer/director Will Gluck (films such as Fired Up, Friends with Benefits, and one of my all time favorites, Easy A) starring Michael J. Fox. When NBC announced their new schedule at Upfronts in May, they said they were very committed to comedy, and it seems now more than ever that commitment will be very useful.

Evan