NBC To Delay Premieres of Community & Whitney

Update: NBC has released the following statement:

“Given the success we’ve had for the past four weeks – including winning the first week of the season in A18-49 – 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 of October 19th. Without having to launch these comedies on Friday at this time, we can keep our promotion focused on earlier in the week — plus we will have both comedies in our back pocket if we need to make any schedule changes on those nights. When we have a better idea of viewing patterns in the next few weeks, we will announce new season premieres of WHITNEY and COMMUNITY. “

Community and Whitney were set to round out the fall TV season for the Peacock this year. While many thought banishing the two sitcoms to Friday (originally set to premiere on 10/19) was an intentional recipe for setting the shows to failure, NBC has now opted to delay the premieres indefinitely. Insiders at the network stress to Vulture that this is more from a marketing standpoint than anything else. They claim it is not a matter of show content at all.

While NBC has had much success with the fall installment of The Voice and the start of their fall TV season (winning premiere week for the first time in nine years), the Peacock hasn’t had time to fully prep the viewers for Community and Whitney‘s original premiere date of Oct 19.

Now, NBC has not made any mention of when the two shows might make it back on screen. They may be waiting to see how Animal Practice and Guys With Kids continue to fair for a few more Wednesdays or even how a couple of their Thursday night comedies stand ground. Regardless of when the shows return – whether on a Friday or another day of the week – expect a little bit more marketing and hyping for both Community and Whitney in the near future. At the end of the day, this might not be a bad thing, as NBC looks to continue the early success they’ve built early on this season.

No word yet on what NBC will air to kick off their Friday nights, however, it is likely they will continue with Grimm encores for the time being.

What’re your thoughts on this? Would you like to see these shows air on a different day or just keep them on Fridays and premiere them ASAP? Let us know!