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NBC has finally stopped dragging ass and listened to the internet community: Parks and Recreation will be BACK ON JANUARY 20, 2011!! It will also get its deserved timeslot of 9:30pm, following The Office. That is big news on it’s own, but it’s nearly overshadowed by the news that NBC will schedule an unprecedented three-hour comedy block on Thursdays running from 8:00pm-11:00pm. The schedule underwent a shakeup, as well, so let’s go over the future Thursday night comedy schedule for NBC:
8:00pm — Community — This show is fast becoming the best show on Thursday night (despite the bloated ratings of Big Bang Theory on CBS) with its talented ensemble cast that thankfully doesn’t rely only on Chevy Chase and Joel McHale to carry the comedy weight. While I say Community is becoming the best show, it’s not a very fair assertion as Parks and Recreation has been on broadcast hiatus for so long, they haven’t had a chance to build upon two magnificent seasons where the writing and characterization got better with each episode. Still though, Community is a very solid show and it makes me quite happy that Donald Glover is quickly becoming a household name.
8:30pm — Perfect Couples — A new sitcom centered around three distinctly different couples will get a shot in the 8:30 slot. The idea sounds like typical, boilerplate sitcom trash to me and also features “actress” Olivia Munn, who is gorgeous but painful to watch when she’s trying to be funny. I personally predict this show to fail quickly but I will at least check it out once to see the enchanting Mary Elizabeth Ellis (Waitress from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Charlie Day’s actual wife) on screen in a much different capacity.
9:00pm — The Office — This series is on life support if you ask me. After Steve Carell leaves following this season, I do not see this show coming back for another. If it does, it will be short-lived, as they have been beating a dead idea for the last couple seasons already.
9:30pm — Parks and Recreation — Finally, this show will be back where it belongs. I need my weekly Ron Swanson fix so badly I was close to capturing a homeless gentleman, shaving his face down to a powerful Swanson-esque moustache, feeding him turkey legs and bourbon and teaching him advanced woodwork techniques. I’m definitely interested to see how Adam Scott’s character “Ben” will be incorporated into the already well-developed character relationships in the series.
10:00pm — 30 Rock — I used to absolutely love this show, but recently, they’ve become a parody of themselves (much like what happened to The Simpsons) and far too self-aware. I give this show one more season after this current one, at the most.
10:30pm — Outsourced — OMG INDIAN ACCENTS ARE SOOOOOO FUNNY. That’s seems to be the general message of this show based off the much better indie film of the same name. The switch to 10:30 will be death for this series, as it benefited HUGELY from The Office’s lead-in. Maybe we should outsource the jobs of this show’s writers. At least the show would be more realistic if it were written by actual Indians.
So that’s the upcoming NBC Thursday night lineup, starting January 20, 2011. Good move? Bad move? What do you think?
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