NBC announced at its upfront presentation today that fan-favorite sitcom Community will move to Fridays next season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The move brings the show to a day that’s typically considered a ratings wasteland, but where it will lead into Grimm, the network’s popular hourlong drama that airs on Fridays at 9 p.m.”Community tends to survive where ever it goes,” said NBC Entertainment Chair Bob Greenblatt. “If you don’t build it they won’t come. There was no intention to extend those shows to the graveyard on Friday.” By “these shows,” he’s referring both to Community and Whitney, one of this year’s new comedies which the network renewed but sent to Fridays as well. The series has had middling ratings and little critical success but is the brainchild of Whitney Cummings, whose 2 Broke Girls has been a hit for CBS, so the network is willing to ride out at least one more year to see if the show picks up.There has been some speculation that a shortened season order would lead to a cancellation for Community around this time next year, although fans of this and other cult favorites in recent years have pointed out that the Nielsen ratings system is antiquated and can no longer accurately account for all of the fans a show has. More younger fans watch the show online, on a DVR or by buying season passes on Amazon and iTunes, they say, and presumably the network may keep the show alive if those venues are profitable, even if ratings are poor. Futurama and Family Guy, after all, were brought back after cancellations because of their strong DVD sales and with TV ratings dipping across the board, there’s a sense that studios and networks have to be creative.Community‘s third season ends Thursday with a three-part episode airing at 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
