Seeking a comeback, NBC bets heavily on comedy

Hoping to lure viewers with laughs, struggling NBC is calling on old friend Matthew Perry to lend a hand.

The TV network unveiled a fall schedule on Sunday that has 10 sitcoms, double the number of dramas it will air. Comedy is being added to two nights, Tuesday and Friday. All the low-rated but critically-acclaimed Thursday comedies earned renewals, although "Community" will move to Fridays.

Four of the comedies are new, including "Go On," starring former "Friends" actor Perry as a fast-talking, sarcastic sportscaster who loses his wife in a car accident.

"It is heavy on comedy," said Robert Greenblatt, NBC entertainment president. "It was a conscious decision we made ... at the beginning of the development season. The audience is really open to comedy right now."

NBC is finding a new generation of fans discovering Perry's Chandler character through "Friends" reruns, and that contributed to "Go On" having broad appeal in audience testing, Greenblatt said. NBC gave the comedy one of its few plum time slots, after the second night of "The Voice" on Tuesdays.

In an annual ritual, all the broadcast networks present their fall schedules to advertisers this week and ask them to commit to millions of dollars in commercial time.

Fourth place NBC is in a prolonged slump. Its prime-time viewership was up slightly this year, but only because NBC telecast the Super Bowl. Take that game out and viewership was down 3 percent, according to the Nielsen company. Sunday night football in the fall is the network's most popular programming.
Among the shows canceled by NBC are "Harry's Law," ''Awake," ''Are You There, Chelsea?" and "Bent."
"Harry's Law" was one of NBC's more popular shows, but executives said it fell victim to a deadly malady in network TV: Its audience was too old.

One show on the bubble was Brian Williams' newsmagazine, "Rock Center," but it is on the fall schedule for Thursday nights at 10 p.m. Greenblatt conceded the show's ratings are not what NBC hoped for, but said such shows frequently take time to catch on.

"Smash" was renewed, although the series about putting on a Broadway production will not be back until midseason. "The Voice" currently airs two nights a week toward the end of the singing competition; starting in fall it will air two nights throughout each run.

Two of the current Thursday comedies, "30 Rock" and "Community," have orders of only 13 episodes next season, often a sign that executives are hedging their bets. "The Office" and "Parks & Recreation" have full-season orders. Despite reports that some of those shows have been told it will be their last season, Greenblatt said that wasn't true and they could have longer lives if ratings improve.
"The audience gets a vote," said Ted Harbert, chairman of NBC Broadcasting.

NBC's challenge is getting audiences to sample some of the four new comedies and two new dramas it will introduce this fall, when they are out of the habit of watching NBC. Three new comedies, three new dramas and four new alternative series were ordered and will join the lineup sometime in midseason.
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