On November 30th and December 7th at 10:00, NBC will air one-hour "previews" of their new comedies Superstore and Telenovela respectively. Following that, the show will air as a one-hour comedy block Mondays at 8:00 beginning in January. I will be reviewing both of those right here at The TV Ratings Guide this season, so I am going to tell you why I am excited for these two shows. Also, I will talk about NBC's decision for how they are airing these two shows.
Why am I excited about Superstore?
Superstore follows a group of workers at a big box store. Basically, it is a comedy about people who work at a store that strange people shop at. If that premise doesn't sound funny enough, then just watch the trailer, which includes many funny moments, including the craziness that occurs when prices are accidentally marked down to $0.25, and the boss choosing Latinas to sell salsa. I think that it looks very funny, but if you're still on the fence, note that it stars America Ferrera of Ugly Betty fame, and Ben Feldman, who you may know for his role on Mad Men, or his more recent comedy role starring in A to Z, an NBC sitcom from last fall. Superstore (along with Telenovela) is one of the first comedies I have been really excited for since Fresh Off the Boat in February.Why am I excited about Telenovela?
Telenovela takes place behind the scenes of a--you guessed it--telenovela. It is essentially a comedy about all of the ridiculous drama that takes place when the camera is turned off. If you aren't saying "I need to watch that" yet, note that another aspect of the humor is that the star of this telenovela doesn't speak Spanish. A lot of the rest of the humor of the show seems similar to the character Rogelio on Jane the Virgin, a telenovela star himself. Also, Eva Longoria, who was on Desperate Housewives for eight years and recently had an arc on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, stars in the show. Telenovela, like I said with Superstore, is one of the first comedies I have been really excited for since Fresh Off the Boat in February.
Is NBC's "premiere it after The Voice" strategy a good one?
Since NBC shows have a history of not doing well after airing in a post-Voice timeslot, no. And, since comedies don't usually do well at 10:00, another no. But, there is the obvious positives of the exposure of airing in NBC's best timeslot for an hour. It could help, but I doubt it, especially at this time of year when so many people are busy.
Is trying comedies Mondays at 8:00 a good idea?
It really could be. Thursdays are no longer the comedy night for NBC, with shows such as Welcome to the Family, Sean Saves the World, and A to Z failing there recently. The biggest success of Wednesdays at 8:00 was 38-episode Whitney, and the longest lasting show of the Tuesday at 9:00 timeslot was About a Boy, which produced 33 episodes and aired 27. Monday hasn't been tried on NBC for a long while, if ever, for sitcoms. For a long time, CBS aired a two-hour comedy block on the night, but following the end of How I Met Your Mother, they reduced down to one-hour in the fall of 2014, and as of The Big Bang Theory's move to Thursdays this fall, CBS does not air sitcoms on Monday anymore. I think that it is actually not a bad idea for NBC to try sitcoms there. The only question is where you move them next year if they are successful? Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday?
Are you planning to check out Superstore or Telenovela? How high are your hopes for the quality of the shows? It is smart for them to debut after The Voice? Is it smart for NBC to try comedy on Monday? Leave your thoughts in the comments!