NBC Shows Community And Whitney Both Put Back By Network

Community and Whitney were both due to be premiered Friday, Oct. 19, but they’ve both been delayed, a source close to NBC has confirmed to E! Online.

In a weird way, though, this could be good news for the people behind the show, as the enlarged press push, which is the reason for the delay, will hopefully glean a whole new viewership, designed to boost both of their profiles. "Given the success we've had for the past four weeks—including winning the first week of the season in adults 18-49,” NBC says in a statement, “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 Oct. 19," For now, NBC will air Grimm repeats on Friday nights at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Community is a show in need of a ratings boost; it had a small but dedicated fan base, but TV networks don’t like small and dedicated, they like large and, well, just large. The statement continues: "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."