Community premiere delayed: both good and bad news

It's true - our favorite Greendale Community College students were slated to return to NBC's lineup on Oct. 19. I had the date circled in my calendar. I was counting down the days. And then yesterday, NBC announced the premiere was being delayed.

Boo.

At first glance, that seems like bad news. And it is, if you were hoping to not have to wait longer than 10 days (as of today) to watch this show again. Or, sometimes networks delay a show, delay a show, delay a show, and then announce that they've decided not to air it after all.

But there's a silver lining to this cloud of delay.

Community, a critical darling but not a ratings grabber, had been relegated to the oh-so-aptly-named Friday Death Slot this season. Networks schedule shows on Friday when those shows are on their way out. NBC claims they want to have more time to give Community more promotion before it airs. Maybe so. I never trust a network suit to tell me the truth, though. Internet rumblings have been that NBC's new comedies have been faltering so badly that they're prepping Community and unfortunately Whitney to replace them. On a non-death slot night (Wednesday/Thursday). While Community may not have been a ratings-grabber, it does have a small but rabid fanbase, which must be bigger than these new shows (one of which, Animal Practice, I've never seen even though I adore JoAnna Garcia Swisher, because the premise looks so terrible, and the other, Guys With Kids, which I checked out solely for the sake of Jesse Bradford and had to turn off 10 minutes in because it was, in fact, so terrible).

Anyway, it looks like it's going to be a game of wait-and-see for now. Disappointed to have to wait to watch new eps of Community (though, to be honest, I'm a bit apprehensive that it won't have the same feel now that former showrunner Dan Harmon is gone - I hope the new showrunners know these characters, including GCC!), but excited at the possibility that the show may have in fact gained a reprieve.

Go Human Beings! :)