‘Community’ stars talk season 4, Troy and Britta romance, and new direction
When the show returns in October, it’ll move from Thursdays to Fridays, which the cast welcomes.
“Our timeslot on Thursday at 8 p.m. was a really tough place to be because they moved ‘Big Bang Theory’ into that slot while we were on the air, they moved ‘American Idol’ into that slot, NFL football is going to be on Thursday nights,” Jacobs says.
While Friday nights have often been seen as a dumping ground for underperforming series, it might work for “Community,” says Brown.
“My thought is, our fans don’t watch live anyway, they timeshift anyway, so whether their DVR is grabbing us Thursday at 8 p.m. or Fridays at 8:30 p.m., I don’t see a difference,” she says.
“But I’m (also) foolish enough to think we might see an uptick (in ratings) because I think maybe our fans are not necessarily the type to say, ‘I’ve got a hot date tonight,’ they are probably dating in the middle of the week and home watching television on Friday night.
“They’re already watching ‘Fringe,’ they’re already watching ‘Grimm,’ they used to watch ‘Chuck’ on Fridays — I think they’re already home and ready to have another funny show to add to their list of things to do on Friday nights.”
The cast also hopes the recent deal with Netflix Canada will get some new fans on board in time for the season 4 premiere. And the streaming company’s plan to revive and air “Arrested Development” is also encouraging, should “Community” find itself in ratings trouble again, says Brown.
“We’re on the bubble every season but I just think that (there’s) a new way that kids are watching TV, and I think most of our fans are young folk,” she says.
“They’re not watching the same way that people are watching televsion, they’re watching online, they’re streaming it on Netflix and marathoning it, or DVRing it.
“It’s a new terrain, this is the wild wild west now … and I think it was because of ‘Arrested Development’ being gone before its time, most fans are fighting for their shows in ways they never had before.”
(Source: winnipegfreepress.com)
