Ahead of presenting its 2015-16 broadcast schedule to advertisers next week, NBC has provided the first glimpse at the new programs that schedule might contain. The network has given the greenlight to three new comedies:
- People Are Talking, starring talking people Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tone Bell, Meaghan Rath, and Bresha Webb as neighbors who “can’t help but analyze and obsess about everything” (so they’re on Twitter?)
- Crowded, a multi-camera sitcom from Hot In Cleveland creator Suzanne Martin and Sean Hayes, which would sound a lot less like Empty Nest if its logline didn’t contain the phrase “empty nest”
- Superstore, America Ferrera’s return to series television, which finds the former star of Ugly Betty working in a big-box store alongside Mad Men’s Ben Feldman. (For their sake, here’s hoping the store doesn’t sell computers or organize its inventory alphabetically.)
The past season was particularly rough on NBC’s supply of punchlines and wisecracks: Its longest-running sitcom, Parks And Recreation, ended in February. In addition to axing A To Z, NBC did not peacock Bad Judge or Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, with the latter fleeing the underground bunker of the network’s midseason schedule for the colorful playground of Netflix (and a second-season renewal). With the fates of Undateable and One Big Happy undetermined, People Are Talking, Crowded, and Superstore join the Eva Longoria vehicle Telenovela and the revived Craig T. Nelson retirement plan Coach on the Peacock’s comedy slate.