NBC has renewed Parks & Recreation for a seventh season during its executive session at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. The relevant quote, from network president Robert Greenblatt: “I'm going to go out on a limb: Parks & Rec is going to have a seventh season.” Since Greenblatt renewed it in the spur of the moment, thanks to one of his capricious whims, there’s not yet news on how many episodes that will entail or if it will be the show’s final season (as many have speculated). But you’ll almost certainly get at least 13 more episodes of Leslie Knope and company in the 2014-15 season, and probably more. Could Greenblatt go back on a statement made in the spur of the moment at a TCA executive session? Sure. But he probably doesn’t want to seem like the kind of dick who would do that.
The answer came in the midst of an answer about whether NBC would be bringing back Parks and Community when both have performed so well, relative to Sean Saves The World and The Michael J. Fox Show, which have bombed. (Indeed, Michael J. Fox actually hit a 0.6 in the demo last week, which is lower than many cable series.) Greenblatt wouldn’t yet go out on a limb for Community, but he did say that the network was happy with that show’s ratings performance and felt it was a strong possibility for next season. That the show is the only one that seems capable of keeping the lights on in the 8 p.m. Thursday timeslot makes it all the more likely for another year, and Greenblatt is likely waiting to see if last week’s episode—its lowest rated this season (which has only aired for three weeks)—represents the show’s floor. If it does, then a renewal seems likely.
More good news for people associated with Parks came in the form of NBC inking an overall three-year deal with Amy Poehler, the series’ star. Part of the deal involves the production of a pilot entitled Old Soul, which will star Natasha Lyonne as a young woman figuring out her life while she works as an aide to several elderly people. The Hollywood Reporter has more on the deal.
Stay tuned throughout the day, as Myles McNutt will have a full report on all the other news from the NBC executive session (which was surprisingly newsy, even as these things go), and I’ll have a rundown of the morning’s Hannibal panel.