NBC recently announced its plan to shuffle the upcoming May 17th Thursday night schedule. The major change will be the airing of the final three episodes of Community that night:
- 8:00 PM - 'Digital Estate Planning'
- 8:30 PM - 30 Rock season finale
- 9:00 PM - 'The First Chang Dynasty'
- 9:30 PM - 'Introduction to Finality' (season finale)
For the 2011 to 2012 TV season, May Nielsen ratings 'sweeps' is considered to be between Thursday April 26th to Wednesday May 23rd. So if Community were to go by its usual single-episode-per-Thursday schedule, its final two episodes would actually miss that all-important time frame.
While some might see the May 17th night as an episodes 'burn-off' for Community, it may actually be a strategic move to capitalize on the show's following and continued Internet buzz. Also, The Big Bang Theory, as well as The Office and Parks and Recreation, will have finished off their season the week before, making Community and 30 Rock the only network comedies of that night not in any kind of re-run situation.
NBC was originally prepared to air a two-hour finale of Awake during that night from 9 PM to 11 PM, but decided to push that out. Since Awake's viewership has shrunk so much, the extra episodes of Community can also be seen as a vote of confidence that it can (and most probably will) get better ratings for the evening than Awake.
The only thing to worry about is how NBC promotes this super-sized night of Community. Right before the show returned from hiatus, NBC aired many commercials to excite fans and to get new viewers to tune in. That plan worked well for the return episode. However, ratings have pretty much slipped back to where they were pre-hiatus. NBC needs to do the right thing and promote this upcoming night to make the most of the situation.
Go Greendale, go Greendale, go!
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