NBC is staying in business with Reba McEntire.
On Thursday, the network renewed Happy’s Place, the veteran TV star’s latest comedy.
The pickup wasn’t surprising, considering Happy’s Place Season 1 has found a devoted audience on Fridays.
In fact, NBC has revealed that it has improved the Friday at 8 p.m. timeslot by 54% in total viewers.
These numbers represent an encouraging sign for the future, as the broadcast networks are struggling to remain competitive.
The big question will be whether it remains on the night next season or if the show’s strong digital footprint compels the network to move it to a night with more people watching TV.
It may well be a show that could benefit from that, but we should have more clarity in the next few months when NBC presents its schedule to advertisers.
Happy’s Place Is One of Two Shows Renewed by NBC So Far
Happy’s Place joins St. Denis Medical as the only shows the network has confirmed will be back on the air next season.
You’d think NBC would be making its decisions by now, but it looks like we’ll be waiting for some time yet.
Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Law & Order, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit are all considered locks to be renewed.
They’re among the network’s top five dramas and perform well overall, so there’s little reason to believe they won’t return.
And no, none of them are destined for the Law & Order: Organized Crime treatment. By that, we mean they won’t be moving to Peacock exclusively.
Those five shows are the backbone of NBC’s slate, so they’ll be around until other shows arrive to take their place in the ratings.
The news isn’t nearly as good for sophomore dramas Found and The Irrational, which have lost considerable ground this season.
The expectations are lower for 10 p.m. dramas, but The Irrational is the network’s lowest-rated drama series in the demo (0.18 rating), followed by Found (0.22 rating).
Found has again been a solid performer on Peacock, so the Shanola Hampton-fronted thriller could eke out another renewal on the network.
But we should have a better idea of that when the rest of NBC’s midseason dramas have premiered.
Grosse Pointe Garden Society and Suits LA are coming up on Sunday, which will be a big test to establish whether scripted can still resonate on the weekend for NBC.
Suits LA should have a decent initial tune-in, thanks to the original’s massive jolt of life when it arrived on Netflix in 2023.
But Grosse Pointe Garden Society is hardly a compatible lead-out, so we’ll need to see how that one pans out.
NBC already premiered The Hunting Party as its big midseason drama last month, but the numbers in its regularly scheduled slot haven’t been encouraging.
The Melissa Roxburgh-fronted drama is currently averaging around 3 million viewers and a 0.22 rating.
If it stabilizes, it could have a case for renewal, but it isn’t easy to tell with so many other shows around that level.
Fellow freshman drama Brilliant Minds didn’t get a back order, which was reportedly driven by Zachary Quinto’s commitments to other projects.
The medical drama averaged 3 million viewers and a 0.23 rating, so it’s a middle-of-the-road performer that could also get a renewal.
It may all depend on how the other shows look by May.
All we can do is have hope.
Which of the remaining shows would you like to see renewed, TV Fanatics?
Hit the comments below.
Watch Happy’s Place Online
