OK, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that NBC seems to want to actually promote the fall returns of Community (and Whitney, I guess). The bad news is that we will have to wait even longer to enjoy those returns. When will the shows air? Nobody knows yet...

Community and Whitney will not return on Friday, October 19 as planned, The Hollywood Reporter reports. NBC will hold off on airing new episodes until a later date, supposedly in order to give both shows more time for promotion.

Instead of new episodes of Community and Whitney, NBC will air repeat episodes of Grimm during the 8pm to 9pm timeslot.

How will Community fans react? Well... Considering what happened last winter when NBC held off airing Community episodes until the spring, the reaction should be impressive.

How will Whitney fans react? Ummm... There are Whitney fans, aren't there?  They're awfully quiet, even if NBC seems to love them beyond all bounds of reason. But there probably will not be quite as many Internet campaigns for Whitney.

Are there other reasons for delaying these two comedies? NBC's surprisingly excellent performance this fall season might be a factor. The network has already picked up three new shows for full seasons -- and two of them (The New Normal and Go On) are comedies. It may be that NBC wants to focus on these new shows, leaving older, struggling comedies until a later date.

They had just better bring Community back. After the brouhaha last spring, I can't imagine that the head honchos at NBC would even dare to cancel that show without airing expected episodes. The network is already skating on thin ice with super-fans after showrunner Dan Harmon was fired from Community over the summer. Pushing the show to a later date is going to increase that tension even more.

I honestly don't want to see what might happen if NBC failed to bring back the show altogether.


Community and Whitney are currently scheduled to air on Friday nights between 8 and 9pm. Who knows when they will actually air -- or return -- at this point?

(Images courtesy of NBC)