Good news: Community finally has a return date. According to USA Today, NBC has set the fifth season premiere on January 2, 2014, at 8 PM just before Parks and Recreation. Sure, it was at the expense of Ironside and Welcome to the Family, but who cares? Community is back. #sixseasonsandamovie, make it happen, NBC.
Speaking of Ironside and Welcome to the Family—yeah, those shows are gone, pretty much just as we predicted in our fall cancellation watch. After pulling in an average of just 6 million viewers (many older, and out of the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic), Ironside will air its final episode next Wednesday, then it'll be replaced by Dateline episodes and various specials until next year, when a Chicago Fire spinoff titled Chicago P.D. will take its place.
As for Welcome to the Family, that series was averaging a sad 2.7 million, and will be replaced by new episodes and repeats of Parks and Recreation, as well as episodes of The Voice, until January when Community finally returns. As USA Today notes, NBC's Thursday night line-up isn't doing very well in general—Parks is only averaging 3.9 million viewers despite being one of the best comedies on television—but dropping Welcome to the Family should help things.
[via USA Today]
