Despite an early premiere, NBC’s brand new First Family-based comedy, 1600 Penn, has not yet officially hit the airwaves, which means fans don’t know exactly what sort of tone and overall outlook the show will take during the tenure of its first season. However, 1600 Penn executive producers Jason Winer and Jon Lovett say the show will not be plugging into today’s political news and issues, which means there will not be politicians appearing as guest stars.
During the 1600 Penn TCA panel, the show creators stated they have decided to pull a West Wing, taking today’s current political landscape out of the series. This doesn’t mean the show will be devoid of cameos, however. According to Deadline, the show will certainly have some of today’s news reporters and prevalent media figures on the show to fill the cameo niche. So, Condoleeza Rice is out, but the likes of Rachel Maddow could very well be in. Honestly, this is probably a good thing, as it should differentiate the comedy even more from Parks and Recreation, which often has politicians appear in episodes.
Now that I think about, 1600 Penn’s introductory episode did use a prominent media focus to help shape its storyline and propel the narrative forward, so really, introducing real-life media figures should be a no-brainer. Since 1600 Penn is an NBC program, expect a lot of NBC-oriented media names to pop up during the half-hour comedy. Lovett says that future episodes might include appearances from NBC correspondent Savannah Guthrie and NBC News’ Chuck Todd. Additionally, the show may have booked Larry King.
1600 Penn’s official premiere will air Thursday, January 10 at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
