Fans of Community had better cancel any plans for the night of May 17th. NBC has moved up the season finale of the series to that date, which means 90 minutes of Community all airing in one evening. The move puts the finale within May sweeps, which is interesting for a series that has been facing cancellation rumors.
The Futon Critic reports that NBC will air three Community surrounding the season finale of 30 Rock. The originally scheduled 8 PM episode will air as planned, followed by 30 Rock, and then Community's double episode season finale will finish out the night.
The move shuffles the finale of newcomer Awake out a week to May 24th, which also puts the series' season ender out of the May sweeps period. The show hasn’t been doing well in the ratings, and the move makes a second season renewal seem less likely. Both of these two series are awaiting word on next season which is expected to come down from NBC by May 14th at the latest. The changes to the schedule could be a hint of what we can expect when the official word on the future of these two shows is announced.
The move does seem to bode well for a renewal of Community, which Eric Eisenberg recently argued deserves another season. On the other hand , Jessica Grabert has the argument for Awake needing a chance at season two; with Awake out of sweeps, it’s hard to say what call NBC will make on it.
