'Superstore' Trae Patton/NBC
The network has pulled back on the midseason half-hours due to scheduling needs.
NBC is cutting back on a pair of midseason comedies.
The network has reduced the episode counts for single-camera series Superstore, starring America Ferrera, and Hot & Bothered, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Both comedies were picked up for 13 episodes, with that order now cut to 11, with insiders noting the network's crowded midseason lineup. (For its part, Eva Longoria's telenovela take Hot & Bothered was picked up straight to series.) Fellow midseason comedy Crowded — a cheaper multicamera entry — is still set for its 13-episode run.
The news comes as NBC has continued to struggle with comedy. The network's fall schedule featured only one — the now all-live version of Undateable — and was joined last week by rookie Truth Be Told, which has been panned by critics and opened low.
Of NBC's five total freshman scripted comedies ordered for 2015-16, that leaves only its Coach reboot, which despite being picked up straight to series, was canceled after the pilot came in too dated.
That leaves a slew of unscripted fare on the network's bench as NBC has already trimmed Neil Patrick Harris' ratings-challenged Best Time Ever from 10 episodes to eight. Its reality bench includes First Date (eight episodes), Little Big Shots (eight episodes) and STRONG.
Meanwhile, scripted fare including hourlong dramedy You, Me and the End of the World as well as Game of Silence, the fall-to-midseason medical drama Heartbreaker, Jennifer Lopez's Shades of Blue and Chicago Med are still yet to premiere.
Superstore Hot and Bothered
