Did NBC Make the Grade? We Hand Out its Mid-Season Report Card

The Good: After far too many seasons spent racking our brain dreaming up positive things to say about the perennial fourth place finisher, this TV blogger and Peacock finally have a thing or two to crow about (Assuming Peacocks actually do that sort of thing!) Leveraging the ratings rich one-two combo that are Sunday Night NFL Football and more importantly THE VOICE, this Fall saw NBC do a remarkable job of climbing out of the ratings basement. People are not only watching NBC, they’re watching live! REVOLUTION was the Fall’s most popular new drama, while Matthew Perry’s GO ON was the Fall’s biggest comedy. Oh, and the good news doesn’t stop there. As GRIMM continues to carve out a nice niché on the net’s once dormant Friday night, critically acclaimed fare such as 30 ROCK, PARKS AND RECREATION and PARENTHOOD proceed to live up to the incredibly high bar their talent both in front and behind the camera have set for their respective shows.

The Bad: Putting aside the obviousness that was the not-so-dearly-departed ANIMAL PRACTICE and the soon to be departing (?) GUYS WITH KIDS, the “bad” of NBC’s fall, is curiously enough, the double-edged sword that comes with good. In other words, the more successful the network’s new regime gets with broad comedies and dramas enjoyed — wait for it — outside of the New York and Los Angeles area, the worse it means for the likes of COMMUNITY, PARKS AND RECREATION and dare we say it… PARENTHOOD. All of which one might argue have only survived these past few seasons based solely on the fact that NBC’s cupboards were bare.

The Future: Despite a surprisingly stellar start to the season, NBC’s future remains one of many questions. Namely, come 2013, will SMASH and COMMUNITY be able to succeed despite the recent high profile exit of respective creators Teresa Rebeck and Dan Harmon? Will an Aguilera and CeeLo-free second helping of THE VOICE suffer fatigue now that NBC is giving viewers two editions per season? And most importantly of all — at least for this REVOLUTION Addict — will fans of our favorite new Fall seres return when the show does three very long months from now? Stay tuned…

Grade: A-