NBC yanks Sunnyside, moves up Will & Grace's final season premiere to Oct. 24

The Hollywood Reporter

The Michael Schur-produced immigration-themed comedy Sunnyside is the first on-air casualty of the 2019-20 TV season. Following Thursday's regularly scheduled episode, Sunnyside will be moved to NBC's digital platforms, including the NBC app and NBC.com. In an unusual move, NBC has picked up one additional episode, boosting the Season 1 total to 11 episodes. This doesn't mean the NBC comedy starring Kal Penn, which he co-created with Matt Murray, is canceled. As The Hollywood Reporter's Rick Porter points out, "The remainder of Sunnyside's run this season could serve as an extended audition for NBCUniversal's forthcoming streaming service, Peacock. NBCU has already given a second life to A.P. Bio on Peacock after canceling the comedy's network run in May following two modestly rated seasons. The Lorne Michaels-produced series also put up solid numbers on digital platforms, generating nearly half of its 35-day 18-49 rating via digital viewing." Will & Grace's final season, which was scheduled to kick off in early 2020, will now premiere on Oct. 24. Sunnyside has been struggling from the get-go, averaging 1.4 million viewers (2.3 million counting delayed viewership). Penn tweeted that producers and the studio plan  to "shop this baby around!," adding: "11 funny, heartwarming patriotic episodes of the most diverse show on tv for ya. I love our INSANELY talented writers & cast & crew!" This is the second Schur-produced NBC comedy to be canceled this year, following Abby's.