Best Friends Forever could get a Second Season!
Thanks to fans’ and critics’ outcry, NBC has decided to air the final two episodes of Season One on June 1st. This is a great opportunity, as it gives us all a few weeks to build word-of-mouth.
The first four episodes are all available online, at NBC’s website and on hulu. This means you can get friends and family to check out the show between now and then, and hopefully grow the audience so that the June 1st episodes demonstrate some improvement in the ratings.
Meanwhile, former NBC president Warren Littlefield has a new book out, Top Of The Rock: The Rise & Fall of Must-See TV, which is filled with helpful reminders that NBC has done very well in the past when it gave good shows a chance to find their audience.
Some key quotes:
WARREN LITTLEFIELD: “I called Dick Wolf and asked him to come see me. It was just the two of us in my office. I told him I was sorry but I was canceling his show at the end of the season.”
[He’s talking about a little show called Law & Order. Turns out they changed their minds and decided to give it a 2nd Season.]
LITTLEFIELD: “At the end of its first season, Cheers was the least watched show on prime-time network television. The chances looked good the show wouldn’t have a second season, much less an eleventh.”
Also, veteran sitcom director JIM BURROWS (Friends, Cheers, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, etc.) weighs in regarding the precarious state of Cheers at the beginning:
BURROWS: “Nobody was watching the show when it first went on. There was no reason for the public to watch the show. No star in it. And nobody was watching NBC generally.”
In an interview promoting the book, Littlefield talks about the show Friends, and why it was such a big success on NBC:
LITTLEFIELD: “Their experiences were actually very universal. Friends played in this territory of being funny, and then also just grabbing your heart. And not afraid of that. It was a comedic soap opera. Not being afraid to have an audience feel something, laugh and cry, was quite extraordinary and quite wonderful.”
Do you see shows on TV now that compare to that?
LITTLEFIELD: “I think the single-camera equivalent today of the Must See lineup is Modern Family. If you were looking for your tentpole show—NBC doesn’t have a tentpole show right now—if you could magically pick one and say, “If I could take anything from any network and it could be the cornerstone of Must See TV on Thursday…,” today it would be Modern Family. They have 20 million people watching a week, and what you feel with those characters is a lot closer to what we were presenting back then. That’s not taking anything away from NBC’s comedies. They’re just not as mainstream.”
While Littlefield doesn’t mention BFF by name, it’s not difficult to infer that it’s exactly the kind of show he’s talking about here. Hopefully, the people currently making decisions at NBC will bear some of these things in mind before making a final decision…
In the meantime, keep tweeting about the show— @NBCBFF, @NBC, #saveBFF, #saveNBCBFF, etc…
Sign the petition. Get your friends to sign it!
Buy the season pass on iTunes, if you haven’t already.
Watch the show on hulu or nbc.com and send that link around!
#saveBFF
#SaveBFF
We also have published a short article on the UCB Theatre website.
MAUDE NIGHT DEBUT!!!
Come out tonight at 9:30PM to The Upright Citizens Brigade (Chelsea) to see my Maude Night debut on Neighbor Boy!
WRITERS: Beth Appel, Caitlin Bitzegaio, Geoff Garlock, Matt Moskovciak, Erik Tanouye, Melinda Taub
ACTORS: Joanna Bradley, Tim Dunn, Nathasha Rothwell, Davram Stiefler, Shannon Taing, Rob Webber
GET TICKETS.
BE THERE.
YOU’RE WELCOME.
Welcome to Maude Night Nathasha Rothwell!
#SaveBFF
I interviewed Lennon Parham and Jessica StClair last week and intended to post this video online today to remind everyone to watch their really amazing show. Unfortunately, we learned on Friday that the show was being pulled off the air, with two episodes left to go. I decided that I wanted to share this with you any ways, as a means of reminding you of some of the ways you might be able to help save the show.
First of all, the fact that the show even AIRED demonstrated how amazing it is - the two stars of the show, although known in the world of comedy, are virtually unknown on television or in movies. You can see Jessica in commercials, and Lennon was featured in supporting roles on various sitcoms, but they have never been leads in big budget movies, or big shows. The world of sitcoms seems to be dominated or driven by at least one person who has star power - Jessica and Lennon are not there, yet. The fact that the show was green lit to be on air just shows how strong and different it is form those we currently see on TV. It’s about two adult women having real adult issues, and interacting in a supporting way with each other and with their friends. It’s a very positive, upbeat show. Even Queeneta (Daija Owens), who continuously antagonizes Jessica, is a perky, positive little girl, with a personality too big with the small screen. The show also feature talented comedians Luka Jones and Stephen Schneider.
Any ways, there have been quite a few articles about this and about why you should help save this show (even if you have never seen it) in publications such as The Washington Post, VH1 (and here), and this morning, on Entertainment Weekly Online. Splitsider also wrote a great article about them when the show was cancelled. And a fan created a fan video, while others create a Tumblr page, and gifs. Connor Ratliff wrote a couple of very good posts about this as well.
So, here is how to save BFF:
- Sign the petition
- Buy the season pass on iTunes
- Watch and rate on Hulu
- Like it on Facebook
- Share your support on Twitter with the hashtag #SaveBFF
And most importantly, keep talking about it and sharing all this information so that people who haven’t watched it can discover it, and like it, and support the show as well.
#SaveBFF
Lennon Parham and Jessica StClair gave an interview to Women Improvisers Trust. This interview is not about the show, but rather about women in comedy in general. But if you want to see more of them, help save BFF bu taking the actions outlined in this post.
#SaveBFF: There is a campaign right now to save NBC BFF, which has a few UCBers working on it (Lennon Parham, Jessica StClair, Luka Jones, Anthony King).
We had an interview with Lennon and Jessica last week.
If you would like to contribute to the campaign to save BFF, it’s all explained in this article.
Interview with @LennonParham & @JessicaStClair from @NBCBFF
Some great advice from two wonderful comediennes!
MANEATER: The True Story of the Champawat Tigress
Thu. Apr. 19 6:30 pm - UCB Theatre NY (307 W 26. @ 8 ave) - $5
Written by/Starring: Josh Sharp (a homosexual!) and Matt Dennie (a straight, married man…). Directed by: Brandon Gulya. Choreography by: Kassia Miller.
ANGEL & FRIENDS!
Mon. Apr. 23 8pm - Parkside Lounge - Free
COHOST Melissa Gordon! Featuring: John Poveromo, Jessica Rionero, Becky Yamamoto, John Flynn, US National Improv Team, and The sketch group all the way from Philly: CAMPWOODS.
Pou & Nic: You’re Welcome
Sat. Apr. 21 7 pm - Peaple’s Improv Theater Underground (123 E 24 St. Bet. Park & Lex) - $5
Our Monthly show is back at its regular venue!! We wanted to celebrate by bringing you original comedy by a bunch of super talented teams!! Clowns: Everybody Nose!; Sketch: Pirate Sugar; Improv: North Coast. And as usual, a surprise veteran improviser will be leading the jam. You know what we say: you bring the peanut butter, we bring the jam! Hosted by Poupak Sepehri & Nicole Lee.
The Soul Glo Project
Sat. Apr. 21 Midnight - UCB East (153 E 3 St. @ Ave A) - $5
Join Keisha Zollar and Poupak Sepehri as they host the Soul Glo Project, a comedy variety show featuring a diverse cast of performers bringing to the stage the very best stand up, sketch, improv, video, dance, and music. Just let your SOUL GLO! This Month Features: Stand-up by Abbi Crutchfield and James Smith III; Improv by P.I.G; Music by People With Teeth; Sketch by Gay Bomb: The Musical.
The Lady Jam
Sat. Apr. 21 Midnight - UCB Theatre (307 W 26 St. @ 8 ave) - Free
Once a month something special will happen. We will all improvise together. If you want to perform in this lady only open improv jam come to the theatre, put your name in the bucket and get ready! Everyone who puts their name in will perform. All levels of experience are welcome and encouraged to participate. Guys are welcome to watch, just don’t be a creep about it. Hosted by Shannon O’Neill (THE STEPFATHERS) and friends!
Great article from The Palette highlights two PITizens, Natasha Rothwell and Grace Helbig, in their “5 Female Improv Artists You Don’t Know About But Will” piece!
Also Alison Rich, Sasheer Zamata, and Laura Grey! Yay female improvisers (well, by now you KNOW this is always going to be something I say, blog, and reblog about, right?).
A few ladies form the UCB (as mentioned above) - diversity wins!
Just a quick reminder:
Hello folks,
Just a reminder that TODAY, Monday February 20th, 2012, there’s the Diversity Meet-up at 3 pm, and then the Open House at 5 pm, both at the UCB Training Center, 145 W 30th St. 4th Fl.
See you there!
The Diversity Team
