NBC’s new streaming service has its first scripted comedy and it’s a very familiar one. A.P. Bio, which NBC canceled after Upfronts, has been revived for a third season by the currently unnamed streaming service.
The series follows a disgraced philosophy professor-turned-high school teacher played by Glenn Howerton. Patton Oswalt also stars and the show is executive produced by Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers, and showrunner, Mike O’Brien.
NBC has always been high on the comedy but the numbers were never quite there. Season two tumbled 27% and averaged a 0.7 in the 19-49 demo and a scant 884,000 total viewers. That being said, it was an internal favorite and cast excitement about returning allowed NBC to look into the series for streaming, where it could likely thrive. The show had a strong digital performance already, with season one being NBC’s most digital-skewing show of the 2017-18 season, with 35% of its 18-49 audience coming from digital platforms. Season two generated 47% of its 35-day demo rating from digital platforms and ranked behind only Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The fact that A.P. Bio is also owned in-house, made the streaming move a much easier decision.
NBCU’s streaming service is set to launch in 2020. The ad-supported platform will feature TV and film franchises from within the company as well as homegrown original programming and content from outside the studio. The only other original series set for the service is Angelyne, some Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail and starring Emmy Rossum. The service did snatch a hot commodity from Netflix, acquiring The Office in a five-year $500 million deal.
