I called this one in my recaps of Thursday night ratings but now it’s official. Due to very low ratings, new comedy series Sunnyside has been pulled from NBC’s schedule. The fourth episode, airing this Thursday will be the last to air live on the network.
Starting the following Thursday, October 24, the final season of the Will & Grace revival will take its timeslot at 9:30 PM on the night. NBC has ordered an additional episode of Sunnyside, bringing its order from 10 to 11. The remaining seven episodes will air weekly on the NBC app, other digital platforms, and NBC.com. The series currently is in production on Episode 9 and will complete all 11 episodes.
The writing has been on the all since the comedy premiered on the network three weeks ago. Sunnyside opened to a 0.4 18-49 rating and 1.78 million viewers in L+SD, numbers that never been seen for a Big 4 in-season scripted series debut. The writings have only continued to dwindle in subsequent airings. The reason the series isn’t being dumped entirely just yet is that it has shown some promise as a digital performer, despite soft live ratings that have hurt Law & Order: SVU, which follows it. The 18-49 rating for its premiere has grown by 150% versus Live+Same Day (though off a very small base), from a 0.4 to a 1.0. The Sunnyside opener also was the second-most social broadcast comedy premiere by Total Activity during Premiere Week and was NBC’s most social broadcast comedy premiere in two years, according to the network. Additionally, Sunnyside has the No. 4 most affluent and the No. 3 most educated audience among broadcast series, also per NBC.
Sunnyside features a diverse cast including Joel Kim Booster, Diana-Maria Riva, Kiran Deol, Poppy Liu, Moses Storm, and Samba Schutte. The series stars Kal Penn as Garrett Modi, a disgraced New York City councilman who attempts to get back on his feet when a motley crew of immigrants reaches out to him to help them become American citizens.
