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title: NBC Tries New Tactic Looking For Comedy Sitcom Ideas | TIME
description: What to do when your best stuff doesn’t always get the attention it deserves and the shows getting all the attention seem to flop? NBC’s decided to switch up how it picks its comedies with the new website NBCComedyPlayground.com.
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# NBC Tries New Tactic Looking For Comedy Sitcom Ideas

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UqnlPdMR.m3u8" -->
## Video: NBC Tries New Tactic Looking For Comedy Sitcom Ideas

[Watch (HLS stream): NBC Tries New Tactic Looking For Comedy Sitcom Ideas](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UqnlPdMR.m3u8) (1:35)

![NBC Tries New Tactic Looking For Comedy Sitcom Ideas](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UqnlPdMR/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-04-09. What to do when your best stuff doesn’t always get the attention it deserves and the shows getting all the attention seem to flop? NBC’s decided to switch up how it picks its comedies with the new website NBCComedyPlayground.com._


---

Jul 27, 2023 4:22 PM UTC

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---


## Transcript

What to do when your best stuff doesn't always get the attention it deserves, and the shows getting all the attention seems to flop? NBC's decided to switch up how it picks its comedies. The network launched NBCComedyPlayground. com. Basically a contest for comedians and any other up and coming talent to pitch their ideas for a new show. NBC plans to name ten finalists, give them funding and let them produce a pilot. The best two get their own show for broadcast set to start the summer of 2015, while the public gets to vote on which of the other eight gets an all online series. Broadcasting & Cable quoted NBC Entertainment President, Jennifer Salke saying, there are hilarious people making videos on their computers all day and night, it's time to bring those people into network television.

The project certainly has big names on its advisory board like Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, and Jason Bateman. I got a fever. [ LAUGH ] And the only prescription is marked cowbell. While NBC's comedies have dominated ratings at times with show's like iconic Saturday Night Live and then Seinfeld and Friends of the Nineties, other show's ratings have struggled. While receiving huge critical acclaim and drawing in cult fans, shows like Parks and Recs still have so, so ratings. Even Community is a perennial bubble show as NBC execs decide what projects to keep and what to cancel. The pub from the contest certainly generated a lot of headlines and curiosity.

As one writer for Hypable put it, we'll be very eager to see these two shows see the light of day two years from now. Thanks for watching, I'm Jamal Andrews.

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