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Sunnyside
Just three episodes into its first season, freshman comedy Sunnyside has been removed from NBC’s primetime schedule and kicked to the network’s digital platforms. According to USA Today, the Kal Penn sitcom will be replaced by Will & Grace Season 11, originally slated for an early 2020 debut. The surprising move didn’t sit well with Sunnyside star Joel Kim Booster, who slammed NBC in a detailed Twitter thread. “To find out our show is getting pulled and replaced with an all-white cast ON Columbus Day?” he wrote. “Our time slot literally got colonized!”
On Tuesday night, USA Today reported that Sunnyside will leave NBC proper after Thursday’s fourth episode, with new episodes available to stream weekly on the NBC app, NBC.com, and other digital platforms. The diverse sitcom will remain in production on its 11 episodes, but it seems unlikely that NBC will continue the series beyond that. In Sunnyside‘s place, NBC will air the eleventh and final season of Will & Grace, which was originally scheduled to premiere early next year. The revived sitcom will now return for Season 11 on Thursday, October 24 at 9:30/8:30c.
According to USA Today, Sunnyside debuted to just 2.7 million viewers, making it the least-watched new series of the week. It has continued to drop in the ratings in recent weeks, losing a third of its audience from lead-in sitcom The Good Place. However, the network told USA Today that digital viewership among young adults has been strong, a factor that likely contributed to the immigration comedy’s shift to the NBC app and NBC.com.
Low ratings or not, Sunnyside‘s Kim Booster was shocked by the network’s decision. On Tuesday night, Booster, who plays the wealthy Jun Ho, tore into NBC in a three-part Twitter thread. “To find out our show is getting pulled and replaced with an all-white cast ON Columbus Day? You can’t write this stuff folks,” he wrote, quote-tweeting USA Today’s article. “Our time slot literally got colonized!!” Kim Booster clarified that the sitcom has been moved to streaming, “which has given us all a new way to describe the only slightly problematic among us.” Wrote the actor and writer, “Instead of a full cancelation you can now say a comedian has been ‘moved to NBC.com’ if they don’t say the FULL slur.”
Kim Booster added that he “had a blast working on this show, with these people” and asked fans to continue watching. “Encourage y’all to watch our last televised ep this week and continue to support it online wherever it lands,” he wrote.
The fourth episode of Sunnyside will air on NBC this Thursday, October 17. The remaining seven episodes will air on NBC’s digital platforms, including the NBC app, NBC.com, and elsewhere.
