NBC delays premieres of 'Community' and 'Whitney'

School won't be back in session as planned at Greendale Community College, now that NBC has pushed back the premiere date of fan favorite comedy Community.

In a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, NBC confirms that both Community and Whitney have been moved from an Oct. 19 premiere to an unspecified new date.

The reason? They say to build on the momentum of the network's freshman shows and to give Community and Whitney a bigger marketing push.

"Given the success we've had for the past four weeks -- including winning the first week of the season in adults 18-49 -- we've decided to continue to concentrate our promotional strength on our new NBC shows that are scheduled Monday through Wednesday and have therefore decided to hold Community and Whitney from their previously announced premieres of Oct. 19. Without having to launch these comedies on Friday at this time, we can keep our promotion focused on earlier in the week; plus, we will have both comedies in our back pocket if we need to make any schedule changes on those nights. When we have a better idea of viewing patterns in the next few weeks, we will announce new season premieres of Whitney and Community."

Community, which is going into its fourth season, had been part of a Thursday night comedy block that also included sophomore show Whitney, 30 Rock and Up All Night. It's not clear if Community and Whitney will premiere on a Thursday or a Friday when they do return.