EXCLUSIVE: NBC has some unfinished 2025-2026 comedy business — it has two outstanding comedy pilots, Stumble, and the untitled Ornelas, Keliiaa and Wilson project, and two half-hour holes to fill on the schedule come November, one behind St. Denis Medical on Monday and one behind Happy’s Place on Friday.
Jeff Astrof and Liz Astrof’s single-camera cheerleading pilot Stumble, headlined by Jenn Lyon, has been well received internally at NBC and has also tested well, I hear, making it a strong contender for a series pickup. With its mocumentary style, Cheer would fit right in behind the similarly shot medical comedy St. Denis Medical.
There may be another formidable contender though, and it is a descendant of the single-camera comedy series that made that style a staple, The Office. There are conversations about potentially giving The Paper, the upcoming Peacock comedy series from The Office developer Grag Daniels and Michael Koman, a run on NBC where The Office ran for nine seasons, sources said. Set in the same world as The Office, with that series’ Oscar Nuñez reprising his role, The Paper is slated for a September premiere on Peacock, so it could potentially get a second window on NBC two months later.
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The network already has one strong candidate for the November comedy slots (NBC’s September lineup does not include comedies): The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, starring Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe. The single-camera project, executive produced by Tina Fey, was the first of three comedies to be ordered to pilot by NBC earlier this year. It was completed before the upfronts and ordered to series in May.
Cheer was the second to get a pilot pickup and the second to be delivered. The untitled project from the Rutherford Falls trio of Sierra Teller Ornelas, Jackie Kaliiaa and Bobby Wilson, an ensemble comedy set at a Native community center in Oakland, CA, was the last of the three to receive a pilot green light, so it is behind Stumble in its timeline. I hear the pilot was just finished and delivered so there is no reliable information yet as to how it will fare in internal screenings and external testings.
While filling the two November half-hour slots is a priority, that is not the only comedy launch option for 2025-26, and midseason premieres are also being considered, I hear.
