The days of NBC executives having to answer questions about its association with Bill Cosby are over. The days of NBC having to respond to inquiries about its relationship with Donald Trump have arrived. NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt, President Jennifer Salke and alternative and late-night programming president Paul Telegdy defended the network dropping Trump from The Apprentice and severing ties with Trump’s pageant specials and then signing Trump to host Saturday Night Live in November. NBC execs admitted they didn’t expect Trump’s presidential candidacy to have legs, and that Trump’s brief screen time on SNL is dwarfed by the amount of time he’s been granted on news shows like Meet the Press. At heart is the question: Does an SNL hosting gig constitute a business relationship?
In other news and announcements:
NBC is pleased with its late-night offerings, signing Seth Meyers for Late Night through 2021 and announcing Jimmy Fallon will be taking The Tonight Show to Los Angeles Feb. 15-19 and will have a two-hour, two-year anniversary special on Feb. 14.
NBC has picked up Mike Schur’s (The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) new comedy Good Place, starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson.
The next live TV musical event on NBC will likely be Hairspray, final deal pending, to air in December.
An all-star tribute to director/producer James Burrows featuring all six principal cast members of Friends (though they might not all appear onscreen together) will air Feb. 21.
NBC has ordered a pilot for DC Comics’ workplace comedy Powerless, featuring little-known superheroes.
And more from the Twitterverse:
New NBC comedy “Good Place" from @KenTremendous will star Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. #TCA16
— Channel Guide (@ChannelGuide) January 13, 2016
NBC’s Greenblatt says ABC is looking at doing “Dirty Dancing.” Nobody puts ABC in a corner! #TCA16
— Channel Guide (@ChannelGuide) January 13, 2016
“Peter Pan” felt like it should’ve been a lot shorter NBC’s Greenblatt says, "not disparagingly.” #TCA16
— Channel Guide (@ChannelGuide) January 13, 2016
NBC boss on letting Trump hosts SNL after breaking ties last summer: They basically didn't expect his candidacy to have any legs. #TCA16
— Matt Mitovich (@MattMitovich) January 13, 2016
#BobGreenblatt snaps that "accident-prone" #JimmyFallon will outlast #TCA16 reporters in their respective jobs. @nbc #nbc
— Bill Harris (@billharris_tv) January 13, 2016
#BobGreenblatt snaps that "accident-prone" #JimmyFallon will outlast #TCA16 reporters in their respective jobs. @nbc #nbc
— Bill Harris (@billharris_tv) January 13, 2016
NBC will probably not put the entire #Aquarius season online again, like with Season 1. Won’t all be wrapped in time. #TCA16
— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) January 13, 2016
.@NBCBlacklist has "tons of exciting big reveals coming up" & is "operating on all cylinders" says clearly happy #NBC exec Salke #NBC #TCA16
— TV Insider (@tvinsider) January 13, 2016
NBC's Bob Greenblatt on #GoldenGlobes ratings: "A 5% decrease year-to-year – we pop Champagne." #TCA16 pic.twitter.com/HNqULjob5L
— Stephen Battaglio (@SteveBattaglio) January 13, 2016
NBC Chairman defends having #Trump host SNL: "Love him or not, he's one of the most important political figures of our time." :/ #TCA16
— Nigel M. Smith (@nigelmfs) January 13, 2016
NBC's solution to everything seems to be "let's do it live!" #TCA16
— Matt Marcotte (@MattMarcotte) January 13, 2016
The Powerless world deals with a range of characters, not just the "creme de la creme" of DC superheroes. #NBCUTCA #TCA16
— NBC (@nbc) January 13, 2016
NBC prez Jennifer Salke asked Dick Wolfe if he would do a live part of one of the Chicago trio: "He laughed at me." #TCA16
— Curt Wagner (@ShowPatrol) January 13, 2016