"Community" star Joel McHale tells The New York Times' Bill Carter that the cast of the show "watched the ratings for '30 Rock' very carefully," given that his show was bumped to make room for the Tina Fey comedy.

Since "30 Rock" returned to the NBC schedule, the show has at times fared even more poorly in the ratings than "Community," which had averaged only about 4 million viewers, the story says.

But ratings may not matter so much for shows like "Community," which Carter calls "one of the first shows of the so-called post-television era."

"The most coveted demographic, and most coveted of that demographic, these very smart, upwardly mobile, college-age kids just don’t watch TV anymore," said "Community" creator Dan Harmon.

"Community," which returns to the NBC lineup this Thursday, has been helped by a deal with Hulu to put earlier episodes online. That has allowed some fans to catch up with the program, the story says.

Harmon said he doesn't blame NBC executives, whom he calls supportive, "especially when they are under such pressure -- they’re in a knife fight with Univision for ratings, for gosh sakes," according to the piece.

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