Kal Penn and Matt Murray Hope "Sunnyside's" Digital Audience will Save Show - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JamesG · 10-24-2019, 01:52 AM

Kal Penn and Matt Murray Say "Sunnyside" Has Found "Promising" Digital Audience as Fate of NBC Comedy Remains in Limbo
by Dino-Ray Ramos
October 23, 2019

Last week, NBC pulled its freshman comedy "Sunnyside" from its Thursday night schedule and will air the fourth episode on Thursday, which will be the last on the linear network.

The comedy co-created by Kal Penn and Matt Murray and executive produced by Mike Schur will air its remaining seven episodes on NBC’s digital platforms, but it isn’t 100 percent clear if the show has been canceled.

During a screening event of the fourth episode, Murray told Deadline that they pulled the comedy off the network before they were supposed to shoot episode 10 — which was going to be the final episode.

“They did not tell us to stop production,” he said. “We shot episode 10 after they made the announcement and we are shooting the 11th episode now. It’s very confusing to me, but as someone who loves the cast and the writers, we’re doing everything we can to give ourselves a shot.”

Murray says that with all of his projects, he just hopes he can make the best show that they can and hope it will net an audience.

“It’s kind of a tough spot to be in an era where no one watches live television,” said Murray. “We’re at a time when networks will stop paying attention to that as much — but we’re not there. I think it’s a hard spot to be especially on Thursday night up against football and baseball playoffs. I didn’t think the numbers would be that low, but that’s the trend where we are headed.”

There is a silver lining to all of this. In addition to living on NBC’s digital platforms, the comedy lives on Hulu and Penn said that the data they have received shows that the show is doing well with younger audiences.

Penn points out that the rather than going broad on an older network, the data seems to reflect that streaming audiences that care about the subject matter of immigration feel “reassured and represented”.

He adds, “This is a hug of comedy that we are giving them in a really ****** time where they feel attacked every time they turn on the news or go on Twitter. That seems to be the audience that has found the show and I am really excited to grow that audience.”

https://deadline.com/2019/10/kal-pen...al-1202767658/

TMC · 10-29-2019, 07:51 PM

Kal Penn gets a bus to promote Sunnyside

"Nice bus. My legal last name. What could go wrong?" says Penn of the "Modi 2020" campaign bus named after his character Garrett Modi. (Kal Penn's legal name is "Kalpen Modi.") Despite being pulled from NBC's schedule, Sunnyside's remaining episodes are airing on Hulu and NBC's digital properties.

10-24-2019, 01:52 AM	#1
JamesG Freakshow Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 01, 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57,045	Kal Penn and Matt Murray Hope "Sunnyside's" Digital Audience will Save Show *Kal Penn and Matt Murray Say "Sunnyside" Has Found "Promising" Digital Audience as Fate of NBC Comedy Remains in Limbo* by Dino-Ray Ramos October 23, 2019 Last week, NBC pulled its freshman comedy "Sunnyside" from its Thursday night schedule and will air the fourth episode on Thursday, which will be the last on the linear network. The comedy co-created by Kal Penn and Matt Murray and executive produced by Mike Schur will air its remaining seven episodes on NBC’s digital platforms, but it isn’t 100 percent clear if the show has been canceled. During a screening event of the fourth episode, Murray told Deadline that they pulled the comedy off the network before they were supposed to shoot episode 10 — which was going to be the final episode. “They did not tell us to stop production,” he said. “We shot episode 10 after they made the announcement and we are shooting the 11th episode now. It’s very confusing to me, but as someone who loves the cast and the writers, we’re doing everything we can to give ourselves a shot.” Murray says that with all of his projects, he just hopes he can make the best show that they can and hope it will net an audience. “It’s kind of a tough spot to be in an era where no one watches live television,” said Murray. “We’re at a time when networks will stop paying attention to that as much — but we’re not there. I think it’s a hard spot to be especially on Thursday night up against football and baseball playoffs. I didn’t think the numbers would be that low, but that’s the trend where we are headed.” There is a silver lining to all of this. In addition to living on NBC’s digital platforms, the comedy lives on Hulu and Penn said that the data they have received shows that the show is doing well with younger audiences. Penn points out that the rather than going broad on an older network, the data seems to reflect that streaming audiences that care about the subject matter of immigration feel “reassured and represented”. He adds, “This is a hug of comedy that we are giving them in a really ****** time where they feel attacked every time they turn on the news or go on Twitter. That seems to be the audience that has found the show and I am really excited to grow that audience.” https://deadline.com/2019/10/kal-pen...al-1202767658/

10-29-2019, 07:51 PM	#2
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 125,441	Kal Penn gets a bus to promote Sunnyside "Nice bus. My legal last name. What could go wrong?" says Penn of the "Modi 2020" campaign bus named after his character Garrett Modi. (Kal Penn's legal name is "Kalpen Modi.") Despite being pulled from NBC's schedule, Sunnyside's remaining episodes are airing on Hulu and NBC's digital properties.