Briga Heeelan as Katie. (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)
While Great News‘ first season ending tonight is bad news, NBC sure has some good news for fans of the Tina Fey-produced workplace sitcom. The show has been renewed for a second season. The new season will begin in fall 2017.
Andrea Martin and Briga Heelan. (Photo by: Colleen Hayes/NBC)
Great News overcame adversity to earn a second season. It only started last month, and two episodes aired every night. Usually, that means a network doesn’t have much confidence in a show, but clearly the level of talent attached to Great News was too good to ignore. The great Andrea Martin is hilarious on the show as a 60-something intern working at her daughter’s New Jersey cable news show. Although it wasn’t created by Fey, she is an executive producer, along with her Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt co-creator Robert Carlock.
Back on May 11, Variety reported that NBC picked up the show for a second season. It is scheduled to air on Thursdays after the Will & Grace revival next season.
Great News is one of the lowest-rated comedies to get a new season. TVSeriesFinale notes that the show only averaged 3.412 million viewer and a 0.79 18-49 rating. It hasn’t had an 18-49 rating over 1.0 since the second episode. The first season only ran 10 episodes.
The series stars Briga Heelan (Cougar Town) as Katie, a frustrated cable news producer who doesn’t feel like she’s treated fairly by her boss, Greg (Adam Campbell). When her mom Carol (Martin) becomes an intern at the network, her life is made even more difficult. The series also stars John Michael Higgins (Pitch Perfect) as egomaniac veteran anchor Chuck and Nicole Richie as Potia, a ditsy young anchor with bizarre ideas for segments.
Tracy Wigfield, an Emmy winner for her work on Fey’s 30 Rock, created Great News. She also has a recurring part on the show as Beth, a meteorologist who always finds the negative in everything. Fey also plans on appearing in season two.
