If you are a fan of "Community," then this news is probably not going to come as a much of a surprise to you -- the ratings for the NBC show are not exactly the best in the business. Airing in what may be one of the most competitive timeslots in all television (Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time), the show has often struggled when it comes to bringing in a large chunk of viewers. However, it does have a small (and incredibly) devoted base that does recognize that this may very well be one of the funniest shows to hit TV in quite some time.
While these numbers are always a cause for concern, show creator Dan Harmon is really just trying to laugh about the whole situation. Speaking with Deadline in a new interview, Harmon does recognize that the show pulls in low numbers -- but also seems to believe that the ratings system is not entirely accurate:
"Nothing we really do works in terms of ratings. As far as critical respect goes, you can see a meteoric upward curve happening in the second season. If I only looked at our Nielsens, I wouldn’t even know that our show was on the air, much less if it was doing better or worse, because our audience is that small. The Nielsens were invented when television was splitting 200 million people three ways. Now, if somebody’s cat happens to turn on the TV, my numbers can double. It’s almost unrelated to what’s really happening."
What Harmon does seem to be alluding to here is the fact that people not only catch shows these days on DVRs, but also other services included iPods, Hulu, and various other sources online. The way in which we watch TV is so much different now, and the success of his show despite low Nielsen numbers seems to reflect that.
Do you think "Community" could pick up some more viewers if it has a significant presence at the Emmys this fall?
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