NBC revives A.P. Bio, moves it to NBCU streaming service

A.P. Bio will revived for its third season, but NBC is moving it to streaming rather than returning it to its network television slot.

According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has decided to go back on its decision to cancel A.P. Bio after its second season. But, rather than give A.P. Bio its network slot back, NBC is moving the show to its still unnamed streaming service. According to THR, this makes A.P. Bio NBC’s first half-hour original show on its new platform.

The show, starring It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Glenn Howerton and produced by Lorne Michaels, is about a former Harvard philosophy professor who was relegated to teaching high school biology in his hometown after suffering through some public disgrace.

(If you ask me, the show is good, if unfocused. If the writers would just focus on Howerton and the students rather than a cadre of random teachers and school staff, the show would be infinitely better. But that’s not what this post is about.)

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In a statement reported by THR, showrunner Mike O’Brien said, “I’m so overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the fans. The cast and I are thrilled that we get to make more and I’m excited to work with the NBCU streaming platform.”

This statement raises two questions for me.

First, I’m curious what this decision means for future network shows. Maybe this really was a case of fans stomping their feet loud enough that NBC had to revive the show somehow. But, if you allow me to be cynical for a moment, this could have been the network’s desire all along.

So far, NBC’s streaming platform has only one noteworthy show: The Office. And they only got that after a fight with Netflix.

What’s an easy way to beef up the streaming service with “new” content? Move a show you already have to it and drive the fans of the show there. But you can’t just move the show to the platform, especially if the platform is going to cost viewers money (like CBS All Access). You’d just get a massive eyeball and shouts of people saying you’re essentially putting content behind a pay wall.

So, instead, just cancel the show and look like a benevolent god when you bring it back on your streaming service.

It’s a little dark to think that way, but hey, A.P. Bio, per THR, is now the first broadcast comedy to be revived by a streaming service run by the same company that made the show originally. It’s worth wondering why that is and asking if this could launch a trend of removing shows from network tv and moving them to streaming to push viewers there.

Another thing I’ll be interested to see is whether or not A.P. Bio gets edgier with its move. When you have someone like an angry Howerton basically still playing Dennis from Always Sunny, it’s always going to feel like he’s being restrained in terms of just how outrageous the content can get.

I’m not expecting Always Sunny levels of raunch, but maybe the streaming service will allow the writers to be a bit more adventurous.

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There are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to NBC Universal’s streaming service. It’s supposed to launch in 2020 and, according to THR, it will feature TV and film franchises the NBC Universal as well as new original content.

What do you think of NBC’s move? Let us know in the comments!

(Source: The Hollywood Reporter)

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