Justin Spitzer: Last News

NBC‘s freshman series St. Denis Medical has been renewed for a second season.

EXCLUSIVE: There’s a new Superstore opening in Africa.

Alison Herman TV Critic The sitcom writer Justin Spitzer had his first script credit on “Scrubs,” the archetypal workplace comedy set in a hospital. Twenty years later, Spitzer returns to the genre with NBC’s “St. Denis Medical,” co-created with Eric Ledgin (“Rutherford Falls”).

Selome Hailu NBC has given a five-episode back order to the upcoming hospital mockumentary “St. Denis Medical,” bringing its first season to a total of 18 episodes. Per the official logline, the single-cam comedy series is “about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.” The ensemble cast includes Wendi McClendon-Covey as St.

EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Schneider is checking in to St. Denis Medical.

William Earl UPDATED: The network upfronts are once again front-and-center for the television industry as major players gather in New York May 13-16 for the springtime ritual of courting advertisers and media buyers and presenting programming plans for the upcoming TV season. The industry is looking forward to a return to form after the disruption of last year’s writers and actors strikes.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic What’s NBC nowadays? Even before the ongoing writers strike scrambled the network’s fall schedule, its identity — historically quite strong as a place for chewy, grown-up dramas and chic, cerebral sitcoms — had seemed hazy. Promising comedies, the sort that might have grown to fulfill the role recently played by “30 Rock” or “Superstore,” got unceremoniously booted from the air after barely a chance to thrive; new dramas, from “Ordinary Joe” to “The Thing About Pam,” seemed painfully undistinguished.  It’s been a tough few years. And as much as the departure of former NBCUniversal chairman Susan Rovner, a career TV executive previously known for her work at Warner Bros. Television, is just latest bit of media industry consolidation, it’s also a moment to observe that the legacy network and its corporate siblings have struggled to find a way forward. (Rovner’s replacement, Donna Langley, will oversee both film and television for the company.) In the years since Rovner came into the job in 2020, there have been limited bright spots — the “Night Court” revival on NBC, “Poker Face” on streamer Peacock. But there’s been a general tone of a lack of faith in the core of what NBC is and does, one that makes today’s news feel like less of a surprise than it otherwise might.

EXCLUSIVE: The Good Girls reunion of Jenna Bans, Bill Krebs and Retta is not happening — at least not at NBC. The network has passed on the untitled drama pilot (fka Murder by the Book), starring Retta and written and executive produced by Bans and Krebs. The studio behind the pilot, Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is expected to shop it.

American Auto fans are going to miss out on a world of Payne, creator Justin Spitzer posted today.

American Auto may be gone, but costar Ana Gasteyer will always remember it with gratitude.

Selome Hailu “American Auto” has been canceled after two seasons on NBC. Created by Justin Spitzer, “American Auto” was a workplace comedy following the executives of Detroit-based Payne Motors as they struggle to adapt to the changing times, all the while being led by the company’s first female CEO, Katherine Hastings (Ana Gasteyer). Along with Gasteyer, the cast included Harriet Dyer as Sadie Ryan, Jon Barinholtz as Wesley Payne, Humphrey Ker as Elliot Chisholm, Michael B. Washington as Cyrus Knight, Tye White as Jack Fortin and X Mayo as Dori Ovens. Season 2 was averaging 2.3 million total viewers and a 0.3 rating among adults 18-49 according to Nielsen’s Live + 7 data from late April.

EXCLUSIVE: NBC has opted not to proceed with a third season of its workplace comedy series American Auto, created and executive produced by Superstore creator Justin Spitzer.

It will be a quick return to network primetime for Wendi McLendon-Covey. NBC has picked up to series St. Denis Medical, its single-camera workplace comedy starring The Goldbergs alumna and veteran David Alan Grier.

Selome Hailu NBC has given a series order to “St. Denis Medical,” a comedy series hailing from “Superstore” and “American Auto” creator Justin Spitzer alongside Eric Ledgin, who also wrote and executive produced on both shows. Per the official logline, the series is “a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.” Wendi McLendon-Covey stars as Joyce, St. Denis’ executive director and former oncological surgeon who has big dreams for the future of the hospital, though those dreams are not currently being realized. And as reported exclusively by Variety, Allison Tolman will play Alex, the supervising nurse in St. Denis’ emergency department who is dedicated to providing excellent care to her patients, often sacrificing her personal life to maintain her high standards.

NBC has yet to make decisions about three of its comedies.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Lawson (Mortal Kombat), Kahyun Kim (Cocaine Bear) and Mekki Leeper (The Sex Lives of College Girls) have been cast in the NBC comedy pilot St. Denis Medical. They join previously announced leads Wendi McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier.

EXCLUSIVE: Tony winner David Alan Grier is set as a lead opposite Wendy McLendon-Covey in NBC comedy pilot St. Denis Medical.

Selome Hailu Allison Tolman has been cast in “St. Denis Medical,” a comedy pilot at NBC from “Superstore” and “American Auto” creator Justin Spitzer. The pilot is described as a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity. Tolman will play Alex, the supervising nurse in St. Denis’ emergency department who is dedicated to providing excellent care to her patients, often sacrificing her personal life to maintain her high standards. Tolman recently held the recurring role of Winnie McLendon in “Gaslit,” the Starz limited series based on the Watergate scandal. She is also known for starring as Molly Solverson in Season 1 of FX’s “Fargo,” which earned her a Critics Choice Award as well as nominations for an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Her other TV credits include “Why Women Kill” on Paramount+ and ABC’s “Emergence” and “Downward Dog.” In film, she has appeared in “The House,” “The Gift,” “Krampus” and “Killing Gunther.”

EXCLUSIVE: As The Goldbergs is wrapping its 10-season run on ABC, series star Wendi McLendon-Covey has been tapped to lead another single-camera broadcast comedy, NBC pilot St. Denis Medical.

Selome Hailu “Non-Evil Twin,” a comedy written by and starring Amber Ruffin, has received a pilot order at NBC. The multi-cam follows a woman who is forced to step in to her sister’s role as the leader of a Fortune 500 company despite knowing little about business and even less about the way her sister has been running the corporation. Ruffin is best known for hosting “The Amber Ruffin Show,” a late-night talk show on Peacock that she created after years of writing and occasionally appearing on NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” Her other writing credits include “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” the 75th Tony Awards, the 76th Golden Globe Awards, the 66th Emmys and “Detroiters,” which she also acted in.

NBC has handed out its latest comedy pilot to Non-Evil Twin, starring and written by Amber Ruffin.