Andy DehnartNBC is bringing back two reality shows that no one really cared were gone: Last Comic Standing, which aired its sixth season in the summer of 2008, and The Sing Off, which aired in December over a week.
The stand-up comedian competition Last Comic Standing 7 will air in the summer, and will now be hosted by Craig Robinson, the comedian and actor best known as Darryl on The Office. (Bill Bellamy hosted seasons five and six, having replaced season four’s Anthony Clark, who replaced the first three seasons’ host, Jay Mohr.) Open casting calls start this weekend.
NBC said in its announcement that the 2008 edition “built an audience through its run,” but last season had a weird division of episodes that over-emphasized the auditions.
Meanwhile, NBC also plans to bring back the a capella singing competition The Sing Off sometime in the future. “We’ll be bringing ‘Sing Off’ back. We don’t know when. But we believe we’ve found a little gem, one we can buff up and make better,” NBC reality executive Paul Telegdy told Joe Adalian, who reports that the second season might air over a week, or might shift to a more standard weekly broadcast.