'Superstore' star Ben Feldman isn't surprised his show has become NBC's big hope

It has been a long while since NBC's "Must See TV" days. After years of stumbling with its comedies, the network has dedicated itself to rebuilding its comedy lineup. It has even chosen the show that will be the cornerstone of that rebuild, "Superstore."

In the year since the comedy debuted, NBC found that "Superstore" viewers were loyal and growing. While the premiere episode did well in its first week of ratings, NBC found that it performed exceptionally well in later months. It did so well that it caught up with the network's biggest hit, "The Voice," in viewership within four months.

As a result, NBC has decided to give comedies more time to find an audience before canceling them. It has also decided that "Superstore"'s edgy jokes, diverse cast, and broad appeal is the DNA all of its comedies should share.

This fall, NBC is bringing comedy back to its Thursday night home starting with "Superstore" at 8 p.m., followed by "The Good Place," the Ted Danson-Kristen Bell afterlife comedy, at 8:30 p.m.

"Isn't that crazy?" Feldman told Business Insider of NBC's love for "Superstore." "And by the way, just two years ago I was a part of everything that was wrong with NBC comedy, because I was on that 'A to Z' show. It's bizarre."

It's true, Feldman was a lead on NBC's "A to Z." Part of TV's romantic comedy trend in 2014, "A to Z" promised to follow a couple from their chance meeting to their expected parting of ways. But NBC broke up with the show after just five episodes.

On "Superstore," Feldman plays Jonah, a college-educated guy who finds himself working at the story while trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life.

"NBC is, I think, finding itself again, like Jonah," Feldman said. "And it's crazy and wild, but I can't say I'm tremendously surprised that we're the show that kind of helped them get back on track, at least in comedy. It feels very NBC. When I think back and it's like, 'Cheers,' and 'Seinfeld,' and 'Friends,' and all these different shows, and then the sort of more recent 'Office' and 'Parks and Rec' and those kind of shows, we in a way, in my mind at least, fit into that recent version of the brand."

Watch a preview for the second season premiere of "Superstore" below:

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