''Great News'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series created and written by

Tracey Wigfield Tracey Wigfield (born June 19, 1983) is an American comedy writer. She created, produced and appeared in the NBC sitcom ''Great News''. She also developed the Peacock teen sitcom ''Saved By The Bell'', a revival of the original series of the sam ...

, and executive produced by Wigfield alongside

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

Robert Carlock Robert Morgan Carlock (born September 21, 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer. He has worked as a writer for several NBC television comedies, and as a showrunner for ''30 Rock'', which was created by his recurring collaborator, comedia ...

, and David Miner for 3 Arts Entertainment, Little Stranger and

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

. The series premiered April 25, 2017 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. On May 11, 2017, NBC renewed ''Great News'' for a second season of 13 episodes, which premiered on September 28, 2017. On May 11, 2018, NBC canceled the series after two seasons.

Premise

The series, set in the world of

television news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...

, follows an up-and-coming news producer who finds herself dealing with a new intern: her mother.

Cast and characters

Main

Briga Heelan Briga Heelan (pronunciation ) (born April 2, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her work on the sitcoms ''Cougar Town'', '' Ground Floor'', ''Undateable'', ''Love'', ''Great News'', and ''B Positive''. Early life and e ...

as Katherine "Katie" Wendelson, a segment producer at ''The Breakdown'' who suddenly has to deal with the presence of her mother Carol, who is hired as an intern at the show *

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...

as Carol Wendelson, Katie's mother and an intern at ''The Breakdown'' * Adam Campbell as Greg Walsh, an executive producer at ''The Breakdown'' and Katie's boss and love interest *

Nicole Richie Nicole Camille Richie (; born September 21, 1981) is an American television personality, fashion designer, socialite, and actress. She came to prominence after appearing in the reality television series ''The Simple Life'' (2003–2007), in whic ...

as Portia Scott-Griffith, co-anchor of ''The Breakdown'' *

Horatio Sanz Horacio Sanz (born June 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Horatio Sanz, is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006. Early life Sanz was born on June 4, 1969 in Santi ...

as Justin, video editor at ''The Breakdown'' *

John Michael Higgins John Michael Higgins (born February 12, 1963) is an American actor and comedian whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's '' The Late Shift'', and a starring role in the American versio ...

as Chuck Pierce, co-anchor of ''The Breakdown'' who was once a well-respected network anchor

Recurring

as Beth Vierk: the meteorologist for ''The Breakdown'' * Sheaun McKinney as Wayne: a cameraman for ''The Breakdown'' * Brad Morris as Gene: one of the segment producers on ''The Breakdown'' * Stewart Skelton as Dave Wendelson: Katie's father and Carol's husband, whose face is always partially obscured *

Vicki Lawrence Vicki Ann Lawrence ( Axelrad; born March 26, 1949), sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Mama (Thelma Harper). Lawrence originated multitudes of charact ...

as Angie Deltaliano: Carol's best friend * Sarah Baker as Joyce Vickley: a human resources employee who comes in contact with ''The Breakdown'' staff * Adam Countee as Chip: co-host of ''The Chip & Chet Report'', a competitor of ''The Breakdown'' * Dave Hill as Chet: co-host of ''The Chip & Chet Report'', a competitor of ''The Breakdown'' *

Ana Gasteyer Ana Kristina Gasteyer (born May 4, 1967) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's ''Suburgatory,'' TBS's '' People of Earth'', NBC's ' ...

as Kelly: boozy co-host of ''Morning Wined Up'', MMN's morning show *

Rachel Dratch Rachel Susan Dratch (born February 22, 1966) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. After she graduated from Dartmouth College she moved to Chicago to study improvisational theatre at The Second City and ImprovOlympic. Her breakthrough ro ...

as Mary-Kelly: boozy co-host of ''Morning Wined Up'', MMN's morning show *

Christina Pickles Christina Pickles (born 17 February 1935) is a British-American actress. She is known for her role as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama '' St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988), for which she received five nominations for the Primetime Em ...

as Mildred Marlock (season 1): the owner of MMN and Greg's grandmother *

as Diana St. Tropez (season 2): the new head of MMN *

Reid Scott Reid Scott (October 23, 1926 – March 2, 2016) was a lawyer and provincial judge in Canada, and a New Democratic Party of Member of Parliament for the Danforth electoral district, in Toronto, from 1962 to 1968, leaving federal politics when h ...

as Jeremy (season 2): Katie's new boyfriend and a workaholic reporter for ''The New York Times'' *

Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...

as Fenton Pelt (season 2): the billionaire owner of Pelt Industries who sues MMN due to a story reported by ''The Breakdown''

Guest

Tommy Dewey Thomas R. Dewey (born August 3, 1978) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He co-starred with Michaela Watkins in the Hulu original series '' Casual.'' Early life Dewey was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He went to Mountain Brook High Schoo ...

as Trip ("War Is Hell") *

Robin Leach Robin Douglas Leach (29 August 1941 – 24 August 2018) was a British entertainment reporter and writer from London. After beginning his career as a print journalist, first in England and then in the United States, he became best known fo ...

as himself and 'Pond Scum' co-host ("Carol Has a Bully") *

Chris Parnell Thomas Christopher Parnell (; born February 5, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006 and played the role of Dr. Leo Spaceman on ''30 Rock''. In animation, he voices Cyril Figgis ...

as Gerald, Diana St. Tropez's assistant ("Squad Feud") * Rev. Run as himself ("Honeypot!") *

Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''Happy Gilmore''. Other notable ...

as Len Archer ("Award Show") *

Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. Strong is most notable for being a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is also the longest-tenured female cast member in the s ...

as Jessica Mancuso ("Night of the Living Screen") *

Rashad Jennings Rashad Andre Jennings (born March 26, 1985) is an American football running back and coach for the Fan Controlled Football Kingpens. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He also played for the ...

as Carvell ("Pool Show") *

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

as Petey Pierce, Chuck's mid 30s son ("A Christmas Carol Wendelson") * Judith Roberts as Grammy ("Love is Dead") *

Jayma Mays Jamia Suzette "Jayma" Mays is an American actress. She is known for playing Emma Pillsbury in the Fox musical series '' Glee'' (2009–2015) and for her starring roles in the films ''Red Eye'' (2005), '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' (2009) and ''Th ...

as Cat ("Catfight") *

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy ...

as Lawyer ("The Fast Track") *

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...

as himself ("Early Retirement") *

Nat Faxon Nathaniel Faxon (born October 11, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. A frequent presence on comedic films and TV series, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing ''The Descendants'' (2011) ...

as Anthony Lyon ("Early Retirement")

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2017–18)

Reception

''Great News'' has received generally positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the series has an approval rating of 76% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 6.15/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Great News'' overcomes its familiar trappings with gently subversive humor and a smart cast of talented, likable actors." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the series has a score of 67 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Great News 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2017 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings English-language television shows NBC original programming Television news sitcoms Television series about television Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in New York City