# Whitney (TV series)
**Whitney** is an American sitcom created by and starring comedian [Whitney Cummings](https://www.edgepedia.org/whitney-cummings) that aired on NBC from September 22, 2011, to 2013, running two seasons before cancellation. The series follows Whitney, an acerbic young woman determined not to let her long-term live-in relationship with boyfriend Alex ([Chris D'Elia](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-delia)) become comfortable and boring, and their circle of friends.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850458/) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | NBC, two seasons; season 1 premiered September 22, 2011; canceled May 9, 2013[2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/) • [3](https://www.hollywood.com/tv/whitney-1600-penn-canceled-59092920) |
| Format | Multi-camera comedy taped before a live audience, roughly 22-minute episodes[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/crass-warfare) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/) |
| Premise | Whitney (Whitney Cummings) tries to keep her relationship with Alex (Chris D'Elia) from getting too comfortable and boring[2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/) |
| Main cast | Whitney Cummings, Chris D'Elia, Rhea Seehorn, Zoe Lister-Jones, Dan O'Brien, Maulik Pancholy, Tone Bell[2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/) |
| Critical reception | Season 1 Metascore 48 (mixed or average) from 25 critic reviews; user score 4.5 from 112 ratings[2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/) |
| Audience rating | 5.8/10 on IMDb from about 13,000 users[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850458/) |
| Ratings | Season 1 averaged just over 5 million viewers; season 2 premiered November 14, 2012, replacing the canceled *Animal Practice*[5](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D18617820.html) |
## Development and production
NBC ordered *Whitney* to series in May 2011, one of four pilots picked up that week alongside *Prime Suspect*, *Up All Night*, and *Smash*. The network described it as a multi-camera romantic comedy created by and starring Cummings as one-half of a young couple, produced through Universal Media Studios.[6](https://www.nexttv.com/news/nbc-orders-pilots-smash-whitney-more-37915) Cummings wrote the pilot based on her stand-up act and starred alongside fellow stand-up comedian Chris D'Elia.[7](https://thecomicscomic.com/2011/05/13/before-the-upfronts-up-front-with-whitney-cummings-chris-delia-about-their-new-nbc-sitcom-whitney/)
The premiere landed in an unusually crowded context for a newcomer. In the fall 2011 season Cummings was, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, the creator and star of NBC's *Whitney* and the co-creator of CBS's *2 Broke Girls* at the same time, part of a wave of network comedies about young women's lives driven by female creators.[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-sep-15-la-et-edgy-women-20110915-story.html) [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker)'s Emily Nussbaum, a television critic, called the double launch an unheard-of achievement for a newcomer; both shows were picked up for full seasons in October 2011, and *2 Broke Girls* became a ratings hit while *Whitney* was shifted to a different night.[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/crass-warfare)
## Premise and characters
The show centers on Whitney, an off-brand version of Cummings herself, an acerbic photographer with a live-in boyfriend, Alex, and their friends. Recurring story material includes her resistance to marriage, bickering over household habits, and nights out with friends at a local club.[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/crass-warfare) The supporting cast includes [Rhea Seehorn](https://www.edgepedia.org/rhea-seehorn) as Roxanne, Zoe Lister-Jones as Lily, Dan O'Brien as Mark, Maulik Pancholy as Neal, and [Tone Bell](https://www.edgepedia.org/tone-bell) as RJ, with guest appearances by [Chelsea Handler](https://www.edgepedia.org/chelsea-handler), Peter Gallagher, Jane Kaczmarek, John Cleese, and Ken Marino.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/)
Sources describe the setting differently: IMDb summarizes the show as twenty-somethings living in Chicago,[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850458/) while a Hollywood.com cancellation notice calls its lead a working class New Yorker.[3](https://www.hollywood.com/tv/whitney-1600-penn-canceled-59092920)
## Critical reception
Season 1 scored 48 on Metacritic, labeled mixed or average, from 25 critic reviews: 4 positive, 17 mixed, and 4 negative.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/) Reviewers repeatedly singled out the multi-camera format and laugh track. [The Boston Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-boston-globe)'s television review called the pilot a pile of stale sitcom cliches with a laugh track that would make viewers flinch, and questioned why NBC placed it in a Thursday block otherwise occupied by *[Community](https://www.edgepedia.org/community-tv-series)*, *Parks and Recreation*, *The Office*, and *30 Rock*.[9](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2011/09/21/witless-whitney-doesn-fit/UBFeq26Wp81w0k4q88yVwJ/story.html) The Christian Science Monitor criticized inept dialogue, poorly realized characters, and what it called the most inappropriate format for the material.[10](https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2011/0923/Whitney-premiere-a-half-hour-without-laughs) The Huffington Post's Maureen Ryan found the jokes musty and the multi-camera format the wrong choice, while Newsday's review was the most positive at 91, praising the core relationship as appealingly relaxed.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/)
**Mixed verdicts on the lead.** Nussbaum's New Yorker review judged the show terrible but framed the failure against debates about women and humor, noting that Cummings, lacerating and deadpan in stand-up, played a fictional avatar closer to [Lucille Ball](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucille-ball)'s battle-of-the-sexes mode than to her own persona; "This is war," Whitney announces before another scheme against her boyfriend, a line Nussbaum suggested could be the series' catchphrase.[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/crass-warfare) TVLine's midseason report card graded the show a C, crediting Chris D'Elia's reaction shots with selling most of the jokes that landed and praising Rhea Seehorn's softened take on Roxanne, while faulting NBC for watering down Cummings's sometimes-caustic stand-up act into something merely snarky.[11](https://www.tvline.com/gallery/tvs-midseason-report-cards-which-freshman-shows-are-making-the-grade/) A later Salon piece argued there was a decent show in there somewhere, reading the early criticism as aimed at the multi-camera format rather than the content.[12](https://www.salon.com/2012/11/15/whitney_theres_a_decent_show_in_there_somewhere/)
## Ratings and cancellation
The show was a marginal performer in its first season, averaging just over 5 million viewers, and was renewed narrowly. Its second season, delayed from an October slot, premiered on November 14, 2012, taking over the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot after NBC canceled *Animal Practice*, which had drawn fewer than 4 million viewers there.[5](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D18617820.html) The Los Angeles Times reported the same scheduling move.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-xpm-2012-oct-18-la-et-st-nbc-animal-practice-cancel-whitney-20121018-story.html)
NBC canceled *Whitney* on May 9, 2013, part of a sweep that also cut *1600 Penn*, *Up All Night*, and *Guys with Kids*; the trade notice described the series as a blue humor-laden comedy that had been shuffled around the schedule and anchored with hiatus fillers.[3](https://www.hollywood.com/tv/whitney-1600-penn-canceled-59092920) TV Series Finale likewise reported the cancellation after two seasons.[14](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/whitney-cancelled-by-nbc-no-third-season-28251/)
## References
1. [Whitney (TV Series 2011–2013), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850458/)
2. [Whitney season 1 reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/whitney/season-1/)
3. [NBC Cancels 'Whitney', '1600 Penn', 'Up All Night', 'Guys with Kids', Hollywood.com (May 9, 2013)](https://www.hollywood.com/tv/whitney-1600-penn-canceled-59092920)
4. [Emily Nussbaum, "Crass Warfare," The New Yorker (November 28, 2011)](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/crass-warfare)
5. [La saison 2 de "Whitney" dès le 14 novembre sur NBC, AlloCiné (October 19, 2012)](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D18617820.html)
6. [NBC Orders Pilots 'Smash,' 'Whitney,' More, Broadcasting & Cable / Next TV (May 12, 2011)](https://www.nexttv.com/news/nbc-orders-pilots-smash-whitney-more-37915)
7. [Up front with Whitney Cummings and Chris D'Elia about their new NBC sitcom, The Comic's Comic (May 13, 2011)](https://thecomicscomic.com/2011/05/13/before-the-upfronts-up-front-with-whitney-cummings-chris-delia-about-their-new-nbc-sitcom-whitney/)
8. [Edgy women like 'Whitney' lead the fall TV lineup, Los Angeles Times (September 15, 2011)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-sep-15-la-et-edgy-women-20110915-story.html)
9. [Witless 'Whitney' doesn't fit in, The Boston Globe (September 21, 2011)](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2011/09/21/witless-whitney-doesn-fit/UBFeq26Wp81w0k4q88yVwJ/story.html)
10. ['Whitney' premiere a half hour without laughs, The Christian Science Monitor (September 23, 2011)](https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2011/0923/Whitney-premiere-a-half-hour-without-laughs)
11. [TV's Midseason Report Cards, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/gallery/tvs-midseason-report-cards-which-freshman-shows-are-making-the-grade/)
12. ["Whitney": There's a decent show in there somewhere, Salon (November 15, 2012)](https://www.salon.com/2012/11/15/whitney_theres_a_decent_show_in_there_somewhere/)
13. [NBC cancels 'Animal Practice,' sets Nov. 14 return for 'Whitney,' Los Angeles Times (October 18, 2012)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-xpm-2012-oct-18-la-et-st-nbc-animal-practice-cancel-whitney-20121018-story.html)
14. [Whitney: Cancelled by NBC, No Third Season, TV Series Finale](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/whitney-cancelled-by-nbc-no-third-season-28251/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › American sitcoms and comedy series › 2010s and later network sitcoms*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license