'Friends' Vet Tapped as New 'Whitney' Showrunner

Christ Haston/NBC

"Whitney"

NBC is continuing to make changes at the helm of its returning series.

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Whitney executive producer Betsy Thomas will step down from her post at the top of the sophomore comedy and be replaced by Friends veteran Wil Calhoun, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Calhoun, whose recent credits include the short-lived Fox comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter, becomes the latest new showrunner to step into an NBC series, following Josh Safran (Smash), David Guarascio and Moses Port (Community) and Tucker Cawley (Up all Night).

STORY: NBC Renews 'Parks and Recreation,' 'Up All  Night,' 'Whitney'

NBC renewedWhitney, created by and starring Whitney Cummings, earlier this month for a second season, moving the comedy -- which has frequently been a target for critics -- to Friday nights ahead of Community.

Cummings was 2-for-2 this season with NBC granting a second season to Whitney and CBS having renewed the Cummings-produced 2 Broke Girls. What's more, she will soon have a Chelsea Handler-like talk project on E!

The UTA and Mosaic-repped Calhoun's credits also include Gary Unmarried, Kath & Kim and Friends, where he was an exec producer.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit