There hasn't been much to cheer about coming from NBC of late, unless you consider the upcoming Winter Olympics worth jumping up and down about, or you've been happy about Chuck's return. The Leno-Conan business has just been nasty, the resolution bungled and the prospects for new product unexciting.

But late Friday night something happened at the Peacock that is worth getting psyched about. NBC gave Parks and Recreation a season three renewal.

Like CBS's vote of confidence renewal for How I Met Your Mother earlier this week, this was a great move by NBC and a sign that somebody at 30 Rock -- the real NBC, not the Alec Baldwin/Tina Fey version -- sees quality and has rewarded it.

Parks and Recreation is a terrific sitcom. It's grown so much since it began as a showcase for Amy Poehler with an Office comedy doc-camera style. And it's not about the pit anymore. Instead, the characters have been allowed to blossom and become integral to the show. They're very, very funny, and so is the show.

Giving Parks and Recreations another season follows the tradition of other NBC comedies that needed time to evolve. Seinfeld wasn't a hit when it started. The Office struggled to find its own American footing.

By the way, NBC has had such a rough time with any show doing great in the ratings unless its called The Biggest Loser, that the renewal of Parks and Recreation is not based on the numbers (which ironically is what Jay Leno said matters most when he was on Oprah).

Parks and Rec has done decent numbers, but regularly trails Fox, CBS and ABC, as do most of the other Thursday night sitcoms. So NBC chose not to go just by the numbers. The executives went by the gut and gave Amy's show another season.

Bravo, NBC.