Could there still be hope for A to Z?

The NBC comedy rose in the ratings Thursday night. A to Z had 3.2 million viewers and a 1.0 rating. That’s up 43 percent from last week’s series-low number. The only problem is 1.0 is still considered too low to survive by broadcast network standards. The freshman comedy’s fellow endangered lead-in Bad Judge (4.2 million, 1.1) also improved, climbing 22 percent. One big caveat: Some NFL premption in Cincinnati inflated these preliminary ratings somewhat, but we’re told A to Z’s climb is big enough to still have some left over when the nationals come in.

Both comedies were quasi-canceled last week NBC, which decided it wasn’t going to order any more epiosdes, but that it would also let the final eight episodes of each show air — which will give network executives some more data and time to potentially change their mind. A to Z executive producer Rashida Jones took to Twitter this week to lobby fans to save the show. See our story from last night about A to Z and how to tell if a show is really canceled.