Mustn't See TV
If you saw last week's Nielsen numbers, then you know that a 20-year television tradition is officially dead. The tradition? NBC's "Must See TV Thursdays," of course.
Not only did NBC's Joey and Will & Grace suffer severe beatings, but The Apprentice continues to lag far behind CBS' CSI. But - the final straw that broke the back of "must see TV" was the failure of 10:00pm stalwart ER to come even close to the ratings of Without a Trace on CBS. That, my friends, was the final nail in the coffin of NBC's must see TV. And you were there!
The "watch NBC on Thursdays" tradition dates back to the early 1980s. Back then, NBC, mired deeply in third place (out of only three networks in those days), chose to attack the problem of lagging ratings by becoming "the quality network." Under the able stewardship of Grant Tinker, out went shows of dubious quality such as Supertrain and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, and in came critically-acclaimed fare such as Hill Street Blues, Fame, and Cheers.
It wasn't until 1984 when the "let's put on good shows" strategy began to pay dividends. In an era when pundits had proclaimed the sitcom to be dead (shows such as Dallas, Dynasty, and Magnum PI sat atop the ratings charts back then), NBC quietly launched a little Thursday night comedy called The Cosby Show (perhaps you've heard of it?). It was, of course, an instant success, and not only did it resuscitate the comedy genre, but it also helped to propel the fortunes of NBC's other Thursday night shows.
Before you knew it, Thursdays on NBC became truly "must see TV:" Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, and Hill Street Blues. A year later, NBC was the number one network, and began an air-tight ownership of Thursday nights that would last for 20 years. Seinfeld... Frasier... Friends... ER... they all reigned supremely on Thursdays.
But those days are long gone. So what happened? Well, the bottom line is that NBC became complacent. In the mid-to-late 90s, instead of using the Thursday night "hammock" time slots (8:30 and 9:30) to launch and nurture the next generation of must-see comedies, they threw away the slots to some of the most poorly conceived, poorly executed series to ever have "graced" the airwaves. Does anyone remember Cursed, The Single Guy, Madman of the People, Grand, or Jesse? Bad TV. Very bad TV.
Without new shows to take the place of retiring hits such as Friends and Frasier, NBC left itself vulnerable. VERY vulnerable. CBS was the first network to smell blood, and it pounced: first by running Survivor at 8:00, and later by moving CSI to 9:00. The move paid off, and today CBS is the king of Thursday night TV.
Things have gotten so bad for NBC that a little network by the name of UPN actually challenges NBC for dominance in the 8:00 time slot (with Everybody Hates Chris). UPN seriously challenging NBC on Thursdays? Sounds like it should be the set-up to a bad joke. Except that it's no joke.
NBC's best chance of regaining Thursday night momentum would be to move breakout hit comedy My Name is Earl to Thursday nights. Risky? Sure is. But as the saying goes... "no risk, no reward." Okay NBC, here's the plan: bump the tired The Apprentice and the fading Joey to Tuesdays; this will free up the Thursday at 9 slot for Earl. Use Will & Grace to lead off the night at 8:00.... then, slot your most promising new sitcom (Max Mutchnick's Four Kings, maybe?) in the Will / Earl hammock... and then promote the hell out of it. Finally, get Scrubs out of those hiatus mothballs and into the Earl lead-out slot at 9:30.
This schedule shuffle won't give NBC a Thursday win, but it will build a foundation upon which the peacock can begin the drive to reclaim its longtime Thursday throne. Quality programming and a little patience could just go a long way... just like it did 20 years ago. And we all remember what happened then.
Not only did NBC's Joey and Will & Grace suffer severe beatings, but The Apprentice continues to lag far behind CBS' CSI. But - the final straw that broke the back of "must see TV" was the failure of 10:00pm stalwart ER to come even close to the ratings of Without a Trace on CBS. That, my friends, was the final nail in the coffin of NBC's must see TV. And you were there!
The "watch NBC on Thursdays" tradition dates back to the early 1980s. Back then, NBC, mired deeply in third place (out of only three networks in those days), chose to attack the problem of lagging ratings by becoming "the quality network." Under the able stewardship of Grant Tinker, out went shows of dubious quality such as Supertrain and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, and in came critically-acclaimed fare such as Hill Street Blues, Fame, and Cheers.
It wasn't until 1984 when the "let's put on good shows" strategy began to pay dividends. In an era when pundits had proclaimed the sitcom to be dead (shows such as Dallas, Dynasty, and Magnum PI sat atop the ratings charts back then), NBC quietly launched a little Thursday night comedy called The Cosby Show (perhaps you've heard of it?). It was, of course, an instant success, and not only did it resuscitate the comedy genre, but it also helped to propel the fortunes of NBC's other Thursday night shows.
Before you knew it, Thursdays on NBC became truly "must see TV:" Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, and Hill Street Blues. A year later, NBC was the number one network, and began an air-tight ownership of Thursday nights that would last for 20 years. Seinfeld... Frasier... Friends... ER... they all reigned supremely on Thursdays.
But those days are long gone. So what happened? Well, the bottom line is that NBC became complacent. In the mid-to-late 90s, instead of using the Thursday night "hammock" time slots (8:30 and 9:30) to launch and nurture the next generation of must-see comedies, they threw away the slots to some of the most poorly conceived, poorly executed series to ever have "graced" the airwaves. Does anyone remember Cursed, The Single Guy, Madman of the People, Grand, or Jesse? Bad TV. Very bad TV.
Without new shows to take the place of retiring hits such as Friends and Frasier, NBC left itself vulnerable. VERY vulnerable. CBS was the first network to smell blood, and it pounced: first by running Survivor at 8:00, and later by moving CSI to 9:00. The move paid off, and today CBS is the king of Thursday night TV.
Things have gotten so bad for NBC that a little network by the name of UPN actually challenges NBC for dominance in the 8:00 time slot (with Everybody Hates Chris). UPN seriously challenging NBC on Thursdays? Sounds like it should be the set-up to a bad joke. Except that it's no joke.
NBC's best chance of regaining Thursday night momentum would be to move breakout hit comedy My Name is Earl to Thursday nights. Risky? Sure is. But as the saying goes... "no risk, no reward." Okay NBC, here's the plan: bump the tired The Apprentice and the fading Joey to Tuesdays; this will free up the Thursday at 9 slot for Earl. Use Will & Grace to lead off the night at 8:00.... then, slot your most promising new sitcom (Max Mutchnick's Four Kings, maybe?) in the Will / Earl hammock... and then promote the hell out of it. Finally, get Scrubs out of those hiatus mothballs and into the Earl lead-out slot at 9:30.
This schedule shuffle won't give NBC a Thursday win, but it will build a foundation upon which the peacock can begin the drive to reclaim its longtime Thursday throne. Quality programming and a little patience could just go a long way... just like it did 20 years ago. And we all remember what happened then.
posted by TV Boy at 12:33 PM
2 Comments:
interesting stuff. yah, i knew once friends was off the air (and the best thing they could find to replace it with was "joey") they were gonna be screwwwwed. oh well!
have you seen "earl"? i keep meaning to watch, maybe if they move it to thurs. i will!
Mona -
I have seen Earl and I recommend it highly. It's a very un-NBC-like sitcom, and that's exactly what the network has needed for a long time. Don't wait for it to move to Thursdays!
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