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Forget the Cheerleader — Save NBC
NBC jumped the shark in 2004.
The Apprentice was the hottest show on television. We're talking absolute must see TV that was oozing buzz. NBC tried to capitalize on the show's success and put all their eggs in the Donald's reality basket.
I said it then, and I'm saying it now — moving The Apprentice to anchor Thursday nights sent the network right over the fin.
ABC learned its lesson with Millionaire. CBS always had CSI and Everybody Loves Raymond to go with Survivor and The Amazing Race.
Thursday nights belonged to NBC. It lost Friends and Frasier (which had jumped the shark years ago) and had nothing in the pipeline. First to fourth wasn't an "if", it was a "when".
I understand how tempting it is to lead off each night with a game show or reality show (i.e. inexpensive show). It's also another big mistake. Deal or No Deal is getting pummeled into the ground as I type as the contestants get more and more "wacky".
So you're Jeff Zucker... what do you do? Glad you asked.
1. Pluck Cable — The Universal merger gives NBC countless cable networks to use as a farm system. Take a show like Project Runway off Bravo and put it on the big network. Watch what happens.
2. Scale Back — Deal or No Deal once a week. Please. Make those suitcases a special thing.
3. Hero Worship — Heroes is a hit and could easily turn into the show of the year. Don't add cheesy marketing slogans like "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." It doesn't need that. It needs a good show to go along with it.
4. Themes — Sunday is football night. Start the evening with the critically acclaimed/barely watched Friday Night Lights? Saturday is burn-off-the-shows-that-didn't-hit night. And as long as millions keep watching Law & Order, might as well have them all on the same night. A full night of the original, CI and SVU. You're already two thirds of the way there on Tuesdays.
5. More Creeps — We're fascinated by the creepy host and participants on the Dateline: To Catch A Predator series. Let's see those with more regularity.
6. Kill SNL and its Progeny — Having two shows spoofing your own irrelevant late night show is painful enough. Studio 60, 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live should all go away. That means big cash savings, and lots of empty time slots to play with.
7. Office Space — The next Seinfeld is already within your grasp — it's called The Office. Move it to Thursdays at 9, give it the right lead in (Heroes, anyone?) and bookend it with another great comedy (oh yeah, there's Scrubs). Thursdays on NBC — we'll all be there.
The answer to NBC's problems isn't job cuts and cheaper shows. The solution is airing quality programming on the right nights.
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Oct 22, 2006 10:05 PM
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One of the problems with NBC is that their ads target people with, how to put it, MORE money than most people? By their own admission, NBC goes after a more ritzier audience. And their programs have become these deep, intellectual programs that only "people of culture" would appreciate.
And have you noticed how pretty much every NBC drama has the exact same camerawork? It's like they have one cinematographer for every. single. show. There's no diversity in the look of a program at all. (Not that I want them to get all "24" on us and abandon tripods!)
In addition to picking up crappy shows, NBC doesn't really try to relate to the average American, and it has a visible lack of, well, VISIBLE diversity in it's shows. (Honestly, we shouldn't be able to TELL that a network has scrict guidelines on how to shoot a scene!)
ABC seems to have figured out that the current appetite in television culture is "normal, relatable people." If you can't relate to a character, if the script is dull and the show is dry, people just aren't going to watch. Unfortunately, NBC has a lot of that going around nowadays. And so far, they haven't been able to turn that around. Even CBS, which isn't exactly doing terrible, yet, is taking measures to make sure they don't go stale either.
Without creativity and foresight, NBC will continue to bleed out viewers.
At least, that's how I see it.
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Oct 23, 2006 12:15 AM
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I can't BELIEVE you said get rid of Studio 60. I'm not part of the "ritzier" audience but I like that show. NBC should just try giving shows a chance,HELLO Kidnapped,instead of yanking it after 2 or 3 airings. But I do agree with Heroes. The slogan is a bit on the cheesy side.
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Oct 23, 2006 11:37 AM
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1. The idea of plucking shows from their cable outlets, while an interesting idea, is a misguided one. The measure of success between a cable and broadcast show are night and day. Even if Project Runway moved to NBC for its fourth season, that does not necessarily mean that the increased audience reach will find and like it. The greater problem, though, is your underlying idea that cable networks under the umbrella are only there to serve the broadcast net. Taking away signature shows like Project Runway, Kyle XY, or Monk dilutes the cable nets from being a choice destination in their own right.
2. Spot on. The proliferation of Millionaire accelerated its decline as well as ABC's aging, so Deal needs to limit its exposure.
3. Heroes will probably compete with Ugly Betty for Show of the Year. But your complaint is more for NBC's marketing department than the producers: they are the ones that spin the show's content into 30-second bites.
4. I always thought that Friday Night Lights would be doomed on Tuesday and should be on Mondays at 8. But moving it to Sundays at 8 is problematic because of, ironically, football overruns from CBS and Fox.
5. I don't think we are "fascinated" with shows like To Catch a Predator, but to increase its visibility to a weekly series could face the same problems of Millionaire with decreased interest.
6. Saturday Night Live has famously gone through peaks and valleys, so to cancel it because it's currently in a valley is short-sighted. Meanwhile, 30 Rock has had the least time of the 3 to establish itself, so why be an accomplice to the network's increasingly itchy trigger-finger. (Studio 60, however, has continually bombed, so moving or canceling the show should be NBC's paramount concern.)
7. I like the idea of giving The Office (or any sitcom) a strong lead-in. But the question is what's the right show. Heroes, a fanciful genre drama, as a lead-in to a sitcom about banality? Talk about a miss match. It's the same reason why Help Me Help You isn't taking off behind Dancing with the Stars.
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Oct 23, 2006 12:14 PM
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I agree with most everything said except for the cheesy marekting slogan. That "cheesy" phrase - "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" has actually increased interest in Heroes amongst my work colleagues and circle of friends.
Also, SNL doesn't necessarily need to be killed, on second thought, yeah it does.
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Oct 23, 2006 1:03 PM
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This is a sad situation for NBC, they provided their best batch of new shows in a really long time, but it was too late. I think NBC blew it last year; had the network premiered these same shows a year ago, I think the network might of had a chance. But instead NBC had the worst new shows last year and now they're paying for it.
In the last 2 years while NBC was declining ABC was becoming the most talked about network, and CBS just continued to solidify their line up. I hope NBC can somehow right the ship.
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Oct 23, 2006 1:41 PM
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I agree that Saturday Night Live should go. Who cares if it's just in a slump? Other shows aren't given a chance to get out of a slump, why should this dinosaur get one?
And yeah, get rid of Studio 60 too. It's awful, and in many ways it exemplifies why Saturday Night Live is awful.
I haven't had any desire to watch 30 Rock so I'm not even going to comment on it.
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Oct 23, 2006 4:41 PM
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I don't think there is anything wrong with NBC's shows. It's their management that needs to go. Get rid of Zucker and put in someone who knows what they are doing. I know he is a morning news guru - but he obviously is into crisis management. They need a voice of reason at NBC.
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Oct 23, 2006 5:32 PM
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NBC has been too fast on the trigger as evidenced by Kidnapped. I was going to TiVo Kidnapped and watch the shows back to back, but when I heard it was being cancelled, I just deleted them. Friday Night Lights is a great show, but I think it needs to be on later. Just because the story is about high school it doesnt mean the storyline is family friendly.
In these times of serialized shows, more and more of us will be using our dvr's to record the shows we wont to make a committment to. That means the networks shouldnt be in such a hurry to cancel a show. Give us time to get involved in it. Why do you think so many of us are watching the shows on FX, USA and HBO. They at least stick with us.
Studio 60 is a show with great potential, but it needs a smaller cast and less of the show within a show. Remember the days of shows with one or two major characters? Now every show has multiple characters, too many to keep up with. I think ER may have started this trend, but let's see networks get back to shows with 2 or 3 leads.
Finally....bring back Scrubs. Pair it with the Office. I have already lost interest in Earl, because all episodes started to look alike.
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Oct 23, 2006 8:48 PM
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I agree with everything except killing SNL. What would ever replace it?
I would love a full night of L&O. I'm surprised they haven't pulled the trigger considering how badly FNL is doing.
I like the Predator series and think it should be weekly. It's like America's Most Wanted 2.0.
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Oct 23, 2006 9:06 PM
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Although I agree with the majority of what you said (especially moving Friday Night Lights to Sunday and having all the L&O series on one night, the idea of getting rid of Studio 60 and 30 Rock are dead wrong. 30 Rock is already growing on me. I didn’t care for it a whole lot on its premier week, but it was much funnier in its second outing. As for Studio 60, I blame at least some of its ratings tumble on the media. The show has been on air for just a little over a month (every one of which I’ve watched) and it’s “big news” that its ratings tumbled, and continue to do so. Automatically, it is crowned the first “big show” to be on the chopping block. Well, I continue to watch, because although it has some plot lines that are on-going and important to know, it’s not something that will rely on tying up a ton of loose ends if it does need to end earlier. For example, two years ago when Lost came out, I enjoyed the show from the get-go. If I would have heard that it was going to be cancelled soon due to low ratings, I don’t know if I would have made as much of an effort to watch. This is because of the tangled web-like plot twists, it couldn’t have ended neatly. Did you ever think that this is why so many more people stop watching it? It’s been declared dead before it ever has a chance to establish itself! People stop watching when they read that it won’t be around long…which is about all we’re hearing! So, stop saying it’s dead…go with the real news which is that Studio 60 is a well-written, quality show on a network that needs just that!
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Oct 24, 2006 9:03 AM
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I also take exception to the comment regarding "cheesy" marketing slogans. The phrase in question, "Save the cheerleader, save the world", actually comes from the show itself. It wasn't tacked on by marketing people; it's a content-driven bit, and one that people are actually responding to.
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Oct 24, 2006 10:10 AM
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I agree with everything you said except two things:
1. I am surprised there have been no comparisons between To Catch A Predator and the worst of Fox, namely Cops and When Animals Attack. Sure it has become a pop culture talking point but both of those were too. Once is enough for this creepy show.
2. You don't get rid of a landmark show like Saturday Night Live. That's like saying that they should have gotten rid of the Late Night because of its rocky start with Conan O'Brien. They need to overhaul the show and wrestle away control from Lorne Micheals if they have to. Pressing Reset on that show and starting over from scratch might be the answer to its creative woes. Also 30 Rock should be given more of a chance than 2 episodes.
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Oct 24, 2006 12:10 PM
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I like The Office just where it is for now -- putting it on at 9:00 on Thursdays against Grey's Anatomy would be suicide!!!!!!
I agree with decreasing the Deal or No Deal crap -- I'm sorry, I just can't stand these game show fads!
I don't agree with changing the slogan for Heroes. That tagline is a part of the show's storyline, and I don't think taking that away would make the show any more of a hit than it already is.
I agree with putting Friday Night Lights on Sunday's schedule -- I would actually watch it then, since I am over Desperate Housewives anymore.
I disagree with the SNL/Studio 60 comment. I like Studio 60, and, like it or not, SNL is a staple of pop culture and has made comebacks in the past. I think killing a show like this would kill the soul of sketch television. Keep it -- just nurture it some more and find some better writers and comedians to bring it back to life.
In my book, NBC and ABC are the frontrunners and CBS is the network I don't care about or ever watch, so I think NBC is doing just fine.
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Oct 24, 2006 1:29 PM
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I have to disagree with your idea (#6) to get rid of Studio 60 and 30 Rock. Those are both good shows, but like Arrested Development, may go over people's heads. Those should stay. Otherwise, you are right-on.
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Oct 24, 2006 1:39 PM
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