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WHAT THE HECK.
I'm a little pissed at NBC. I really want to express how pissed at NBC I am.
Someone has decided that it's a good idea to scrap five days a week of scripted programming in order to may way for - wait for it - the Jay Leno Show! 10 PM, Mondays thru Fridays!
Okay. Okay, I know that CBS is owning everyone in the ratings this season. Except Dancing with the Stars. But CBS isn't even *trying* to beat Dancing with the Stars. They're done with that shit. They don't care about American Idol either. FOX and ABC can have their bitty moments of glory. CBS has Jerry Bruckheimer. They'll just go ahead and outperform ridiculously in every single spot except those.
But wait, what about NBC? They don't have a great reality show. They have, what, Biggest Loser? They have Heroes, their darling from a couple years ago that's somehow started to, oh, I don't know. Suck.
They have Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: CI and Law & Order: I'm Still Plugging Away Over Here. NBC used to be where the crime drama was at. Now, when told of Law & Order, people say things like, "That's still on the air?" and change their channels to a show with an actual premise besides "We're cops." I mean, you could watch the Mentalist, instead, in which the premise is something along the lines of "Simon Baker is the sweetest thing to hit television since MacGuyver" (unlike the premise of Crusoe, which seems to be "We are MacGuyver!").
Or you could watch Eleventh Hour, which is about Science. More importantly, Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton doing Science. Or any of the run of CSI: Vegas, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, CSI: Traveling Carnival and CSI: Guatemala. I mean, people complain about CBS. "What," they say, "another crime procedural by Jerry Bruckheimer? Can't they think of anything else?" Meanwhile, what they really mean is, "CSI: Guatemala? I AM SO THERE."
I digress from my point. My point, which was that NBC doesn't, apparently, know how to market or manage scripted television. So it's decided to get rid of all of it.
I'm pretty sure TNT, USA and the SciFi channel are counting their lucky stars right now, because a bunch of primetime viewers just got orphaned by NBC. Not to mention ABC and FOX, both of whom are going to trample NBC in the 10 PM timeslot. There's a reason people don't put talk shows in primetime television, and that reason is they're not fucking stupid.
NBC's drama programming was bad this year. It was just bad. But I love scripted television, and this means that a lot of potential shows are just going to go elsewhere. This eliminates up to five shows that could have had those timeslots. And guys, that's not cool.
Thing is, the argument is almost moot. Because, as for Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays of the next half-season, I already have shows I watch at 10 PM.
Someone has decided that it's a good idea to scrap five days a week of scripted programming in order to may way for - wait for it - the Jay Leno Show! 10 PM, Mondays thru Fridays!
Okay. Okay, I know that CBS is owning everyone in the ratings this season. Except Dancing with the Stars. But CBS isn't even *trying* to beat Dancing with the Stars. They're done with that shit. They don't care about American Idol either. FOX and ABC can have their bitty moments of glory. CBS has Jerry Bruckheimer. They'll just go ahead and outperform ridiculously in every single spot except those.
But wait, what about NBC? They don't have a great reality show. They have, what, Biggest Loser? They have Heroes, their darling from a couple years ago that's somehow started to, oh, I don't know. Suck.
They have Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: CI and Law & Order: I'm Still Plugging Away Over Here. NBC used to be where the crime drama was at. Now, when told of Law & Order, people say things like, "That's still on the air?" and change their channels to a show with an actual premise besides "We're cops." I mean, you could watch the Mentalist, instead, in which the premise is something along the lines of "Simon Baker is the sweetest thing to hit television since MacGuyver" (unlike the premise of Crusoe, which seems to be "We are MacGuyver!").
Or you could watch Eleventh Hour, which is about Science. More importantly, Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton doing Science. Or any of the run of CSI: Vegas, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, CSI: Traveling Carnival and CSI: Guatemala. I mean, people complain about CBS. "What," they say, "another crime procedural by Jerry Bruckheimer? Can't they think of anything else?" Meanwhile, what they really mean is, "CSI: Guatemala? I AM SO THERE."
I digress from my point. My point, which was that NBC doesn't, apparently, know how to market or manage scripted television. So it's decided to get rid of all of it.
I'm pretty sure TNT, USA and the SciFi channel are counting their lucky stars right now, because a bunch of primetime viewers just got orphaned by NBC. Not to mention ABC and FOX, both of whom are going to trample NBC in the 10 PM timeslot. There's a reason people don't put talk shows in primetime television, and that reason is they're not fucking stupid.
NBC's drama programming was bad this year. It was just bad. But I love scripted television, and this means that a lot of potential shows are just going to go elsewhere. This eliminates up to five shows that could have had those timeslots. And guys, that's not cool.
Thing is, the argument is almost moot. Because, as for Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays of the next half-season, I already have shows I watch at 10 PM.
no subject
Yeah, okay, and speaking of Fox? THANKS A LOT for that Friday night timeslot for Dollhouse, guys. The one opposite, oh, I don't know, maybe that other popular cult TV show Battlestar Galactica? Way to drop that investment like a hot potato.
no subject
I'm looking forward to catching "Dollhouse" while trying to remain a bit detached from it. There has been a lot of retooling (including scrapping off a potentially interesting character) done which (usually) wouldn't have me feeling worried.
We're talking about FOX here, however, and their track record is painful when it comes to launching new shows.
Oh, noes! I had no idea "Dollhouse" would go against the very last batch of BSG episodes!!! I think my stepmom (who has to be the biggest Tahmoh Penikett fan ever) is going to freak out...
The one thing I DO wonder is why would Whedon forge ahead with FOX after the mess that happened with "Firefly"?