After 30 years, there’s nothing we must see on NBC Thursday nights. Maybe "Parenthood," which I never followed, but which seems to be a good show. But certainly not the rest of the uninspired line-up they’ve offered us this fall.
After decades of bringing us some of the best sitcoms in TV history, NBC has made Thursday night mediocre at best. Those shows included "Cheers," "Frasier," "Taxi," "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Scrubs," "30 Rock," "My Name is Earl," "The Office," Community," and "30 Rock." When NBC started calling its line-up “Must-See TV” in the 90s, there was no reason to mock the self-congratulatory slogan. For anyone sitcom lover, it truly was must-see TV!
NBC has decided to stop relying on sitcoms on Thursday nights, opening its prime time slot with reality show "The Biggest Loser."
NBC did introduce two new sitcoms this fall, then promptly canceled them. While, in my opinion, "Bad Judge" deserves the axe, "A to Z" has charm. With only a few episodes aired before cancellation, it's hardly had a chance to find its audience.
The only saving grace is the return of "Parks & Recreation," and – adding insult to injury – NBC won’t air the final season of its last good sitcom until “midseason,” which probably means January or February. Even a trip to the show's NBC page won’t give us an actual date.
I wish I understood how networks make their decisions. I can only have the perspective of an audience member. From that perspective, though, it seems that thumbing your nose at your customer is the worst possible way to build up ratings.
We get used to certain things – like two hours of mostly really good sitcoms – and our complacency, while not particularly admirable, should be working to a network’s advantage, or so you’d think.
But maybe the reality television everyone says they hate so much really has taken over the ratings. And those (few?) of us who prefer fictional comedy will have to find other ways to get our fix. These days, if we just want to veg in front of the TV for a couple of hours, we can use On Demand and watch any four sitcoms we want. Even if there were a decent Thursday night line-up, it wouldn’t matter if we missed it. We could pick and choose our favorites and watch them later. And yet, that doesn’t seem like as much fun as looking forward to your favorite shows and catching them as they air. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned.
Although NBC retired the phrase “Must-See TV,” the network truly did offer must-see sitcoms on Thursday nights for the better part of three decades. Fellow sitcom fans, it’s the end of an era.
After decades of bringing us some of the best sitcoms in TV history, NBC has made Thursday night mediocre at best. Those shows included "Cheers," "Frasier," "Taxi," "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Scrubs," "30 Rock," "My Name is Earl," "The Office," Community," and "30 Rock." When NBC started calling its line-up “Must-See TV” in the 90s, there was no reason to mock the self-congratulatory slogan. For anyone sitcom lover, it truly was must-see TV!
NBC has decided to stop relying on sitcoms on Thursday nights, opening its prime time slot with reality show "The Biggest Loser."
NBC did introduce two new sitcoms this fall, then promptly canceled them. While, in my opinion, "Bad Judge" deserves the axe, "A to Z" has charm. With only a few episodes aired before cancellation, it's hardly had a chance to find its audience.
The only saving grace is the return of "Parks & Recreation," and – adding insult to injury – NBC won’t air the final season of its last good sitcom until “midseason,” which probably means January or February. Even a trip to the show's NBC page won’t give us an actual date.
I wish I understood how networks make their decisions. I can only have the perspective of an audience member. From that perspective, though, it seems that thumbing your nose at your customer is the worst possible way to build up ratings.
We get used to certain things – like two hours of mostly really good sitcoms – and our complacency, while not particularly admirable, should be working to a network’s advantage, or so you’d think.
But maybe the reality television everyone says they hate so much really has taken over the ratings. And those (few?) of us who prefer fictional comedy will have to find other ways to get our fix. These days, if we just want to veg in front of the TV for a couple of hours, we can use On Demand and watch any four sitcoms we want. Even if there were a decent Thursday night line-up, it wouldn’t matter if we missed it. We could pick and choose our favorites and watch them later. And yet, that doesn’t seem like as much fun as looking forward to your favorite shows and catching them as they air. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned.
Although NBC retired the phrase “Must-See TV,” the network truly did offer must-see sitcoms on Thursday nights for the better part of three decades. Fellow sitcom fans, it’s the end of an era.
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