If you want to see the future of NBC (and TV in general), watch The Office finale on iTunes. (I forgot to breathe during that climactic, brutally transfixing Jim-Pam scene — TV’s best comedy also features some of TV’s best dramatic closework.)
If you’d like a more direct breakdown of what’s to come from the Peacock, go here. The view from fourth place is sobering. But, after a long slide, NBC finally seems to be digging in its feet. The lineup reflects changing attitudes towards what constitutes primetime material. Movie concepts (i.e., Heroes, an ordinary-joe superhero series a la Unbreakable, and Friday Night Lights, based on the West Texas high-school football flick) and movie people (i.e., Crash writer-director Paul Haggis, who’s behind crime drama The Black Donnellys) are coming to the fore. Meta-ness rules: There’s a drama about comedy (Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60, pictured, starring Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford) and a comedy about comedy (Tina Fey’s similarly themed and equally numerically titled 30 Rock).
What we’re not seeing are many traditional sitcoms or police procedurals. Perhaps reflecting the strengthening of NBC president Kevin Reilly’s hand, there seems a real willingness on the part of the network to move beyond formula — which everyone now agrees is a must in the age of cable, iTunes, and all the other hobgoblins of traditional broadcast TV.
With any luck, the viewers will be the beneficiaries. Got to say, NBC’s Thursday is looking like a winner: Between Sorkin’s fantastically promising Studio 60 (I’ve read the pilot — it’s genius), and the brilliance that is The Office, you can bet I’ll be there. Or rather, my TiVo will be there.
Joey, Surface, Four Kings, E-Ring, Conviction, and Teachers are all destined for the knacker yard. I don’t think I realized half these shows were still on. Though I understand my colleague Michael Slezak is huge, salivating Teachers fan. So be nice to him this afternoon — this has got to be hard.
really? the new shows look promising, but theres too much of the old still in the schedule (Deal or No Deal, Medium, Biggest Loser, ER, all the L&O) that I don’t think it will be enough to take NBC to the top, or even the middle. Only Studio 60 and Heroes has the potential to be buzzworthy, and maybe 30 Rock (but will probably be lumped with Studio 60)) but will it be enough?
On the other hand, I thought Desperate Housewives was going to be a bad move for ABC (though I thought Lost was going to be good, so I was half right).
I think a lot of the series have great potential, but I’m not convinced of the scheduling… especially depending on where ABC puts ‘Grey’s’. ‘Heroes’ already has great buzz from its script, but if it ends up opposite ‘Grey’s’ and later ’24′… Sigh, I was hoping to ween myself from some series over the summer, but I have a feeilng I’ll be just as addicted and over-working my VCRs as ever.
Just as long as they bring back “Scrubs”, NBC can show whatever the heck they want.
It’s amazing what desperation will do to a network. Putting potential quality shows with great writing is what pulled NBC from the depths twenty years ago. It’s only a start, but it’s baby steps. It’ll take a lot of programming to replace all their crap.
Vance is funny…backhanded insult at Lost. So creative! Meanwhile it’s someone who actually thinks DH is a more quality show than Lost. good times.
NBC lineup sounds promising. With Scrubs returning and The Office and Perry returning to Thursday, I’ll be there.
hmmm…maybe i read that wrong. Maybe Vance DOES like Lost. Sorry dude. lol
I don’t think that the new Aaron Sorkin will do well, but being that Mean Girls was so funny that it is now a cult phenomenon, I think that Fey will have a huge hit on her hands. “Say crack again” “Crack!”
Scrubs once again is being shelved until something else screws up. Guess with all the good stuff they put in the schedule, they had to screw someone, and as always, it’s gonna be Bill Lawrence (and, by extension, us). Imagine the comedy block of the Earl, Office, 30 Rock and Scrubs before ER. The current plan is great with the Sorkin show at 9, but this would have been incredible.
Oh my god, “The Office” was sooo good…it almost made me forget about “Arrested Development.” It was amazing.
I hope Studio 60 does well because I need a new hourlong drama to watch, now that West Wing is done and it feels like all my smart friends have moved away.
I also want to know why NBC keeps treating Scrubs like the bad seed. Sure, they don’t have as much of a stake in its success since it’s done through Touchstone/ABC. But it’s consistently hilarious and I don’t know why they would want to hold it until mid-season. (I wonder how it did this season, as opposed to previous years, using that strategy.) Sure, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and back-to-back new episodes made Tuesdays super special, but I’d rather have one episode a week for a whole season than two episodes a week for just half a season.
Of course, maybe they are planning on having something bomb and want to have it waiting in the wings to plug a hole in the schedule. We’ll see….
I can’t believe that NBC gave up on the ultimate comedy block:
My Name is Earl
The Office
Scrubs
Arrested Development
It would have been special, and the shoddy treatment that Scrubs, the best thing they’ve got in prime time, is deplorable. Every person I know who has started watching it loves it, but NBC never promotes it well and pulls stuff like they did this season with the mid-season start.
Mother of Mercy, is this the end of “Fear Factor”?
If it’s not too late: ABC, put Scrubs on your network and bring it home! Why does NBC treat it like this?
I don’t know how these decisions are made, but it seems there are a lot of Scrubs fans out there. I guess we’ll see tomorrow.
I can’t believe they canned Conviction so fast. That makes me so sad. I’m also going to miss L&O CI on Sunday, but at least I’m used to watching NBC on Friday night. Doesn’t moving that show to Friday, the doomed time slot (casualties now include Conviction and Trial by Jury), seem like a bad idea? Are they getting ready to get rid of it too after next season?
Continuously ignoring Scrubs for the infamous 8-10 timeslot will come back to haunt NBC sooner or later.
Sooner.