On Thursday, NBC Universal announced a few cost-cutting measures, one of which was programming the 8 p.m. hour with reality/game shows, which are cheaper to produce than scripted series. This raises a few obvious questions: Who exactly pays the prizes on Deal or No Deal (pictured)? Who came up with name NBCU 2.0 for this initiative? And what’s going to happen to The Office and My Name is Earl?
We can’t answer the first two questions, but NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly has already said that The Office and Earl will likely stay in their early timeslots. (Love that resolve, NBC.) At least NBCU 2.0 may explain why Friday Night Lights is getting a test run in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’s 10 p.m. slot on Monday, Oct. 30. (That was scheduled to be a Studio repeat, Sorkin fans, so the end is not immediately nigh.) And maybe why the network ordered additional episodes of the Bob Saget-hosted 1 vs. 100 after it debuted to decent numbers a week ago.
Is this the right move for the Peacock, which still trails behind CBS and ABC in total viewers? And more to the point: Are we willing to sacrifice scripted series so Carrot Top can host a game show? (You know he’s next… and yes, I’d be wiliing to sacrifice a scripted show for a Carrot Top-hosted game show. Sadly.)
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for shame mandi! forsaking what will likely be horrible drek for even worse horrible drek.
As big as those payoffs may seem, my impression is that most Deal or No Deal contestants win less than $150,000 for an episode. Compare the cost of 6 big winners on Deal or No Deal to the cost of the 6 “Friends”. Friends would be $1 million each per episode, so $6 million per episode on cast costs alone. 6 winners of $150,000 would mean two episodes at a cost less than one cast member on Friends. The numbers do make sense.
NBC would be smart to move it’s good shows up to 9 pm. That would allow me to tivo Betty AND the NBC Thursday night comedy line up. And they should give Friday Night lights a better timeslot. The show is great, even if the format leaves a bit to be desired.
oh, oh, poor NBC is going the way of ABC in 2000… might as well call Regis Philbin to talk them through what may be their biggest failure.
Here’s an idea NBC create shows that people actually want to see, not shows about the insides of hollywood tv shows, because frankly we don’t care. and you created two. The Best Drama of Football, sorry to say, happens in the Football field. so, as excellent as friday night lights is, on a Friday night, I’m out trying to get… well what every 20 something does on a friday night.
In 2000, ABC ruined their schedule and fell to the depths, you know what brough them out of those depths. LOST, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, UGLY BETTY, GREY’S ANATOMY… what do those shows have in common, they connected with their audiences cause they were all excellent.
is it really all that difficult to understand that.
God, I am so, so, so sick of reality TV and game shows!!!!! I think this move will send NBC deeper into the toilet. The only chance they have is to continue to develop quality shows like “Heros: and “Friday Night Lights”.
I’m going with Miles here. NBC is definitely going the way of the ABC temp-fix of putting money in high-profile game shows. While at first the Nation LOVES them (God only knows why), the numbers fall as quickly as they rocketed.
NBC has some good shows. What they need to do is STAND BEHIND THEM (Unlike FOX…enough said). Put them in better time slots. Pit like-shows together so people can enjoy everything and not feel so scattered. But most of all…stay away from gimmicky game/reality shows. ABC was the dud of the networks just a few years ago, but finally rebounded when it took time to invest in QUALITY scripted shows like Lost, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, etc. and standing by them (even during little slumps here and there). One would think NBC would be smart enough to pick up on that.
One would think…
If this is the case, where is 30 Rock going?
People really need to stop watching reality TV. I’m doing my part.
I like game shows but they were much better in the morning. Sale of the Century, Super Password, Card Sharks, those were game shows. D.O.N.D and 1 v 100 are good shows but I feel that the bottom is going to drop out like it did with Millionare in 1999.
Between the plastic surgery, drugs, and steroids, I can’t even look at Carrot Top anymore, let alone listen to him. As long as “The Office” and “Earl” are safe, I don’t care what NBC does in its 8 o’clock hour.
For its part, NBC had crafted two incredibly high quality shows this season–Friday Night Lights and Kidnapped–and both of these shows are suffering from low ratings, and the later is being cancelled after 13 episodes.
Studio 60 needs to go. It is too expensive to produce for such terrible returns. 30 Rock is fantastic, and should be paired up with “Earl”,”office” and another good sitcom.
I don’t feel too bad for NBC, they turned down UGLY BETTY, probably to make room for STUDIO 60 or 30 Rock, last nights episode of UGLY BETTY transcended television and became art. It was the funniest, most entertaining, best written and acted hour of television i’ve seen in a long time. As far as NBC’s fall, is just karmic repercussion for all their bad decisions in this past couple of years. I say, they are reaping what they sowed, and I wish them a thousand more 30 rocks… cause well, frankly the only time I tune to NBC is for Heroes, the rest of the time, is like NBC doesn’t even exist.
put scrubs and 30 rock with office and earl!
So much for history repeating itself. In the 80s, NBC had good quality shows that no one watched. They stood behind them. Watched their quality shows win Emmys and surge in the ratings. This years shows have been on a month and NBC is already talking about more reality/game shows. I’m sure Deal or No Deal will be successful for years.
It’s a shame that NBC is looking for a temporary fix rather than a permanent one. This will fail, just as Millionaire failed when they decided to give us Regis overkill. I can’t stomach Howie Mandel ONCE a week, let alone five. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Friday Night Lights finds an audience. It deserves to find one.
These NBC people are GENIUSES! Let’s test our show about football during the 2nd hour of Monday Night Football. Brilliant! Rumor has it Jeff Zucker came up with the idea for New Coke.
At least it’s not another Law & Order spin off. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy SVU, but other than that…
The fact is only a couple new shows, especially hour-long serial dramas, will hit big each year (and even fewer if any will ever explode the way Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy did), no mater how good they are. Heroes made the cut with audiences, Kidnapped, Friday Night Lights, and Studio 60 have not.
Will game shows be any better ratings-wise? Perhaps in the short term but definitely not not in the long run. Will they make more money (or at least cost less)? Apparently so. Does the bottom line win out over quality? Definitely.
Well put Matty!
i can’t believe i’m old enough to remember this, but in the early ’80’s or something wasn’t nbc in the toilet also. this was like when the top shows were three’s company and love boat and junk. so nbc put on shows like hill street blues, and taxi, and st. elswhere, and cheers…and because they were already the lowest network, they stuck with them even in the face of low ratings. i mean, your ratings are already scraping the drain, what difference does it make right? the point being, it seems like i’m hearing that nbc actually has some good shows this year…the only one i’m watching is friday night lights (you need to watch this show…seriously) so what does anyone think the odds are that someone will say, hey, lets stick with these, run to the end of the year, pick up a boat load of emmies, get a bunch of good press, and the ratings will follow…would that happen? whats the difference between then and now? just wondering
Didn’t ABC already do this and fail? I can love a good reality show (why don’t they bring Project Runway to the main network?) but seriously? Game shows everynight?
What is this? 1963?
They finally have some good shows (FNL, Studio 60), why don’t they just let the shows grow a bit? Look what happened to The Office. Why do these execs have such trigger fingers anyways?
No Dsn you are right. All that NBC had in the early eighties was:
Diff’rent Strokes
The Facts of Life
Gimme a Break
Cheers
Hill Street Blues
St.Elswhere
Knight Rider
A Team and Riptide were cult favorites but ABC swallowed them whole.
Can you say “Who wants to be a millionaire”. Remember a few years back when that was all ABC ran along with other game shows – all of which sent ABC into ratings hell for many years.
p.s. Why is there nothing on at 10:00pm. There is not one night that is my favorite this year – so sad.
I thought the Deal or No Deal producers understood why Millionaire failed when it was oversaturated. So…now they’re not?
I’m a little peeved NBC decided to screw around with Kidnapped. It’s far better developed than FOX’s Vanished, but NBC’s too trigger happy and decided to cancel it. Considering this network’s in fourth place during the fall and spring halves of the season, they should at least stick with some of their stronger shows than dump them. They have nothing to lose at this point…it’s not like CW’s going to trump them anytime soon.
T3:
The only way that Kidnapped can work if if the Kidnapping lasts one single season and they move on to the next victim. This is why 24 works. Having one Kidnapping go on for five seasons is stupid and people will lose interest.
Please get rid of the game shows and reality NBC! Bring back Scrubs…………please, and by the way…..was Medium cancelled? It’s gone from Monday nights, and not on anywhere. Two good quality shows nowhere to be found. Now they put this junk on. NBC, you’re going down………………………………..
NBC has a long history of bad decisions. can you say supertrain? crossing jordan did better in the ratings against csi:miami mon 10p than expected and got rewarded by being renewed as a mid-season replacement, then they did exactly the same thing with medium. i have medium on dvd and watch an episode every monday at 10 in its regular timeslot–i’d rather watch a repeat than studio 60!
i have never watched any unscripted “reality” shows except a few episodes of american idol (i was trapped!) and no game shows since the original hollywood squares and i ain’t going to do so now. heroes is a great show, i only hope they give it more support than medium.
There are only 4 good sitcoms left on television, and they are all on NBC! Try a 2 hour comedy block on Tuesday nights! 30 Rock is freakin’ hilarious (Alec Baldwin is unbeleivable and Tracy Morgan is fall on your ass funny)! Bring back Scrubs, Put Office and Earl in at 8 and you’ve got a good evening! There are just too many good shows on Thursday, Earl and Office are losing viewers(Not me, I’m a loyalist to Office) to other good programming! Put it on Tuesdays! And just so you know, I actually really enjoy Studio 60! I think it is actually a very smart and “Real” program! I do not watch reality tv or game shows, NEVER HAVE, Probably Never Will!
To Stephanie:
I never expected Kidnapped to last past one season, which would be fine with me (and come to think of it, a lot of new shows feel like single season only concepts, like Jericho, Vanished, The Nine and maybe Heroes). It’s better to end strong than die from oversaturation. All I ask is to stick with the d@amn show until the mystery’s over. I hate being pulled into conspiracy filled shows just to be taken away pre-maturely. The same thing happened with FOX’s Reunion last year and now NBC’s doing it with Kidnapped. And yet, these execs wonder why it’s easier to get into reality TV/game shows…
NBC is the network of “cut-and-run”. Reality hour is preposterous. Give your shows a chance to grow.
Oh, NBC, must you try to force more gameshows and crappy reality TV down our throats? ‘Cause I ain’t watching. Don’t get me wrong, I have four favorites on NBC: The Office, My Name is Earl, Heroes, and 30 Rock. But I wanna’ watch gameshows like I wanna’ watch Paris Hilton (read: not at all).
I’m really getting annoyed with network execs pulling shows before they can even find their audience. 30 Rock is hilarious, but between its too-early time slot and a crappy partner, I fear for its life. I agree with everyone else who said that 30 Rock needs to be on the same night as Office/Earl! You know its numbers would go up. Maybe if NBC would actually give their shows a decent chance before they pulled the trigger, they’d be successful. It worked with The Office!
NBC:
Now
Broadcasting
Crap
Sell your comidies to another network and close up shop. The exec’s there obviously have no clue what they are doing.