Twelve reasons why nbc is a last-place network

[TMC1982]

http://warmingglow.uproxx.com/2012/02/twelve-reasons-why-nbc-is-a-last-place-network#page/1

In 1976, NBC unveiled a new logo to replace their ubiquitous peacock. It was fancy-looking N made up of two trapezoids, and it cost more than $600,000 to develop. Thing is, a Nebraska PBS affiliate already had a similar-looking logo — which only cost $100 to design. To avoid a lawsuit, NBC paid a $1 million package to the Nebraska station, along with another $55,000 to, according to Mental Floss, "pay for the costs related to not only the legal battle, but the development and implementation of a new logo."

Moral of the story: NBC has been a screw-up for years; it's only become particularly noticeable in the network's awkward post-"Seinfeld"/"Friends"/"E.R"-era. And that sucks, because they've aired some of the best TV shows of all-time. That's why they're so easy to pick on: we tease because we love. Here are 12 reasons why NBC is in last place amongst the Big Four, with some helpful advice, too.

NBC would also like me to remind you to WATCH "SMASH," THE MONDAY AFTER THE SUPER BOWL, in case you haven't seen the ads for the show every three seconds for the last two months.

#12. Karma

#11. Dane and Whitney

#10. “The Firm”

#9. Reliance on Scripted Imports

#8. Yanking Around “Grimm”

#7. Lack of a HUGE Reality Show

#6. "Knight Rider"

#5. Jeff Zucker - Speaking of which:
*Zucker can't program a network, but he's an expert in super-sizing

*NBC's Jeff Zucker has given up

*Will Somebody Please Save NBC?

*NBCU Boss Zucker Immune to Woes of Conan and Jay

*Op-Ed Columnist - The Biggest Loser - NYTimes.com

#4. XFL

#3. Pulling “Community”

#2. "The Jay Leno Show"

#1. Still Pretending "Friends" Is On

 

[Sawyer]

I'd love to see the person writing all this do a better job.

Which isn't to say any of that is necessarily wrong, but I have a feeling that even if NBC all of a sudden started doing everything right, there would still be some rubbing these current failures in. Even if they do everything right, some people are gonna never let them off the hook for this.

Though, I can't really judge. I'm never letting them off the hook for that primetime Jay Leno fiasco. That **** was unforgivable.

 

[enterthemadness]

I'm looking forward to the Dane Cook show. Yes, I think he's funny--BUT...overrated. More of a Fluffy and Steve Bryne fan now.

I would add a weak daytime line-up. They had a golden chance to pick up OLTL. It came under budget and made money for ABC, yet still got cancelled. It had been beatings Days for months in ratings...

Personally, I can't watch a network, and in some cases, it's sister channels if they kill off their daytime soaps. Because it creates no confidence in me about their primetime line-up. But that's me.

 

[Phatman]

12 other reasons why NBC is a last place network:

1. lack of a Black sitcom- An audience that is STARVING for content and NBC (Nothing But Caucasians doesn't capitalize to carve a niche and siphon some viewers away from CBS and ABC. The Cosby show Made NBC a contender. It's time NBC started looking for the next big black sitcom.

2. Lack of a Family hour. Some Tween/teen sitcoms on at 8 on Friday night would allow them to carve a niche. A good family show would also allow them to compete with cable like Nickelodeon and Disney.

3 Boring sitcoms Enough of the Whitney's Are you there Chelseas and other chick comedies. Sex and the city is OVER. Move the F**K on. You aren't going to find another Two Broke Girls because you're TOO AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS like CBS does.

On another note Enough of the WASP shows with the whitebread casts. The young twentysomethings in New York City is PLAYED OUT. That stuff went out in 2000 when Friends should have been canceled. Due to the economy most twentysomething people live with their parents. No one that age is living in Manhattan in some rent-controlled loft anymore. Rent is too damn high in New York City.

4. Saturday mornings. Damn, this is MONEY IN THE BANK, especially with the toy companies. Right now there is no serious network competition for Saturday mornings. Kids go to sleep. Give em' a reason to eat sugary cereal and watch TV. Back in the day I when I was in my 20s I used to schedule my mornings around stuff like Batman/Superman, Batman Beyond and Static Shock because the shows were THAT GOOD. When I was younger I was programming the VCR to Tape Alvin & The Chipmunks.

5.Re-hashes of classic shows. No one wants to see a remake of The Munsters or any other classic show.

6.No big reality show. Biggest Loser is nice, but it ain't American Idol. It ain't Hell's Kitchen or Kitchen Nightmares. When NBC does a reality show it's boring. Fear factor is back *YAWN*

7.Not buying All My Children and One Life to live when ABC announced them as cancelled. This could be a way for them to give Brian Frons a big F**K You and steal viewers from them by airing other soaps after Days of Our Lves. But NBC was to afraid to pull the trigger. They coulda Friggin Killed The Chew and The Revolution with this and won a whole bunch of goodwill from the audience of ABC viewers who would have become NBC viwers. AMC and OLTL would pull bigger numbers than Ellen and Nate Berkus in NYC alone.

8 No big sporting events. NBA on NBC was the **** back in the day. Sunday Night football is meh. NBC needs to buy the rights to NBA NOW, because their basketball coverage is much better than their football coverage.


9 Saturday Night. NBC needs to fill this time with some kid oriented program like WWE Smackdown! Yeah, WWE on broadcast may seem like a step down for the high and mighty NBC, but it'll draw those younger viewers advertisers love. Plus it'd be a great way to sell NBC sports to viewers.

10. Lack of risk-taking. NBC is weak because its shows don't stand out. It doesn't take risks. Most of the time their content goes after twentysomething WASPS in a world that's blacker, browner yellower and redder. Again, enough of the WASP shows about New Yorkers. How about a show about Twentysomethings who graduated college, can't find a job and stuck in their parents home and looking for a way out of the crazy?

11.No Movie of the week. yeah they're cheesy, poorly acted and poorly written, but Lifetime makes a crapload of money on these with syndication and DVDs. And people watch these things. They're a guilty pleasure.

12. TOO MANY COP SHOWS. Law & order was just filler for too many years and it showed their lack of creativity. Let's do a show about some other civil servants. A drama about Garbage men, Librarians, something that will grab the viewer.


Seriously, I could run NBC better than who is in charge now. That may sound arrogant, but hey, I've studied ratings and demographics. I know it takes fresh content to run a network, and it takes variety to win over sections of the country who would tune in but can't find a reason to turn on the TV.

 

[Asgard]

The article states most of the problems that I saw with the network.

NBC has a modest hit with Grimm and they go like 3 weeks all of a sudden without any new eps? I dont know about that.

Putting The Firm head to head against Person of Interest the #1 new network drama was really stupid. Actually, creating a series about The Firm was stupid. Shouldve saved the money for something worthwhile.

Now theyre coming out with a Dane Cook show? This guy's not that funny. The chainsaw-f'ing ****es was kind of crazy though. Wish there were video of it.

 

[Sawyer]

You aren't going to find another Two Broke Girls because you're TOO AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS like CBS does.

Did you really just say that? CBS doesn't take risks. Particularly when it comes to comedy.

 

[Dr. Evil]

12 other reasons why NBC is a last place network:

1. lack of a Black sitcom- An audience that is STARVING for content and NBC (Nothing But Caucasians doesn't capitalize to carve a niche and siphon some viewers away from CBS and ABC. The Cosby show Made NBC a contender. It's time NBC started looking for the next big black sitcom.

2. Lack of a Family hour. Some Tween/teen sitcoms on at 8 on Friday night would allow them to carve a niche. A good family show would also allow them to compete with cable like Nickelodeon and Disney.

3 Boring sitcoms Enough of the Whitney's Are you there Chelseas and other chick comedies. Sex and the city is OVER. Move the F**K on. You aren't going to find another Two Broke Girls because you're TOO AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS like CBS does.

On another note Enough of the WASP shows with the whitebread casts. The young twentysomethings in New York City is PLAYED OUT. That stuff went out in 2000 when Friends should have been canceled. Due to the economy most twentysomething people live with their parents. No one that age is living in Manhattan in some rent-controlled loft anymore. Rent is too damn high in New York City.

4. Saturday mornings. Damn, this is MONEY IN THE BANK, especially with the toy companies. Right now there is no serious network competition for Saturday mornings. Kids go to sleep. Give em' a reason to eat sugary cereal and watch TV. Back in the day I when I was in my 20s I used to schedule my mornings around stuff like Batman/Superman, Batman Beyond and Static Shock because the shows were THAT GOOD. When I was younger I was programming the VCR to Tape Alvin & The Chipmunks.

5.Re-hashes of classic shows. No one wants to see a remake of The Munsters or any other classic show.

6.No big reality show. Biggest Loser is nice, but it ain't American Idol. It ain't Hell's Kitchen or Kitchen Nightmares. When NBC does a reality show it's boring. Fear factor is back *YAWN*

7.Not buying All My Children and One Life to live when ABC announced them as cancelled. This could be a way for them to give Brian Frons a big F**K You and steal viewers from them by airing other soaps after Days of Our Lves. But NBC was to afraid to pull the trigger. They coulda Friggin Killed The Chew and The Revolution with this and won a whole bunch of goodwill from the audience of ABC viewers who would have become NBC viwers. AMC and OLTL would pull bigger numbers than Ellen and Nate Berkus in NYC alone.

8 No big sporting events. NBA on NBC was the **** back in the day. Sunday Night football is meh. NBC needs to buy the rights to NBA NOW, because their basketball coverage is much better than their football coverage.


9 Saturday Night. NBC needs to fill this time with some kid oriented program like WWE Smackdown! Yeah, WWE on broadcast may seem like a step down for the high and mighty NBC, but it'll draw those younger viewers advertisers love. Plus it'd be a great way to sell NBC sports to viewers.

10. Lack of risk-taking. NBC is weak because its shows don't stand out. It doesn't take risks. Most of the time their content goes after twentysomething WASPS in a world that's blacker, browner yellower and redder. Again, enough of the WASP shows about New Yorkers. How about a show about Twentysomethings who graduated college, can't find a job and stuck in their parents home and looking for a way out of the crazy?

11.No Movie of the week. yeah they're cheesy, poorly acted and poorly written, but Lifetime makes a crapload of money on these with syndication and DVDs. And people watch these things. They're a guilty pleasure.

12. TOO MANY COP SHOWS. Law & order was just filler for too many years and it showed their lack of creativity. Let's do a show about some other civil servants. A drama about Garbage men, Librarians, something that will grab the viewer.


Seriously, I could run NBC better than who is in charge now. That may sound arrogant, but hey, I've studied ratings and demographics. I know it takes fresh content to run a network, and it takes variety to win over sections of the country who would tune in but can't find a reason to turn on the TV.

To NBC that may not matter. SNF is their highest rated program. In fact, NBC had a promo ad gloating about that fact. NBC though relies way too much on Sunday Night Football.

 

[Phatman]

Did you really just say that? CBS doesn't take risks. Particularly when it comes to comedy.

I'll give you Rob, it's a POS. Absolutely horrible show. Two and a Half Men should have been replaced with an Ashton Kutcher vehichle where he can play Kelso again.

But CBS has stronger sitcoms than ABC, NBC and Fox right now. Outside of Modern Family, not much is out there.


BBT was a concept that's top notch. A sitcom that makes fun of fanboys and IT nerds? That was Money in the bank. Jim Parsons Earned his two Emmys. Dude will be getting a third if he keeps up the good work.

How I met Your Mother is aging fairly well for an older show. Solid set-ups and Jason Seigel, Allison Hanniagan and Neil Patrick Harris keep the jokes flowing.


Two Broke Girls Runs rings around Whitney and Are you there Chelsea? That's a rock-solid show. One of the best sitcoms I've seen in years. The setups and execution there are flawless. Best new sitcom this year. Two Broke Girls is a clinic on how you do women's comedy.

 

[Phatman]

To NBC that may not matter. SNF is their highest rated program. In fact, NBC had a promo ad gloating about that fact. NBC though relies way too much on Sunday Night Football.

Yeah, they rely on it too much. What about the other 30+ weeks they get curb stomped?

You need a comprehensive schedule if a network is going to compete. And NBC doesn't have that. Or a Brandon Tartikoff to lead them out of this hole they've dug themselves into.

 

[enterthemadness]

Yeah, they rely on it too much. What about the other 30+ weeks they get curb stomped?

You need a comprehensive schedule if a network is going to compete. And NBC doesn't have that. Or a Brandon Tartikoff to lead them out of this hole they've dug themselves into.

No. Comcast should throw NBCUniversal into a black hole. Move Days of Our Lives to USANetwork and make it seasonal. 60-80 episodes. Put SNL on USANetwork as well. Then put more money into USANetwork, SyFy and Chiller. NBC is becoming a lost ****ing cause.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Oh I thought this was about MSNBC.

 

[enterthemadness]

Oh I thought this was about MSNBC.

Don't blame you.

 

[Sawyer]

Nothing's ever a lost cause unless you allow it to be one.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Don't blame you.

Maybe the name is cursed.

The logo part made me laugh. 600,000 dollars? Who designed it? Monet?

 

[enterthemadness]

Nothing's ever a lost cause unless you allow it to be one.

Too late. Already made a tombstone and dug graves. Poor NBC and TheCW...struggling to survive...oh well. Life goes on. Maybe ION will rise up?

 

[Lily Adler]

What's ION?

 

[Sawyer]

ION is nothing. I don't see how two networks that (spotty records notwithstanding) have provided some quality programming over the years should be pronounced dead while a network that has done virtually nothing can be seen as something that can rise up. That just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[enterthemadness]

What's ION?

Re-run network that used to be Pax TV. Mornings on Sunday is Church stuff. They air I believe movies, shows from CBS, USANetwork. They have the re-runs of Flashpoint now and air new episodes of it. They air Psych twice a week in mini marathons! Actors from Flashpoint and Psych did new promos for network. They a nice little network.

 

[enterthemadness]

ION is nothing. I don't see how two networks that (spotty records notwithstanding) have provided some quality programming over the years should be pronounced dead while a network that has done virtually nothing can be seen as something that can rise up. That just doesn't make sense to me.

ION is growing with the re-runs. They also air new episodes of Flashpoint. Remember, USANetwork, TNT, TBS, and F/X were nothing at one point.

Now true nothing is MyNetworkTV...nice going FOX.

 

[Lily Adler]

Oh okay, I thought it was some made up channel like PBS or Adult Swim. But I agree with what Sawyer said.

I think there's still a chance of NBC improving. I have hopes that Smash and Awake will help it.

 

[enterthemadness]

Adult Swim is not made up. It shares channel space with Cartoon Network. 9pm-6am. Basically Cartoon Network's 14+ age block. But you already knew that...

I will say NBC should last longer than TheCW. TheCW is nothing more than a tax write off for Warner and Viacom. It loses money here, but makes money internationally. From what I read...

 

[Sawyer]

The CW was screwed for the first five years of its existence by having an incompetent ***** as the head of the network decide to cater pretty much exclusively to an audience that was not nearly enough to carry a network, instead of going for broad appeal.

Now that they've got a man with actual experience on top, I really hope its the start of something new. It's obviously going to be a long process, but it helps to have people who actually know what they're doing.

 

[Destructus86]

It's true that NBC sucks...but I think CBS sucks just as much....but that's only personal opinion. Ratings say otherwise.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Seriously, NBC? Fashion Star?

 

[Prison Mike]

I know everyone hates NBC but honestly it's the one network I watch the most shows from. Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, Parenthood, and now I'll be watching Smash and Awake. I only watch 2 or 3 shows at the most from each of the other networks.