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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will continue to write for the network.
I remember reading that Tina Fey was doing a show for Fox. Did that die on the vine?
Sitcoms in general are on their last dying breath. Not just on NBC. The big networks have produced shows based on formula for 50 years, and now, not only is the formula dissolving, but the medium itself is changing. The old network suits can't keep up.
I don't think NBC should give up on comedies. I think they should give up on trying to be "young" "edgy" and "hip." There's nothing dopier than someone trying to be "hip" when they aren't. They don't do rude humor well, either, so give it a rest.
Go back to doing the ensemble comedies that worked so well when your core audience was growing up. That's who's watching NBC, cater to them. Lots of topics you could do: You could do several shows about a group of people who work at some business. Pick a business that hasn't been done to death by tv comedies yet. Do comedies about people over the age of 25 who act like people over the age of 25. Do comedies about senior citizens who act like mature, believable adults. Do comedies about a random group of people who know each other through an internet forum.
Well there last keeper for a comedy was 2009-2010 season Community. And that show has very low ratings. They've managed to keep it alive by showing old episodes online. I don't think it is good for another season. They have enough episodes now for syndication.
So basically they may not want to cancel every single new comedy for four years in a row. If that's the case, it looks like Michael Fox is the promising show as a keeper.
I think that they are handling the Parkinson's pretty well. I liked the sex joke from his wife. I thought that was very humanizing.
I think it is pretty clear that they have made the decision that scripted shows are safer on cable where they bolster the affiliation fees. I think they probably get about 20 cents per household for NBC re-transmission fees. An analyst put the cable division of NBCUniversal as a fairly valuable property.
Amazing that people quit watching a show when the person who made it good leaves, isn't it? Stupid NBC.
The Parkinson's joke about the rough ride in the van is the one that made me get annoyed. I didn't find it offensive, it was just too forced.
I remember reading that Tina Fey was doing a show for Fox. Did that die on the vine?
Sitcoms in general are on their last dying breath. Not just on NBC. The big networks have produced shows based on formula for 50 years, and now, not only is the formula dissolving, but the medium itself is changing. The old network suits can't keep up.
Sitcoms were predicted to be a dying breed in 1983/84 season. Like today there were only 3 in the top twenty
Kate & Allie (8)
AfterMASH (15)
The Jeffersons (19)
Older Sitcoms like Family Ties, Newhart and The Facts of Life were fading in popularity, and Cheers was just beginning. Of course next year when "The Cosby Show" premiered it quickly gained massive popularity.
I don't know if the format is dying for good this time. But if you look at this casualty list for NBC, you have to wonder. As I said, there are no obvious hits this year either.
100 Questions*
Outsourced*
Perfect Couples*
Free Agents*
Friends with Benefits*
The Paul Reiser Show*
Up All Night*
Whitney*
1600 Penn*
Animal Practice*
Are You There, Chelsea?*
Bent*
Best Friends Forever*
Go On*
Guys With Kids*
The New Normal*
ABC is not doing very well with TV comedies either
Better with You 2010 2011
Romantically Challenged 2010
Happy Endings 2011 2013 Last Man Standing 2011 present)
Man Up! 2011
Mr. Sunshine 2011
Suburgatory 2011 present)
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 2012 2013
Malibu Country 2012 2013
The Neighbors 2012 present)
Work It 2012
Family Tools 2013
How to Live with Your Parents 2013
I remember reading that Tina Fey was doing a show for Fox. Did that die on the vine?
No, it's happening. Fox ordered 13 episodes, straight to series. It's set in a women's college that begins to admit male students.
She also sold one to NBC. Same deal as Fox --13 and straight to series -- about a woman who leaves a doomsday cult and moves to NYC.
I find the second one intriguing since NBC apparently had issues with the tone and direction of some of the scripts. Whatever NBC doesn't like has to be good, right?
NBC is a mess in general. Nothing is working on that network but The Voice and whatever show is following it at the moment.
They've been in deep doo-doo for a while, not the least factor of which was burning their relationship with Hollywood creative talent a few years back. They need to do whatever they have to do to get people to pitch their best stuff to them again, and then when they get something good they need to stick with it come hell or high water IMO. This goes for drama and comedy.
NBC is a mess in general. Nothing is working on that network but The Voice and whatever show is following it at the moment.
It does look that way. But they have at least kept some of their dramas on the air. USA network dominates cables largely on their mix of light drama.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYTimes February 24, 2013
Over all, the network’s ratings have fallen so far that no episode of any show on NBC in February came within one million viewers of a show on PBS: “Downton Abbey.” And forget approaching the numbers of a cable hit like AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
Nothing NBC has put on in prime time has matched even the appeal of the “Talking Dead,” a show with people simply discussing “The Walking Dead.” That show managed a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 audience. NBC’s best prime-time number for the month has been a 2.1, achieved by episodes of “The Biggest Loser” and “The Office,” a comedy that is about to go off the air.
Remarkably, the best-rated show on NBC all month has been “Saturday Night Live,” which produced two original versions in February, both times hitting a 2.3 rating, topping everything else on the network. “SNL,” though, is not even in prime time — and it is 38 years old.
All the channels should give up on their current so-called comedy shows and hire good writers and actors.
Especially good writers. And a few older writers, too, please. There are too many people in their early 20s who are trying to guess what it's like to deal with middle aged situations. Real comedy happens when people write from experience, not guesses.
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