Over the weekend, we brought you the positive news that NBC’s struggles might lead to “Chuck” returning later this month (it’s still scheduled for 2010 after the Olympics).
And while that’s good news for those of us who love “Chuck,” the rest of the news isn’t so great for NBC.
Last week, the network canceled the return of “Southland” before the new season could begin airing. This was after the series was given a second season nod in the spring and was doing fairly well in the ratings, at least when it started.
Now comes stories that NBC’s “Trauma” may also be in trouble for low ratings and a high price tag. The series costs $3 million an episode for the network and is not delivering ratings. In fact, it’s taking a beating from ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and CBS’s comedy block on Monday nights.
The problem may be that NBC has nothing scripted to replace the series with. And that the outlook for NBC’s new scripted series is very bleak.
Hollywood insider Nikki Fikke says that NBC executive Angela Bromstad is not in the hot-seat currently and that the network’s current woes in developing new series can be traced squarely back to departed executive Ben Silverman. Fikke reports that Bromstad was forced to pick from the best of “the s***” Silverman had in development and they feel there is “nothing watchable” coming the rest of the year.
“Maybe Jerry Seinfeld’s ‘The Marriage Ref’ will work, but he’s not even in it. This is not a fun place to be right now,” an insider tells Fikke. “And we committed to Jay Leno on the air for 2 years because he was worried we’d have an itchy trigger finger. It’s an embarrassment for all of us. Maybe he’ll get fed up — he’s not right now — and then we can re-negotiate.”
So, it looks like that we may be seeing “Chuck” soon and that no matter how much “Heroes” declines this year, it may not be going anywhere.
The other problem is that NBC is doing well with sports and reality shows. So this current crisis may force the network into more reality shows and fewer scripted series.
I can remember a time where it seemed like every day NBC had at least one thing I wanted to watch. Now it’s just Heroes and L&O Special Victims Unit.
I’ve seen the last two episodes of Trauma. Watching Derek Luke struggle with infidelity is less exciting than watching paint dry.
I remember when NBC used to own Thursday nights. Here’s a sample of shows they had: Friends, Hill Street Blues, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, A Different World, Wings, Night Court, L.A. Law, Frasier, Seinfeld, ER and Will & Grace.
Now i’m not saying all of those shows were great but damn NBC, what happened? I don’t believe it was the fault of just a single former executive. The rot must have started setting in some time ago.
No wonder there are rumors GE is looking to dump NBC.
I agree, NBC has gone downhill since GE took over.
They really screwed up the re-launches of Bionic Woman and Knight Rider. Knight Rider was getting better after the re-re-launch mid-season.
Bionic Woman started great, but then lost its direction.
Other than Law & Order and its dozen spin-offs, what’ve they got? Maybe they will start airing Law & Order: UK. Everything else BBC is successful.
It’s official. TNT picks up Southland
http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4777
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/business/media/02tnt.html