Once Again, Life Fails to Imitate Art
NBC's deep shit has been well-chronicled. Once upon a time, it was advertisers' demographic darling, with an unstoppable Thursday night lineup of Friends - Dreck/A - Seinfeld - Dreck/B - E/R. (The Dreck slots consistently placed in the Nielsen top 20.) But most of NBC's powerhouse shows have long retired.
The Peacock's flashiest new series this season is Studio 60, Aaron Sorkin's behind-the-scenes fever dream about a late-night sketch comedy show on an idealized broadcast network, NBS. Much as Sorkin had fantasized a outlandish fever dream of a White House that operated on principle and guile, the champions of the show-within-a-show battle the pressures of advertisers, culture warriors, and gutless network suits with uncompromising spunk. In Sorkin's world, you can operate above the fray and still win.
On last Monday's episode, NBS's unreasonably hot head of programming Jordan McDeere decided to make her network an HBO-style destination for quality programming. You know, like the type of programming Sorkin would produce. To that end, she passed on a reality show pitch that had guaranteed hit written all over it: five engaged couples living in a mansion, with private investigators trying to break them up with whatever dirt they could dig up -- porn addictions, abortions, MySpace activity, Yellowcard CDs, etc. The decision to pass so incenses Jordan's boss that he escalates to the billionaire-in-charge, and Jordan defends her call with her contention that the network should attract "high-end viewers." You know, like Sorkin's shows do.
The decision to pass oh the least-common-denom crap also so impresses the show-within-a-show's producer that he helps NBS attract a hot pilot about the United Nations. Yes, a hot pilot about the United Nations.
Think the real NBC execs were impressed by the episode? Fast forward, oh, 48 hours.
NBC Universal to Slash Costs In News, Prime-Time Programs
NBC Universal is slashing its news budget and abandoning high-cost dramas in the 8 p.m. hour, paring expenses in traditional television as viewers and advertisers flock to new kinds of media...
The plan marks the starkest recognition yet that established TV networks can't keep carrying the high costs they were accustomed to in earlier decades, when they faced less competition for viewers' attention...
The rise of video-laden Web sites such as YouTube and portable devices is threatening the networks' longtime business model of putting out programs with advertisements that people sit before a television set at home to watch....
Among NBC Universal's most significant moves is its decision to stop scheduling expensive dramas and comedies during the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. slot... Mr. Zucker said advertiser interest isn't high enough to justify spending on scripted shows... For instance, viewers in coming seasons might see a game show such as "Deal or No Deal" at 8 p.m. on Tuesday instead of "Friday Night Lights," a drama that currently occupies the slot.
So, it's safe to say that, in spite of Sorkin's fever dreams, we will never see a quirky drama about Kofi Annan, nor a weekly documentary about Doctors Without Borders, nor many more hours of Studio 60. Instead, we can enjoy more no-knowledge-required game shows, more broke-ass ex-celebrities whoring themselves out for cash, and more ADD crap that can be repackaged into 120-second clips.
A broadcast network transforming itself into a destination for quality? Sure, when a guy like Jed Bartlett gets elected president.
*sigh*
And people wonder why nobody watches TV anymore.
Posted by: fiat lux | October 21, 2006 at 08:19 PM
Chuck wants more Tracy Morgan...
Posted by: Chuck Muncie | October 24, 2006 at 05:46 PM