Message to CBS

[MediaBoy4Radio]

Its time to develop a weekend talk/comedy show to show that CBS is serious about late night television.

Its time to seriously go after SNL and capture weekends and help Letterman out all at the same time.

NBC is making its move with Leno..........now CBS it is your turn.....................................................

 

[Studio20]

lol, what audience? Saturday night after 11 and some would say hours before that ( see: lack of primetime numbers ) we arent' watching tv.

The only tv I watch saturday nights is the West Coast College Football from Sept to December.

The only reason SNL continues is tradition. Eventually, some 20 something executive who only remembers a" Jim " Belushi..will pull the plug on the show. I'm surprised it hasnt happened already.

 

[imhomerjay]

Not worth the investment to "go after" SNL. All you'd do is siphon off part of the audience, and how much is an open question. The O&Os are doing ok on the counterprogramming approach with the late-night crime reruns. Cheaper and probably as effective as anything else would be.

And Leno has...um...zero to do with a weekend show.

 

[benwolf]

Right....if I were the #1 network I certainly wouldn't try to emulate the #4 network in any way. And the move made with Leno is a backwards move.

 

[Robnoxious]

CBS tried to capture lightning in a bottle and let Howard Stern go up against SNL with the same WWOR budget that actually made a dent against SNL locally in New York but on a national scale.

It failed.

SNL is a very defeatable program. It's been coasting for 10+ years.

 

[Al Timiter]

It also goes against the CBS brand. They have never been "cutting edge." About the only thing they did to nudge the demos to a lower age was to add a few shows like "Survivor", etc. And there are plenty of cutting edge shows on cable. You know, given the state of broadcast television currently, I doubt a show like SNL would get green-lighted today.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

The only reason SNL continues is tradition. Eventually, some 20 something executive who only remembers a" Jim " Belushi..will pull the plug on the show. I'm surprised it hasnt happened already.

SNL is at a point in it's life now where, if need be, they can air "best of SNL" for a whole season and still gain better ratings than various other ideas that could still fill that timeslot.

There must be a really good reason for keeping that wonderful "Stepping Stone for actors" up and running.
Unlike radio, which seems to forget that they really need to restore the "farm team" if they ever want to be successful down the road...

 

[LKellerIII]

The only reason SNL continues is tradition. Eventually, some 20 something executive who only remembers a" Jim " Belushi..will pull the plug on the show. I'm surprised it hasnt happened already.

SNL is at a point in it's life now where, if need be, they can air "best of SNL" for a whole season and still gain better ratings than various other ideas that could still fill that timeslot.

There must be a really good reason for keeping that wonderful "Stepping Stone for actors" up and running.
Unlike radio, which seems to forget that they really need to restore the "farm team" if they ever want to be successful down the road...

We've talked about SNL at lot here, but I still contend there are only 3 problems with the show:

1. The inferior writing.

2. Crappy writing.

3. The writing really sucks.

They've had the occasional bad (even disastrous) years here and there since the 1980 fiasco, but never so many inferior years in a row. They've always bounced back before.

The cast are very talented (as performers, at least). If they ever get the material together, the show is capable of being successful again - at least to some degree.

 

[imhomerjay]

SNL is around because it's still valuable to NBC. Whether or not it's a stepping stone is just a bonus. It's not there because it's a stepping stone.

 

[johnnyu]

I do not believe I have seen SNL since the 1980's.

 

[Markxxx]

CBS could hire Justin Timberlake for a competing show. Even if the only effect it had was to keep Timberlake from appearing on SNL, well he's been about the only funny one on it for the last few years.

 

[LKellerIII]

I do not believe I have seen SNL since the 1980's.

You missed some good years in the 90s - the show was worth watching for most of the decade, though they had a couple of bad years, too. Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, Chris Rock, and David Spade were all 90s cast members.