NBC Cancels "Rock Center"

[mjlarochelle]

Cancelling Law & Order when basically they had nothing else to replace it.

NBC should also never have let Jesse L. Martin (Det. Ed Green, Lennie Briscoe's partner) leave Law & Order, and more importantly, they should never have allowed Anthony Anderson (Det. Kevin Bernard) to replace him. Anderson, in my opinion, is a terrible actor, and the plummet in ratings in the week after Anderson's debut tells me that a lot of viewers agree. I believe adding Anderson was the beginning of the end of the series.

Also keeping with the Law & Order topic, Christopher Meloni (Det. Elliot Stabler) should never have left SVU, and Richard Belzer (conspiracy theorist and Det. John Munch) should be getting the amount of airtime he got in the first few seasons, not the pathetic token airtime he now gets. The least they could do is bring Sam Waterston into the show in some capacity.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Another dumb move was NBC canceling Baywatch.

...only for David Hasselhoff to revive it as a major hit in first-run syndication a couple years later (I read that Baywatch was seen by an average of 1 billion viewers worldwide)!

 

[johnnya2k6]

I can't imagine that NBC will keep their large correspondent team around...Harry Smith might look elsewhere. PBS NewsHour?

I can see Harry Smith going for Matt Lauer's job on Today (meaning a return to mornings); before you know it, they'll be back to #1...where they belong.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Cancelling Star Trek (demos to die for)

Cancelling Law & Order when basically they had nothing else to replace it.

Putting Jay Leno on for an hour each night in prime time to save money.

In the late 1960's, few advertisers, producers, and networks were interested in demographics. They only wanted "how many" and not "who".

It was in the early 1970's that networks and advertisers began really caring about demographics.

most families also only had one TV back them, the grown ups made the viewing choices, even if they didn't like the show much changing the channel would involving getting up to turn the channel know and possibly readjusting the antenna, families actually watched together during the Family Viewing Hour

 

[SixtiesGuy]

In one swoop losing and alienating most of the top stars in radio to CBS: Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Amos n' Andy, Edgar Bergen, Red Skelton, Kate Smith ... These stars became the basis for CBS' ability to dominate network television in the ratings for its first quarter century. General Sarnoff had an indifferent attitude toward talent. He thought people listened to NBC because it was NBC; stars and personalities didn't matter. So, most of the network's top talent left for CBS because Bill Paley made them feel appreciated and offered each a much better deal.

General Sarnoff was actually a general. Without prior military experience, he wheedled himself a spot on Eisenhower's communication staff in London. So did CBS head William Paley but he was only a colonel.

For a good take on David Sarnoff I suggest reading 1991's Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio by Tom Lewis, which was the basis for a documentary by Ken Burns. Suffice it to say the "General" was an unprincipled and incredibly self-centered man. His treatment of Edwin Armstrong, the brilliant mind behind FM radio broadcasting, was a disgrace.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Too bad NBC didn't cancel Morning Joe, which is completely out of place on MSNBC. Meanwhile MSNBC seems to do whatever it can to drive away successful talent.

One has to wonder if MSNBC executives are not having second thoughts about canceling Imus in the Morning.

I might be wrong but I believe Imus pulled in more viewers than "Morning Joe."

You are absolutely correct that MSNBC is driving away talent. I can't believe how lame their nightly line-up is. In all fairness with the exception of Anderson Cooper on CNN, MSNBC and FOX's nightly lineup is pathetic.

 

[Nate Wesley]

Good grief, did this thread get old and musty.

 

[LKellerIII]

Too bad NBC didn't cancel Morning Joe, which is completely out of place on MSNBC. Meanwhile MSNBC seems to do whatever it can to drive away successful talent.

You are absolutely correct that MSNBC is driving away talent. I can't believe how lame their nightly line-up is. In all fairness with the exception of Anderson Cooper on CNN, MSNBC and FOX's nightly lineup is pathetic.

You can call Fox News' nightly line-up "pathetic" if you want, and from a critical perspective, I agree. But I believe Hannity and O'Reilly easily dominate their time slot for "news" (ha, ha). And I'm under the impression that Maddow on MSNBC if also quite popular.

 

[Mark Giardina]

You can call Fox News' nightly line-up "pathetic" if you want, and from a critical perspective, I agree. But I believe Hannity and O'Reilly easily dominate their time slot for "news" (ha, ha). And I'm under the impression that Maddow on MSNBC if also quite popular.

Pathetic might have been a harsh word to use, but for me personally those programs are not my 'cup of tea' and I worked in news for over 30 years.

Hannity, O'Reilly and Maddow I agree have their own fan base. I just don't happen to fit into that category.