NBC Shakeup - Conan "Out" - Jay Back In

[landtuna]

Does NBC get it yet? Methinks not. They are talking about yet another L&O series? Can the suits think only about parroting earlier successful programs or brain-killing "reality" garbage? And they wonder why they can't keep an audience?

I can make decisions like that. Maybe there is a job for me getting the big bux at NBC!

 

[WMC2006]

Maybe there is a job for me getting the big bux at NBC!

I hear there is an opening behind the scenes on the production of The Bachelor. Just keep your hands off the Bachelorettes and you are good as gold. ;D

 

[LKellerIII]

Does NBC get it yet? Methinks not. They are talking about yet another L&O series? Can the suits think only about parroting earlier successful programs or brain-killing "reality" garbage? And they wonder why they can't keep an audience?

I can make decisions like that. Maybe there is a job for me getting the big bux at NBC!

It's all about the execution, folks. CBS is the number one network, and they got there by "parroting earlier successes" (the CSI franchise, and all those other Jerry Bruckheimer procedural clones), and with "brain-killing reality garbage."

The difference is, CBS did it smarter. I personally dislike CBS's reality shows, but apparently they're considered the gold standard by critics and viewers alike. Personally, I'm stumped by the success of the CSI franchise. Personally, I think CSI Miami (and particularly David Caruso) are laughably awful...but obviously, I'm in the minority.

 

[quadraphonic]

Maybe there is a job for me getting the big bux at NBC!

I hear there is an opening behind the scenes on the production of The Bachelor. Just keep your hands off the Bachelorettes and you are good as gold. ;D

Dude you're asking him to move a mountain! ;D

Well I guess that would actually be "not let a mountain move" but you see where I was going with that.

 

[landtuna]

It's all about the execution, folks. CBS is the number one network, and they got there by "parroting earlier successes" (the CSI franchise, and all those other Jerry Bruckheimer procedural clones), and with "brain-killing reality garbage."

The difference is, CBS did it smarter. I personally dislike CBS's reality shows, but apparently they're considered the gold standard by critics and viewers alike. Personally, I'm stumped by the success of the CSI franchise. Personally, I think CSI Miami (and particularly David Caruso) are laughably awful...but obviously, I'm in the minority.

I guess we're both in a minority.

CBS created a monster with "Survivor" which, by most people's reckoning, is still the "gold standard" of the non-scripted shows (even though it has become repetitive and soapish). Likewise with the original "CSI" although it has fallen off a cliff (IMHO) these past three seasons with cast changes which don't work and stories that are way out there. The original techno-crime stuff was really interesting though. "CSI Miami" is just another crime show and has nothing to do with the technology. The original "NCIS" was...uh....different for a crime show but has become way too comedic. "NCIS LA" has nothing to recommend it unless you are a LL Cool J fan (what......there are some of those?).

It is very sad what network TV has become.

 

[Mario500]

If "The Tonight Show" were to begin at 11:05 PM (Central time), I would have to make the tough decision of either watching the program's first half-hour or "Nightline", which WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Florida continues to air on a delayed basis after 25 years. Viewers in many parts of the country have been deciding which program to watch for years, but when it comes to the Mobile-Pensacola TV market, this might be something new to many viewers in the area.

 

[LKellerIII]

[/quote]
I guess we're both in a minority.

CBS created a monster with "Survivor" which, by most people's reckoning, is still the "gold standard" of the non-scripted shows (even though it has become repetitive and soapish). Likewise with the original "CSI" although it has fallen off a cliff (IMHO) these past three seasons with cast changes which don't work and stories that are way out there. The original techno-crime stuff was really interesting though. "CSI Miami" is just another crime show and has nothing to do with the technology. The original "NCIS" was...uh....different for a crime show but has become way too comedic. "NCIS LA" has nothing to recommend it unless you are a LL Cool J fan (what......there are some of those?).

It is very sad what network TV has become.



Agreed. As for LL Cool J - many women consider him eye candy. A female friend of my wife who..uh...generally prefers the company of other women...told me once that she'd be willing to switch teams for LL.

 

[Markxxx]

Brandon Tartikoff didn't save NBC, though he is often credited as such. In fact in the long run one could argue he hurt NBC as much as helped it.

The Cosby Show saved NBC, everything else Tratikoff tried was failing, including Cheers.

What helped Tartikoff is he used shows on NBC to require that NBC had first crack at other shows by those producers.

This helped NBC, gain a foothold but in the end, Tartikoff got stuck with a lot of clunkers, like Amen, which was part owned by Johnny Carson and Tartikoff let Carson bully his way to keep the show on. A Different World was another example that only was a time slot hit, at the expense of Family Ties, which held on but not by much. Nurses is another example, and the list goes on.

What this did was give producers of one show another slot of their choice at the expense of using that slot to develope a show that could survive on its own.

This isn't to say Tartifkoff didn't do any good, he certainly did, but without The Cosby Show, he'd have been gone the next year.

All it took was one hit to revive the network and that is usually all it takes. Look at FOX without American Idol, would be nothing more than the Simpsons and Football. And if American Idol had landed on UPN as it was originally supposed to, it may not have been a hit.

So a lot of TV is just the luck of the draw.

 

[MarcB]

And if American Idol had landed on UPN as it was originally supposed to, it may not have been a hit.

Maybe. But it also might have given the network a much needed shot in the arm.

 

[trusty]

Also, it may not be the personality as much as the TYPE of show. People associate Jay with late night; what the heck is he doing in prime time??? every night??? Very expensive experiment.

On the same note, are viewers going to accept a 30-minute entertainment show in late night? Just doesn't seem right; OK for news, maybe, but the viewer expects late nitght entertainmenmt to be more relaxed and less structured than prime time. Can Leno get "relaxed" enough in 30 minutes?

NBC is not just messing with personalities, they're messing with viewer's habits. They should know better.

 

[Braves2005]

Also, it may not be the personality as much as the TYPE of show. People associate Jay with late night; what the heck is he doing in prime time??? every night??? Very expensive experiment.

On the same note, are viewers going to accept a 30-minute entertainment show in late night? Just doesn't seem right; OK for news, maybe, but the viewer expects late nitght entertainmenmt to be more relaxed and less structured than prime time. Can Leno get "relaxed" enough in 30 minutes?

NBC is not just messing with personalities, they're messing with viewer's habits. They should know better.

I doubt very seriously that Jay would last a night, a week, at most a month in that 30 minute slot and besides that how much of that time would NBC get in commercials. 5 minutes at best? And what will this new show of Leno consist of? Surely not Leno and Kevin Eubanks yakking it up the whole time? I think that Jay is going to bolt and probably Conan and his 45 million dollar deal with NBC with it.

I think that it would be better to give back the 11:35 slot to the NBC affiliates for either more news or sitcoms or other syndicated shows. If Conan says goodbye to NBC then the odds grow for either another talk show or syndicated fare at 12:05 to 1:05 and say goodbye to Jimmy Fallon too.

I think that the 48 year empire of The Tonight Show is finally fixing to come to an end.

 

[1069_KIFR]

NBC expects Jay and Conan to do what they say. But...AH!!! Maybe Jay is working with Conan to ditch NBC altogether and really screw NBC right back!!!

Should Jay go back to a half hour at 11:35, does he get a desk? Do they redo the set and get rid of that #10 on the stage? Does Stuttering John become the announcer again?

 

[azumanga]

I think that the 48 year empire of The Tonight Show is finally fixing to come to an end.

You mean "58-year empire" -- don't forget Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs and Jack Paar.

 

[Braves2005]

I think that the 48 year empire of The Tonight Show is finally fixing to come to an end.

You mean "58-year empire" -- don't forget Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs and Jack Paar.

I meant The Tonight Show when they started calling it that in 1962 after Jack Paar left and others took over until Johnny Carson came along. Steve Allen and Jack Paar's shows were called "The Steve Allen Show" and "The Jack Paar Show". They weren't listed on TV grids as The Tonight Show but as Steve Allen or Jack Paar.

 

[WMC2006]

Should Jay go back to a half hour at 11:35, does he get a desk? Do they redo the set and get rid of that #10 on the stage? Does Stuttering John become the announcer again?

I've never ever liked Jay as host of Tonight. He's always been a horrible interviewer and that will never change. His strongest point is his monologue and he also does well with those "man on the street" interview/improv/comedy bits. With just a 30 minute show (of that, maybe 8-10 minutes of commercials), I'd expect NBC and Jay to capitalize on those qualities with maybe the occasional guest.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Could this also be opening another can of worms? Suppose Jay and Conan do agree to the new setup, but some local stations decide to add another half hour or more of news and and/or syndicated shows and either push them back, or possibly drop one or both completely? This looks like something that could bring about the collapse of NBC Late Night.

 

[searadiofreak]

Could this also be opening another can of worms? Suppose Jay and Conan do agree to the new setup, but some local stations decide to add another half hour or more of news and and/or syndicated shows and either push them back, or possibly drop one or both completely? This looks like something that could bring about the collapse of NBC Late Night.

Doubt it, 'cause right now most affiliates will benefit from all the buzz. Longterm, could be another story.

 

[azumanga]

I meant The Tonight Show when they started calling it that in 1962 after Jack Paar left and others took over until Johnny Carson came along. Steve Allen and Jack Paar's shows were called "The Steve Allen Show" and "The Jack Paar Show". They weren't listed on TV grids as The Tonight Show but as Steve Allen or Jack Paar.

Actually, the Allen, Kovacs and Paar shows were also "Tonight" shows -- see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tonight_Show

And to my knowledge, I think TV Guide listed Johnny's "Tonight Show" as merely "Johnny Carson".

 

[ding12]

All it took was one hit to revive the network and that is usually all it takes. Look at FOX without American Idol, would be nothing more than the Simpsons and Football. And if American Idol had landed on UPN as it was originally supposed to, it may not have been a hit.

So a lot of TV is just the luck of the draw.

I think NBC will need 2-3 big hits, atleast. One hit isn't enough. And something that'll last strong, longer than the once hit 'Heroes'.

Much like how ABC benefited in 2004 with 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Lost', with 'Grey's Anatomy' in 2005, so 2005-2006 was a good year at ABC. Then they got 'Ugly Betty' and 'Brothers and Sisters', though some of those dramas are nearing its age.

And Fox with 'American Idol' in 2001 and '24' in 2002, then getting 'House' and 'Bones' which are solid.

I think NBC should take a break from anything Howie Mandel.

 

[LKellerIII]

I think NBC should take a break from anything Howie Mandel.

I disagree. I think NBC would get big ratings with St. Elsewhere 2010 - only now, Dr. Fiscus (his character) is head of surgery. They could make Mandel's real-life germ-o-phobia into some interesting plot lines. And Dr. Ehrlich (Ed Begley Jr.) could lecture patients and staff about the importance or recycling.

The suicide rate among patients (and staff) would be very high.