Scrubs

[LKellerIII]

Very true, it was always a mid-range hit, although it managed to finish a season at #16 with an average of 12 million viewers a week when it followed "Friends". It certainly gave up a sizable amount of the "Friends" audience, though, and we know its all about retention.

I would say that is was also a victim of being constantly moved around, and not given a chance to really grow at a stable time period. However, as big of a fan as I am of "Scrubs", I am also willing to admit that it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, and it would never find the sizable audiences of sitcoms like "Friends". Isn't that really the problem with all of these single camera, no laugh track comedies, though? Trying name a ratings giant out of the bunch (Scrubs, Arrested Development, the Office, 30 Rock, Better Off Ted, Sons & Daughters- the list goes on and on)

I agree. I personally find many of these shows - especially The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Better Off Ted very funny and enjoyable. For me, it helps that their humor is not based on the regular easy targets, and breaks the predictable mold of sit-com put down humor: set-up-punchline-reaction by victim of joke, and finally hysterical laughing from the laugh track. Three and a Half Men is funny, but you can see the jokes coming about a mile away, and I got sick of it after about 2 seasons. I guess that kind of humor is more easily digestible for the average viewer.

Gee - that sounded snobby, didn't it?

 

[justpassingthough]

Very true, it was always a mid-range hit, although it managed to finish a season at #16 with an average of 12 million viewers a week when it followed "Friends". It certainly gave up a sizable amount of the "Friends" audience, though, and we know its all about retention.

I would say that is was also a victim of being constantly moved around, and not given a chance to really grow at a stable time period. However, as big of a fan as I am of "Scrubs", I am also willing to admit that it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, and it would never find the sizable audiences of sitcoms like "Friends". Isn't that really the problem with all of these single camera, no laugh track comedies, though? Trying name a ratings giant out of the bunch (Scrubs, Arrested Development, the Office, 30 Rock, Better Off Ted, Sons & Daughters- the list goes on and on)

I agree. I personally find many of these shows - especially The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Better Off Ted very funny and enjoyable. For me, it helps that their humor is not based on the regular easy targets, and breaks the predictable mold of sit-com put down humor: set-up-punchline-reaction by victim of joke, and finally hysterical laughing from the laugh track. Three and a Half Men is funny, but you can see the jokes coming about a mile away, and I got sick of it after about 2 seasons. I guess that kind of humor is more easily digestible for the average viewer.

Gee - that sounded snobby, didn't it?

Snobby or not- Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, the Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, etc are all very obvious humor. Anyone who has watched a fair amount of television sitcoms will smell the jokes and the set up from a mile away. Seinfled really broke the mold, but no one has really recaptured that lighting in a bottle (even if I personally enjoy the same shows you mentioned above)

 

[imhomerjay]

Very true, it was always a mid-range hit, although it managed to finish a season at #16 with an average of 12 million viewers a week when it followed "Friends". It certainly gave up a sizable amount of the "Friends" audience, though, and we know its all about retention.

I would say that is was also a victim of being constantly moved around, and not given a chance to really grow at a stable time period. However, as big of a fan as I am of "Scrubs", I am also willing to admit that it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, and it would never find the sizable audiences of sitcoms like "Friends". Isn't that really the problem with all of these single camera, no laugh track comedies, though? Trying name a ratings giant out of the bunch (Scrubs, Arrested Development, the Office, 30 Rock, Better Off Ted, Sons & Daughters- the list goes on and on)

The moving around can help hasten the demise of even the strongest shows, certainly true of a middle-of-the-pack program, though sometimes the moves are an effort to help--a la Fox giving a Sunday shot to Arrested Development. Many, not all, of the single camera/no laugh track shows struggle to achieve what The Office has done: building that rabid base large enough to make it a success. It can be done, but it's clearly no easy climb.