How the Networks can save themselves

You are seeing this page because javascript is disabled

To use MindSay, you must have a browser that supports javascript, and have it enabled.

[ Login to reply ]

adversary

Tags:

abc

nbc

fox

cbs

networks

These next 14 days or so will be when most of the TV networks will be airing their season finales. And as has been the trend, there's been very little worth watching. At least from my point of view. So here's six ideas I have that could help the networks dig them out of their holes. Which, of course, they won't do.

Lose the extended hiatus for serialized shows. I know that these are the big budget shows, and that it takes longer to finish an episode of Lost or Heroes than it does to do an episode of My Name is Earl or Deal or No Deal. But the big break is what's killing these shows. No one cared when Lost came back. Heroes lost a ton of viewers over their break. Jericho got canceled cause the break killed it. A two to three month break on these shows kills interest. People invest themselves into these stories, and when the stories go away replaced with <insert talent show here>, it's hard to maintain that level if excitement. Either lose the breaks, or make em shorter.
Homogeny drives viewers away. There's a large LACK of variety on network TV. Game shows, reality TV, sitcoms, and crime dramas rule the airwaves. On pretty much every network. And when you've got 3 spin-offs of CSI, 5 spin-offs of Law & Order, 4 talent shows, 3 big money game shows, and countless cookie-cutter sitcoms on EVERY network, they all look alike. People are going to Netflix or the cable networks because that's the only place you can find something slightly different, even if it is just reruns of Star Trek or I Love Lucy. Heroes was a breath of fresh air, and Family Guy capitalizes on all the edgy potential that The Simpsons had their first 3 seasons. Other than that it all looks the same. If it's all the same, I've seen it before, and don't need to see it again.
Too many commercials. Everyone complains about this, but it's not getting through to the networks. I know they make their money by selling commercial time, but that's also time that we have to sit and watch a commercial for Flonase for the 8th time today. And no, smaller commercial breaks more often isn't the answer either. This is the one part where product placement is a good thing. Or product sponsorship, like when Lucky Strike would sponsor an episode of the Honeymooners. One big long commercial at the beginning, another at the end, and less inbetween. Use that model on a good show and my ass will stay on the couch.
Talent means more than loyalty. This is aimed squarely at Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, and a few other shows that have been on the air for ages. They're staples of the network, I understand that. But just because they WERE good doesn't mean that they still ARE good. I stopped watching full episodes of SNL after Chris Farley died. And I stopped watching it altogether after Will Farrel left. It's just not funny. I can't tell you the last time I watched a new Simpsons episode. The shows still have good premises and promises. But the staff is complacent. Fire the writers, and for gods sake get Lorne Michaels away from SNL. That man thought Rob Schneider was hilarious at the same time that he made Chris Rock entirely unfunny.
Bring back special episodes and events. I'm not talking about an episode of Law & Order that mirrors whatever celebrity in legal jeopardy has the headlines this week. Every episode of The Office it seems has been advertised as "very special", without actually BEING special. I think it may beat the "very special" record held by Blossom next season. TV movies and mini-series were watchable because they were either a train wreck (the legion of Amy Fischer tv movies), or were something that we would otherwise never see out of Hollywood (the several Dune miniseries on Sci-Fi). But they were something that was truely different in the TV schedule, at least for a week or two.
Stop trying to compete with HBO and Showtime. You just can't. The rules aren't the same. The Black Donnellys are going to feel muted, restrained, and outright censored compared to The Sopranos. Reruns of Sex and the City without the sex neuters the show. And Dennis Franz's bare ass on NYPD Blue doesn't make you edgy. They're playing rugby with one decade of experience. You're playing football with half a century of experience. Don't pretend you're playing rugby when you know how to put on an amazing game of your own.