Analysis: Fewer TV staples in fall
Upfont analysis
May 21, 2004
The broadcast networks are poised to retreat next season from two staples of primetime: scripted comedies and reruns.
The six networks collectively pulled back on the number of half-hour comedies on the fall 2004 schedule -- though CBS held the line from the past season with six sitcoms per week -- in favor of dramas and unscripted series. And with the emphasis on dramas and unscripted shows with a competitive element has come a renewed zeal to cut down on the volume of in-season reruns as well as a push to serve up original programming on a year-round basis.
ABC, NBC and especially Fox each announced plans for shows that rotate through the same time slot at various points in the season -- i.e. NBC's plan to open the season with "The West Wing" in the Wednesday 9 p.m. berth but replace it with new drama "Revelations" down the road when "West Wing" would otherwise go into repeats.
ABC is doing the reverse with its Sunday 9 p.m. hour, giving "Alias" a respite at the outset of the season to allow its buzz-generating freshman drama "Desperate Housewives" to test out the time slot.
Fox aims to rewrite the rules of the primetime business by making good on its vow to shift to a 12-month programming cycle beginning in June, with second and third fronts opening in November and January. It's all an effort to mitigate against the network's annual October pre-emptions for Major League Baseball postseason coverage. In addition to headaches for Fox's scheduling executives, Fox's tri-part launch strategy means a whole lot of rotating of shows and time slots. The X factor, of course, is whether viewers will be able to navigate the changes.
Industry veterans note that the twin trends this season of dramas and replacement programming will be mighty costly for the Big Four next season as they license more shows but lose some of the benefits of what are known in the biz as "amortization theater" -- repeat telecasts. CBS bowed to that reality by slating a regular drama repeat slot, dubbed "Crime Time Saturday," in the 10 p.m. hour on what is typically the least-watched night of the week for the broadcast nets.
On the comedy front, there is an undeniable sea change as evidenced by the heart-tugging sendoffs this month for NBC veterans "Friends" and "Frasier." For the first time since the 1982-83 season, CBS is slated to have more scripted comedies on its fall lineup than NBC. (The eye will have its moment in the sitcom finale sun next season with "Everybody Loves Raymond's" 16-episode farewell tour.) While it's true that viewers don't decide what show to watch after work by first totaling up how many sitcoms each network has, the preponderance of drama and unscripted fare on NBC is nonetheless a shift from the peacock of the 1980s and '90s.
ABC cut back from three comedy nights and 10 half-hours this season to two nights and an eight-pack of comedies next season. Fox also has pulled back from the start of this season when it had a dozen half-hours, but the network surprised schedule prognosticators by sticking with an all-comedy Sunday slate, including the ratings-challenged critical darling "Arrested Development" at 9 p.m. (as of January).
The consensus among industry insiders and media buyers this week was that ABC did itself a lot of good by scaling back the yucks quotient and stacking its Tuesday 8-10 p.m. block with proven performers. ABC will skew toward men and the younger family audience, while NBC is looking to drive the younger set who turn out for 8 p.m.'s "Average Joe" into 9 p.m. animated newcomer "Father of the Pride" and "Scrubs."
CBS made a bold play Wednesday in slotting the new "CSI: NY" against Dick Wolf's veteran "Law & Order." CBS chief Leslie Moonves was undoubtedly cheered by the record adults 18-49 numbers that "CSI: Miami" posted Monday with the episode that introduced Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes as Gotham's new forensic gumshoes.
But that also means CBS is gambling on the ability of the new Wednesday 9:30 p.m. John Goodman starrer "Center of the Universe," in tandem with 9 p.m.'s "The King of Queens," to provide lead-in support to the new "CSIs." Meanwhile, the continued presence of "CSI: Miami" in the Monday 10 p.m. slot will add to NBC's challenge of taking off in the 10 p.m. hour with new ensemble "LAX."
ABC wisely decided not to send another new drama into the Wednesday 10 p.m. slaughterhouse, opting for the (sur)reality of "Wife Swap." At 8 p.m., ABC and NBC will battle it out with new dramas "Lost" and "Hawaii," and Fox will make things more competitive at 9 p.m. in January by sliding "American Idol" back to 9 p.m. from 8:30 p.m. the past two years.
ABC did send a freshman drama, "Life as We Know It," into the Thursday 9 p.m. fray against CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "The Apprentice 2" in the hopes that it will get a little lead-in help from "Extreme Makeover" at 8 p.m.
Indeed, as foreshadowed by the hits and misses of the season set to wrap next week, each of the six nets is banking more on reality in '04-'05 -- none more so than NBC banking on "The Apprentice 2" staying hot on Thursday and "The Contender" headed for a bout in the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour with Fox's "American Idol." CBS added "The Amazing Race" to its fall slate again, this time on Saturday. ABC has "Swap," Mark Cuban's "The Benefactor" and the home and human editions of "Extreme Makeover."
The WB Network is hoping the unscripted genre will give it signs of life on Thursday with 9 p.m.'s quiz show-meets-"The Real World" entry "Studio 7." And Fox has more unscripted projects in various stages of covert development than even its alternative guru Mike Darnell can keep track of.
Friday remains an interesting and reality-free (save for UPN's "America's Next Top Model" repeat) battleground, with more counterprogramming among the Big Four than in past seasons. CBS has its female-friendly new Rob Lowe vehicle "Dr. Vegas" (described as "ER" in a casino) facing off against NBC's forensic-themed "Medical Investigation." After trying comedies at the start of the night this year, Fox will revert to edgy, younger-skewing dramas on Friday starting in January with "The Inside" and "Jonny Zero." ABC and the WB again will vie for the "TGIF" demo with family-focused comedies from 8-10 p.m.
The six networks collectively pulled back on the number of half-hour comedies on the fall 2004 schedule -- though CBS held the line from the past season with six sitcoms per week -- in favor of dramas and unscripted series. And with the emphasis on dramas and unscripted shows with a competitive element has come a renewed zeal to cut down on the volume of in-season reruns as well as a push to serve up original programming on a year-round basis.
ABC, NBC and especially Fox each announced plans for shows that rotate through the same time slot at various points in the season -- i.e. NBC's plan to open the season with "The West Wing" in the Wednesday 9 p.m. berth but replace it with new drama "Revelations" down the road when "West Wing" would otherwise go into repeats.
ABC is doing the reverse with its Sunday 9 p.m. hour, giving "Alias" a respite at the outset of the season to allow its buzz-generating freshman drama "Desperate Housewives" to test out the time slot.
Fox aims to rewrite the rules of the primetime business by making good on its vow to shift to a 12-month programming cycle beginning in June, with second and third fronts opening in November and January. It's all an effort to mitigate against the network's annual October pre-emptions for Major League Baseball postseason coverage. In addition to headaches for Fox's scheduling executives, Fox's tri-part launch strategy means a whole lot of rotating of shows and time slots. The X factor, of course, is whether viewers will be able to navigate the changes.
Industry veterans note that the twin trends this season of dramas and replacement programming will be mighty costly for the Big Four next season as they license more shows but lose some of the benefits of what are known in the biz as "amortization theater" -- repeat telecasts. CBS bowed to that reality by slating a regular drama repeat slot, dubbed "Crime Time Saturday," in the 10 p.m. hour on what is typically the least-watched night of the week for the broadcast nets.
On the comedy front, there is an undeniable sea change as evidenced by the heart-tugging sendoffs this month for NBC veterans "Friends" and "Frasier." For the first time since the 1982-83 season, CBS is slated to have more scripted comedies on its fall lineup than NBC. (The eye will have its moment in the sitcom finale sun next season with "Everybody Loves Raymond's" 16-episode farewell tour.) While it's true that viewers don't decide what show to watch after work by first totaling up how many sitcoms each network has, the preponderance of drama and unscripted fare on NBC is nonetheless a shift from the peacock of the 1980s and '90s.
ABC cut back from three comedy nights and 10 half-hours this season to two nights and an eight-pack of comedies next season. Fox also has pulled back from the start of this season when it had a dozen half-hours, but the network surprised schedule prognosticators by sticking with an all-comedy Sunday slate, including the ratings-challenged critical darling "Arrested Development" at 9 p.m. (as of January).
The consensus among industry insiders and media buyers this week was that ABC did itself a lot of good by scaling back the yucks quotient and stacking its Tuesday 8-10 p.m. block with proven performers. ABC will skew toward men and the younger family audience, while NBC is looking to drive the younger set who turn out for 8 p.m.'s "Average Joe" into 9 p.m. animated newcomer "Father of the Pride" and "Scrubs."
CBS made a bold play Wednesday in slotting the new "CSI: NY" against Dick Wolf's veteran "Law & Order." CBS chief Leslie Moonves was undoubtedly cheered by the record adults 18-49 numbers that "CSI: Miami" posted Monday with the episode that introduced Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes as Gotham's new forensic gumshoes.
But that also means CBS is gambling on the ability of the new Wednesday 9:30 p.m. John Goodman starrer "Center of the Universe," in tandem with 9 p.m.'s "The King of Queens," to provide lead-in support to the new "CSIs." Meanwhile, the continued presence of "CSI: Miami" in the Monday 10 p.m. slot will add to NBC's challenge of taking off in the 10 p.m. hour with new ensemble "LAX."
ABC wisely decided not to send another new drama into the Wednesday 10 p.m. slaughterhouse, opting for the (sur)reality of "Wife Swap." At 8 p.m., ABC and NBC will battle it out with new dramas "Lost" and "Hawaii," and Fox will make things more competitive at 9 p.m. in January by sliding "American Idol" back to 9 p.m. from 8:30 p.m. the past two years.
ABC did send a freshman drama, "Life as We Know It," into the Thursday 9 p.m. fray against CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "The Apprentice 2" in the hopes that it will get a little lead-in help from "Extreme Makeover" at 8 p.m.
Indeed, as foreshadowed by the hits and misses of the season set to wrap next week, each of the six nets is banking more on reality in '04-'05 -- none more so than NBC banking on "The Apprentice 2" staying hot on Thursday and "The Contender" headed for a bout in the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour with Fox's "American Idol." CBS added "The Amazing Race" to its fall slate again, this time on Saturday. ABC has "Swap," Mark Cuban's "The Benefactor" and the home and human editions of "Extreme Makeover."
The WB Network is hoping the unscripted genre will give it signs of life on Thursday with 9 p.m.'s quiz show-meets-"The Real World" entry "Studio 7." And Fox has more unscripted projects in various stages of covert development than even its alternative guru Mike Darnell can keep track of.
Friday remains an interesting and reality-free (save for UPN's "America's Next Top Model" repeat) battleground, with more counterprogramming among the Big Four than in past seasons. CBS has its female-friendly new Rob Lowe vehicle "Dr. Vegas" (described as "ER" in a casino) facing off against NBC's forensic-themed "Medical Investigation." After trying comedies at the start of the night this year, Fox will revert to edgy, younger-skewing dramas on Friday starting in January with "The Inside" and "Jonny Zero." ABC and the WB again will vie for the "TGIF" demo with family-focused comedies from 8-10 p.m.
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