NBC THROWS IN THE TOWEL

November 3, 2006

There's a lot we can say about NBC this week, much we can scratch our heads about, but first a note of thanks is in order. So thank you, NBC, for putting "Scrubs" where many of us have known it deserved to go all along -- on Thursday night, where comedy once reigned on the network. On Nov. 30, the show will kick off its sixth season at 9 p.m., following "My Name is Earl" and "The Office." Airing after "Scrubs" will be "30 Rock," moving from Wednesday to complete the two-hour comedy block.

This is a move NBC should have announced in the spring. With "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI" slugging it out in the 9 p.m. hour, NBC might as well put its most endearing cult smash in that timeslot as a nifty bit of counter programming. At least the "Scrubs" fanatics will show up, and who knows? Maybe you'll pick up some other folk who are bored with procedural dramas and overly dramatic hospital soaps.

Unfortunately, the "Scrubs" announcement followed bigger news from NBC -- the revelation that the network has essentially given up on scheduling scripted comedies and dramas in the 8 p.m. hour and, in the future, will fill that timeslot with game shows and reality series. The move comes as part of a larger cost-cutting initiative at NBC that USA Today reported will save the network $750 million and eliminate 700 NBC employees from the payroll. That's correct -- people will lose their jobs because NBC has been unable to launch new hit shows before 9 p.m.

NBC execs say their hand was forced because not enough people are watching TV at that time. They're still eating dinner. They're not ready for heavy storylines so early in the evening. Oh, really? Explain that to ABC, which airs the season's second most watched new show, "Ugly Betty," Thursdays at 8. CBS has also found success with "Jericho" -- and it's post-nuclear-attack America -- on Wednesdays at that same time. "Jericho" is not light viewing. It sounds to me like NBC has failed to capture the public's interest with any of the crap they've been scheduling at 8 p.m., so they're just going to throw their hands in the air and give up.

Yes, it's true that some mindless reality shows have turned out to be juggernauts in that first hour of primetime -- most recently, "Dancing with the Stars." But more of these shows fail than succeed. Did anyone watch "The One: Making a Music Star" or "Treasure Hunters"? Heck no. NBC must know this but figures that a failed reality show will at least be a cheap write-off. That's a line of thinking that should insult all caring TV fans.

What happened to the network that dropped "Friends" and "ER" on the public in the fall of 2004 and watched them explode like a televised supernova? Where is the network that stuck with "Seinfeld" through the lean, early years until the masses realized how funny it was? That network, apparently, is gone. And in its place stands an NBC that no longer wants to try to give Americans the next great family show. Instead, they want to give us "American Idol" clone No. 134 and as many "Law & Order" spinoffs as they can afford.

Not good enough, NBC. Certainly not good enough to rescue your network from the abyss it fell into when "Friends" signed off for good. But, hey, at least you'll be saving money, right? And you'll be saving me time since I won't have to watch anymore.