NBC's 'Do No Harm' = Biggest Flop in Network TV History!

[Christopher]

bigdaddy wrote:

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A show in 1979 would air on one of what three channels?

If it were a commerical network show. There was also PBS and various independent stations.

[The Borgified Corpse]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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NBC is probably in a bind. Their young, urban, coastal audience has defected to cable (or Netflix/hulu/Amazon). They need to get them back, but they have to do it with shows that stand out in a crowd, like Revolution managed to do.

To the extent that NBC has an identity, I think its identity is sitcoms that appeal to a smarter audience than the bland crap that CBS provides. But even that identity is in peril now because 30 Rock & The Office are ending this season and Community will likely get cancelled after they burn off the remaining episodes this spring.

jayceee wrote:

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Over most of the 2000's, I thought NBC was the Law & Order network.

I really miss the original Law & Order. Cancelling a legend like that in favor of an untested Los Angeles spin-off was just dumb.

Christopher wrote:

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They could, they just don't. I think the reason cable networks rebroadcast their prime-time shows a few hours later is because they only provide one feed to all four time zones, so what's prime time in the Eastern time zone is too early for prime time in Mountain or Pacific. An 8 PM show on the East Coast would be airing at 5 PM on the West, and people are still driving home from work then. So there are two broadcasts to hit prime time for the two halves of the country, basically. The main broadcast networks don't have to do it that way since they have separate feeds for the different time zones.

Cable networks (and PBS) repeat their stuff all the time. Part of this is because they don't have to worry so much about local affiliate content. I wish I had cable if only because cable channels show actual TV shows during the daytime instead of innundating us with godawful talk shows & judge shows. (There's a woman at work that's always putting the TV in the break room onto The Wendy Williams Show. It's the most useless piece of garbage I've ever seen. She even did this once right in the middle of an episode of Law & Order: SVU that I was watching!)

[Harvey]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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I really miss the original Law & Order. Cancelling a legend like that in favor of an untested Los Angeles spin-off was just dumb.

I imagine that twenty seasons of cost increases mixed with the expense of shooting in New York and declining ratings made the Los Angeles-based spin-off quite appealing. They might have tried pairing them together at first, though, before discarding the original.

[Christopher]

Harvey wrote:

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I imagine that twenty seasons of cost increases mixed with the expense of shooting in New York and declining ratings made the Los Angeles-based spin-off quite appealing.

Yup. Most network decisions that seem "dumb" or arbitrary seem less so once you realize that virtually all decisions in television are ultimately about money. In prose, you can do whatever you can imagine; in TV, you can only do what you can afford, and what's practically and logistically achievable.

[Guy Gardener]

You're forgetting exposition.

The Tick (TV Show) was great at this.

They were always talking about these billion dollar special effects that just happened off camera as giant fire breathing robots kicked over bridges and...

Shakespeare used to be good at this with his Histories as well, staging his scenes around massive battles which the characters would then complain and marvel about.

Have you seen the movie Rage?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1234550/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

It's just actors talking, like in a confession to a blogger who is recording their monologuing with his cellphone, but all these things are happening, the moment is spinning out of control, but we don't see anything but talking heads in front of a changing colour field depending on the emotion of the content, stressing over their involvement in the developments.

But, that is cheating.

Forcing lazy people to use their imagination.

Worse than subtitles really.

I wonder how difficult it was to shoot the original Fame TV series?

[Enterprise is Great]

Do no Harm is Do No Ratings. This show will probably be canceled tomorrow morning. Will NBC air every episode or will they yank it from the schedule is the only unknown at this point.

[Samaritan]

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...ytheNumbers%29

2012-2013 Season: NBC Leads Among Adults 18-49, While CBS is Number 1 With Total Viewers Through Week 18 Ending January 27, 2013

Don't think NBC is hurting too much.

ETA: NBC was Second after CBS in total viewers.

[bigdaddy]

Only because of football and The Voice, scripted shows suck, and football is over.

[Dream]

Looks like NBC's Smash season two premiere was a big flop too.

The two hour season premiere of Smash scored a series low 1.1 adults 18-49 rating down a staggering 71 percent from a 3.8 for the series premiere on February 6, 2012 (following The Voice) and down 39 percent from a 1.8 for the first season finale on May 14.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...-rises/168296/

It probably ends after this season.

[Guy Gardener]

Well, episode 2 aired.

For some reason.

It's like they said "If you 'll put up with Beauty and the Beast, maybe you won't mind some this just a little bit more painful?"

I liked the new episodes of Smash.

[the G-man]

Dream wrote:

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Looks like NBC's Smash season two premiere was a big flop too.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...-rises/168296/

It probably ends after this season.

According to my wife (who is/was a fan), Smash isn't working this season because the whole "who will play Marilyn" arc is more or less over and all that's left is typical relationship soap opera show stuff. Sounds like it would have been better as a limited series or a show like American Horror Story where they follow a different cast of characters each season.

[Professor Zoom]

the G-man wrote:

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According to my wife (who is/was a fan), Smash isn't working this season because the whole "who will play Marilyn" arc is more or less over and all that's left is typical relationship soap opera show stuff. Sounds like it would have been better as a limited series or a show like American Horror Story where they follow a different cast of characters each season.

Smash wasn't working last season either. At least with the Marilyn thing there was a hook. But, it was awful television then, and the new team didn't save it--which, personally, would require dropping some of the "names" from the cast... I'm looking at you, McPhee--a truly awful actress.

The badness of Smash was baked in last season. There is no changing it. NBC wasted there resources bringing it back. It was about ego. That's the only reason it came back.

[bigdaddy]

Yes Smash was a flop last year, and it's worse this year. At least Parenthood will get a 5th season.

Do No Harm = 2.2 mil/0.7

That's CW levels.

[Christopher]

bigdaddy wrote:

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Yes Smash was a flop last year...

Hmm. Then logically, they should create a show called Flop, and it will be a smash!

[the G-man]

Professor Zoom wrote:

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Smash wasn't working last season either. At least with the Marilyn thing there was a hook. But, it was awful television then, and the new team didn't save it--which, personally, would require dropping some of the "names" from the cast... I'm looking at you, McPhee--a truly awful actress.

The badness of Smash was baked in last season. There is no changing it. NBC wasted there resources bringing it back. It was about ego. That's the only reason it came back.

You may or may not be right. I don't watch it. But the impression I got from her was at least last season was campy fun and this season isn't.