You have Show A on Tuesday at 7pm. And the other network has Show B, on Wednesday at 8pm. Both are doing very well in the ratings. Let’s say they’re both cop dramas, even though I know the idea of two cop dramas on TV is pretty ridiculous, so they appeal to similar audiences. Why would you then schedule your successful show opposite the other?
I don’t understand the mindset. The logical thing to do, to me, would be instead of scheduling another comedy opposite Friends, to try to “steal” their audience, why not schedule Touched By an Angel or somethign else that is outside that demographic there? So you clean up the everyone else market?
Of course, the opposite extreme is to assume, “Since everyone is watching Survivor anyway, we’ll put somethign we don’t care about against it.” Yeah, FOX, me and the Tick are looking at you. Quirky, nontraditional shows put you guys on the map, but that won’t stop you from sentencing this one to death, will it?
Furthermore, although you, Mr. Exec, see programs only as vectors for advertisements, and thus want to position them strategically (yes, you’re a very smart strategist, which is why you green-lighted some show about a singing cop and his talking waffle partner and then were amazed that it failed), you somehow seem unaware that people are supposed to WATCH the show, and if you keep moving it around the schedule, it’s much harder to do that.
In addition, while looking at the fall TV preview issue of EW, I was amazed at how many shows are returning that I had no idea existed in the first place. “That’s Life”? Is this a real show? I was also surprised at how many returning shows were shows I thought died a long time ago. “Just Shoot Me” has been on for about 27 years, but I’ve never known anyone who watches it. I thought “Dharma and Greg” had long been cancelled.
Oh hell, I’m on a roll, may as well go to completion. One of the things I enjoy about the Fall TV preview issues are the “What on earth are they thinking?” shows. Shows that million-dollar salaried execs gave thumbs-up to when I could tell them they’re going to fail. Things like the Daniel Stern thing that, at the moment, consists of “A divorced guy with kids runs a rec center.” That’s it? That’s your show? You got a budget based on THAT? However, this year there were no obvious candidates for “Show most likely to be cancelled before it premieres.”
It’s amazing to me that, with cable tv and VCRs as such a big threat to network TV, they still can’t seem to understand why the same things fail to work year after year. They get paid ridiculous salaries and yet never learn from any mistakes. “Oh, THAT Malcolm in the Middle clone failed, but THIS one will work because it’s a GIRL!”
I was glad to see, however, that ABC hasn’t completely changed to the all-Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" lineup.
Yet.