Welcome to the latest episode of “Dumb Decisions by NBC.” I’m your host, HollywoodIdiocy.com.
Clearly, NBC didn’t learn this past season when it canceled Scrubs a year ago, only to have ABC pick it up off the scrap heap and pair it with Better Off Ted, the best new workplace comedy since The Office. The strategy worked so well for the Alphabet Network that Scrubs has been renewed for yet another season, even though Zach Braff will only appear in six episodes next year.
Undeterred, NBC has made even more Dumb Decisions this year, just to prove that the network could be better-managed by computer memory than the current Entertainment Chief. Heck, forget computer memory, just put Tina Fey in charge and triple the NBC executive collective IQ in one fell swoop!
Here’s a list of this season’s crop of Dumb Decisions by NBC:
1) Turning over five hours a week of prime time programming to “Leno In Prime Time,” rather than, you know, actual entertainment. I predict Leno’s new prime time gig will die in the ratings, but NBC won’t care until a new administration takes over.
2) After ordering a super-sized season of My Name Is Earl, NBC cancels the four-year-old comedy at a time when there’s still plenty of life in it. Word is the blue collar comedy didn’t fit in with the new lineup of white collar workplace comedies NBC is favoring on Thursday nights. ABC and Fox are both reportedly interested, so My Name Is Earl is destined to become the next Scrubs debacle for NBC.
3) After Medium became the best-performing show on Monday nights for NBC during May sweeps (the net didn’t even test Heroes or Chuck in May, ending their seasons early), the network decided to forgo a fifth season of the psychic crime drama; word is CBS, which owns the show, will sandwich Medium right between Ghost Whisperer and Numbers on Friday nights next season, where it’s likely to prosper.
At least NBC renewed Chuck and Heroes, but with Leno taking over so much prime time real estate, will the Peacock even be considered a “Big Four” network anymore? Blame a bad economy all you want… there’s no excuse for such lame-brain decisions.
Tags: computer memory, Medium, My Name Is Earl, Scrubs
