Andy Barker, Prime Time
The NBC Thursday night comedy lineup has a new show, Andy Barker P.I. It stars Andy Richter as an accountant who's mistaken for a private eye. It's actually pretty good. Unfortunately, NBC used it to replace a better show, 30 Rock. If they'd replaced Scrubs instead, they'd have a real solid two-hour block of sitcoms.
Unfortunately, no one seems to want good sitcoms anymore. Thursday night, for years the jewel in the crown of NBC, has no chance against the popular hour-long dramas on CBS and ABC. Every year I hope for a new Cosby Show to raise the form back to popularity. Is it TV's fault for not making one, or the public's fault for not watching them?
(Some have suggested the problem is the one-camera, no audience approach. Perhaps, but people don't seem to mind it for hour shows.)
posted by LAGuy @ 1:13 AM
2 Comments:
What is the theory about putting the stronger, more popular shows at 8 (Earl, The Office) instead of 9 (eastern time)- they aren't really especially accessible to younder kids(Like Cosby or even Family Ties) What are the demographics of the 8 v. 9 time slots.
The 8 slot skews a bit younger, but I don't think there's that big a difference in the major adult demographic. It's certainly good to start out prime time with your big hit, but when the big hit develops at 9, (like Seinfeld used to be on Thursday) that's fine too. Sometimes (like ER) it's even at 10, even though viewership does tend to fall off around then.
Ultimately, hits can't be predicted and the main rule, with a few exceptions, is if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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