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Moonlit_Angel said:
Yeah. I mean, of course, soap operas may not have the same relevance to today's generation that they did to people who grew up on such things, there's all sorts of reasons for their decline...

...but still, to leave loyal fans in the dust like that sucks, no matter what.
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yeah, plus i'm sure i read at some point that daytime tv viewing in general is down these days, no matter what the channel or show is. more people than ever have to work these days, how many families are in a financial position where the woman can stay at home and as a result, is home to watch a soap? plus now with cable, instead of just three choices, those who are home in the morning are now faced with hundreds. but all they can do is look back at the golden days and wonder why they can't get those numbers anymore. no one can, at least not in daytime.

Moonlit_Angel said:
"The Talk". Ergh. Yes. I saw that show once when someone I like was to be on there. I'd sooner have watched "The View", and I'm not crazy about that show. At least the people on "View" go off their "have to say this to appeal to suburban moms and avoid controversy" type script every now and again and say something honest. I turned it after the person I like finished up.
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exactly. when i was in the states i watched a few minutes to see how bad it was, and it was even worse than the view. like you said, at least the view can occasionally deviate from the "safe" opinions. but the talk just seemed to be about family values and all the buzzwords i expect to hear in some republican's campaign ad.

Moonlit_Angel said:
Another thing I'd suggest-NBC owns so many other channels, so does ABC and such...I'm thinking they could definitely save on costs if they didn't feel the need to buy up every channel in existence. Monopolies suck.
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exactly! the big three all have their fingers in so many pies, even outside of tv. i think all three of them own or at least have controlling interest in record labels, for example. is it all really necessary?
 
Speaking of other channels, NBC should just move Community to USA, all their shows seem to get more viewers than their broadcast parent network's efforts. The Community cult audience would be huge for cable. Odd the same company can be in charge of the lowest rated major network and the highest rated cable network.
 
A move is pretty illogical. Without the benefit of airing on network television, I couldn't see Community pulling more than a .5 in the demo if it aired on USA. The show isn't done in-house either, so who knows if that would even be profitable for NBC. A lot of the other live-action comedies on cable (like Sunny in Philadelphia or Louie) have pretty much no budget whereas Community is definitely a million an episode at the very least.

Community simply never should have left the 9:30 PM slot. NBC instead wasted it on some shows like Outsourced and Whitney that you knew would get canceled anyway. If I have a gem that needs a little help, I'd give it a great time slot rather than move it out for a piece of shit that I know nobody will like. They should have let the veteran show with an audience, 30 Rock, move to 8 PM. I think the slight loss in numbers for 30 Rock would have been worth it as Community would probably be pulling a 2.5 or something nowadays thanks to The Office lead-in. Hell, Whitney was basically managing that.
 
You're right, I forgot that it wasn't a Universal production.

It'll probably survive another year because it does have a consistent, passionate audience (I'm sure it has more residual value from iTunes, DVD and merchandise sales than Whitney could ever achieve) and is one of the top shows on Hulu (which does drive some revenue unlike DVR viewership) whereas Whitney has had slightly higher ratings in cushier slots without much love for it from anyone be they critic or general public. Look at last year, it was faced with the choice of having to cut several shows and hope for the best on several new launches or they could let Community continue because it was already established, so the higher-rated Outsourced got the ax. They now also have evidence that Community's ratings this season were depressed by the timeslot given how the premiere of 30 Rock barely beat out Community's S3 numbers. I think they'll be desperate enough to bring it back, even if it's only for a front 13 episodes at a lower budget. That is if it can hold onto it's core audience when it comes back from hiatus.

Not much to hope for, but all's not lost yet.

NBC really should push WB to get the show on Netflix Watch Instantly, look how cult shows like Sons of Anarchy grew drastically following their exposure on NF. All of Community is on Hulu+ but that barely has 1.5m customers.
 
powerhour24 said:
That is if it can hold onto it's core audience when it comes back from hiatus.
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It seems pretty doable. NBC seems like they'd almost be happy with a 1.5 in the demo at this point which is about what the Chelsea/Whitney block will probably produce on average in the near future. Community just has to outperform those and it will look very good because NBC is going to have so many holes in its schedule (look at The Firm's anemic numbers, for example).
 
If anything, putting Community on hiatus has made it look better in comparison. There is so much horrible shit on NBC's airwaves.
 
Agreed on that. I just saw a commercial for NBC's current lineup and...meh. It's really depressing to not see ads for "Community".

I don't know squat about the ins and outs of ratings and moving shows and budgets and such. I just know I want one of my favorite shows back. I don't care where it goes or when, I'll watch it anyway.

KhanadaRhodes said:
yeah, plus i'm sure i read at some point that daytime tv viewing in general is down these days, no matter what the channel or show is. more people than ever have to work these days, how many families are in a financial position where the woman can stay at home and as a result, is home to watch a soap? plus now with cable, instead of just three choices, those who are home in the morning are now faced with hundreds. but all they can do is look back at the golden days and wonder why they can't get those numbers anymore. no one can, at least not in daytime.
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Exactly. Putting out a SoapNet channel also greatly affected network ratings-missed it during the day? Watch it on there at night. Good idea for fans, but for the networks, not so much.

Times change, and people need to learn how to adapt to the changes.

KhanadaRhodes said:
exactly. when i was in the states i watched a few minutes to see how bad it was, and it was even worse than the view. like you said, at least the view can occasionally deviate from the "safe" opinions. but the talk just seemed to be about family values and all the buzzwords i expect to hear in some republican's campaign ad.
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Precisely. And seeing shows like that being held up as the best TV can offer for hearing "women's opinions" on the topics of the day bugs me. I love the idea of women getting together and discussing stuff on a TV show. But let's not dumb it down and make it something for people to make fun of.

KhanadaRhodes said:
exactly! the big three all have their fingers in so many pies, even outside of tv. i think all three of them own or at least have controlling interest in record labels, for example. is it all really necessary?
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Not really, no. But profit trumps everything, so why mess with the formula?

...man, I'm really depressed now. I need to go cheer myself up.
 
Last night:

Whitney - 1.6 (below Community's average ratings this year)

Are You There, Chelsea? - 1.8


Keep in mind that this block will only drop further since Chelsea is a new show that viewers are still fleeing from. Drama-wise, NBC isn't doing much better. Law and Order: SVU which costs much more to produce than these two series, earned a historic low (1.8) last night.
 
30 Rock pulled a 1.6 last night in Community's old time slot. It was competing against American Idol as well as Big Bang Theory. Hell, by the time it comes back, Community's old numbers will better than NBC's average numbers. :lol:
 
That would be fun, definitely :). Hopefully, any ideas they discussed that haven't been done by this point on the show can possibly be used down the line in later episodes.

Alison talking about Joel and "Mad Men" makes me think he should do some sort of guest spot on there. And I say this still not having seen any of the show (but having a general idea of what it's about). That could be really interesting, I bet.

I just love how appreciative they are of their fanbase and everything. There's a good support system on both ends, which is really refreshing in today's TV climate. And I liked the commentary on some of the more funny moments of "Community"-everyone's reaction to the infamous pool playing scene, for instance :lol:.

Alison seems to be very cool with her male fanbase ;).
 
The thing that shits me about the ratings is, if all these other shows are rating badly (and everything is going to against BBT), why not just stick with Community?
 
Probably because it costs more to produce than the Whitney Cummings/Chelsea Handler shit.
 
Ah. Right. Didn't know that.

Crazy listening to some of the commentaries how stressful it is to make at times, and how costly. Harmon was saying he had to pull something like $3k out of his own pocket just to get the rights to Dancing Queen in the s2 Halloween episode?
 
yeah, and the special openers for some eps like the d&d one for example, i think he had to pay for those too.

yet how many millions does the ceo get for an annual bonus?
 
Again, it makes me sad to be happy that 30 Rock is doing just as poorly, but it bodes well for Community's return.
 
Yeah, it's tough. I've not seen "30 Rock", but I know it's beloved and I don't want its fans to see their show be hurt.

But any signs of hope for "Community" are always indeed welcome :up:. At least we know they'll finish out this season sometime. I just want an actual return date already, that's what's driving me the most nuts right now.
 
Imperor said:
Probably because it costs more to produce than the Whitney Cummings/Chelsea Handler shit.
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That's part of it. Also, Community's ratings are slightly below the average of NBC's shows, so you can't blame the network for wanting to try out other ones that could presumably perform better. I do think it doesn't take half a brain to realize that these awful new sitcoms would fail, but I guess NBC sees how this laugh track shit does so well on CBS that they figure it would be a hit on their own network...which isn't the case.

Granted, if you chucked Whitney on CBS, it would certainly get like double the numbers. While Modern Family on NBC would be lucky to get half of what it does on ABC. It's kind of a problem where a certain type of show is helped by having similar ones around it. For that reason, NBC is probably the best fit for Community since it's such a niche show that it would have been canceled immediately on any of the other networks since none of them really have anything quite like it whereas NBC has 30 Rock, The Office and Parks & Recreation. While all four of those are very different shows from one another, they do share a similar quirky sensibility that has helped them all survive together rather than quickly die if they were scheduled alone.
 
ABC does nothing for me as a network. Hardly any good shows, all their sports have been moved to ESPN, and their news coverage is completely irrelevant.
 
Yeah, I don't find any of their comedies to be all that funny. Modern Family is one of the most overrated shows in television history as I can see every joke coming from a mile away. Those shows probably look a hell of a lot better after a critic has to watch a few episodes of Rob or Mike & Molly for a review, I guess...
 
I've only seen bits of "Modern Family" here and there, and I liked what I saw :shrug:. We still watch ABC, but only for, like, 2 shows anymore, one of which is something my mom likes ("Desperate Housewives"). Our channel loyalties are sorta haphazard :p.

I really can't believe a show like "Rob" will exist on TV, if only briefly, but I keep reminding myself that no, I shouldn't be surprised. I'd just love, for once, to be in the room with the people who pitch these ideas and the people who greenlight them. I can only imagine how bizarre it would be.

It is strange how NBC can be so goofy with their TV decisions, because they've had a history of some really notable series on their network.

Incidentally, Joel threw a bit of a remark at NBC (and Chelsea Handler) tonight on "The Soup".
 
BigMacPhisto said:
Modern Family is one of the most overrated shows in television history as I can see every joke coming from a mile away.
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But I thought I was the only one!

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