Are you surprised? I’m not.
Name me one broadcast network new show you were excited to see? Patricia Heaton in yet another sitcom? I love Patty Heaton but this just screams of network desperation. Shows must be populated with known names. Hence Patty Heaton Walton Goggins, Brad Whitford, Cobie Smulders, Billy Gardell… and in years past, Kevin James, Matt LeBlac, Matthew Perry, Joel McCray, Martin Mull, Max Greenfield, Katy Sagal, Judd Hirsch, and pretty much anyone who had a network show between 1995-2017.
I just don’t get it.
Practically every Emmy went to a non-broadcast network show. When clearly the taste of the audience is leaning towards more original fare, why do networks continue to just recycle faces and ideas?
Patricia Heaton goes back to school. How many times have we seen that?
Walton Goggins – widowed father with kids trying to get back in the dating scene. Exact same premise as the last season of KEVIN CAN WAIT. And it was a tired premise then.
Is Walton Goggins, a fantastic character actor when playing a creepy guy, really a romantic lead big enough to build a network sitcom around? That’s like when the Seattle Mariners spent a gazillion dollars for Robinson Cano. Did Robinson Cano put one extra butt in the seats?
I have to laugh when I pick up ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S TV Fall Preview and there’s all these interviews with stars and showrunners touting how unique and special their shows are when they’re anything but.
Interestingly, most of these shows were not helped by 3 Day adjustments. And those were the premiers. What do you think is going to happen this week and next?
And the networks’ takeaway of course: Comedy is dead. No one wants to see comedy. Meanwhile, the young audience they’re so desperately trying to attract are watching FRIENDS in record numbers.
There are other actors out there. There are original ideas out there. Why not seek them out? What do you have to lose? You CAN’T do worse than you’re doing now. Except for next year if you stay on the same path.
from By Ken Levine
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