Four broadcast networks, at least 50 new shows and not a single standout.
I can’t ever remember that happening.
No THIS IS US, no EMPIRE, no MASKED SINGER. Do you hear any buzz on any new series? Can you even name five?
And spin-offs of existing hits aren’t performing like they used to. YOUNG SHELDON was a hit when it premiered. But how about the BLACKISH spin-off or the GOLDBERGS’ spin-off? I can’t even name them.
At what point do networks realize they’ve got to make changes? I know writers who have had things in development this past season. Same old same old. They’re noted to death, they’re forced to take actors they don’t want, they’re at the mercy of testing, the network, the studio, and standards & practices.
Not only are Emmy-winning shows not on the Big Four, they never would have gotten on the air in the first place if it was up to them.
This is madness.
I was watching the CNN documentary on television in the ‘90s recently (okay, yes, I was on it), and former NBC president Warren Littlefield said in the ‘90s Thursday nights on NBC would draw 75,000,000 viewers. Now it’s closer to 3,000,000. What business can survive losing 90% of its customers?
It seems to me the networks’ only hope is to throw out their current model, take bold chances, give writers creative freedom, and hope that at least one new show becomes FRIENDS or SEINFELD or ER. The truth is, especially now, you can build an entire network around one hit. Look at HBO and THE SOPRANOS, or AMC and MAD MEN.
And now there’s Apple+ and Disney and Warner Brothers are unveiling their new streaming services within months. More new shows, splashy, well-produced. Not all will be great. But it just takes one. What are the networks doing about it? Again, name me five new network shows.
The clock is ticking. And it’s 11:55.
from By Ken Levine
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