Should NBC Become USA?
USA
If I had gotten around to reviewing USA's White Collar, which debuts tonight, I'd probably have said what I'd have said about USA shows like Royal Pains or Psych or Monk. It's a light, funny caper. (The premise: a con man ends up working for the FBI to help them catch other con men.) It's brisk and slick and fun and competently made, although I would not expect to remember any individual episode more than 30 minutes after watching it. It's good if you like that sort of thing. That's what USA is to me: the official network of Good If You Like That Sort of Thing.
Maybe I just don't have the comfort-food gene required to enjoy its shows; I gravitate more toward appointment shows I'm intensely involved in on the one hand, or reality shows about food or shopping or New Jersey housewives on the other. The middle range that USA plays to doesn't really interest me. (Even Burn Notice, to be honest, though it's a cut above USA's other shows.)
That's just me. But USA has been very successful making a kind of show that broadcast networks used to make. Which raises the question: should broadcast networks be making this kind of show again? Specifically: Should NBC?
What made me think about this is a revealing interview by Joe Adalian at The Wrap with NBC's new programming chief, Jeff Gaspin. In it, Gaspin says that despite adding Jay Leno and canceling Southland, NBC is not getting out of the drama business. But here's something he said that really grabbed me:
My belief is that dark and grim in general is not the tone I want to see NBC take right now in our development and in our schedule. It doesn't mean it can't be intense. It doesn't mean it can't be dramatic. But dark and grim and real, I think, is not what the audience for broadcast television is looking for right now. The way we need to rebuild NBC is with broad, somewhat blue-sky, somewhat more optimistic programming.
And this (paraphrased):
Gaspin implied it's simplistic to think that just because a show is good means it can work on a network, particularly one with few pillars of strength.
Here's how I read this: Look, people, we are not trying to be freaking FX, even if we got beat by Sons of Anarchy the other night. We are not even NBC as it was ten years ago. We can't obsess over "good," because FX and AMC and HBO and Showtime can do good better now, and make money with fewer viewers. We have to program for people who want to turn their brains off and relax after a hard day, even if that mass audience is smaller than it used to be.
OK, fine. The man has to run a business. I may disagree with him; I would say NBC's most successful non-football night is Thursday, which has comedies with low viewership but extremely good demographics. NBC should be trying to make dramas that do the same.
But what do I know? I'm a critic, not a TV exec. If network TV drama now is indeed, as Gaspin says, about light, not-too-challenging diversions, then what he's describing sounds a lot like what is already being done by USA, a sister NBC Universal network. (Also, to a lesser extent, by shows like TNT's Leverage.) Should NBC, sheerly from a business standpoint, cannibalize USA's strategy, forget making the next Shield (or even the next West Wing), and produce some light capers with rakish stars and a sense of humor?
One argument is that NBC is already heading that way, having signed up a remake of The Rockford Files. [Update: By the way, I loved the original Rockford Files and still do, though it was very USA-esque back in the day. Not sure why it appeals to me more than USA's shows, though it had a kind of down-and-out dirtiness that they don't.] A counter argument is that the USA approach basically describes Chuck, which has struggled just to stay on-air at NBC.
Me, of course, I'd rather see NBC get more ambitious and swing for the fences, but I'm biased. I want NBC to make shows I'd actually watch. On the other hand, the USA approach could well be better business. And it could produce some entertaining TV. If you like that sort of thing.
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Well, I for one welcome our new generic overlords. Seriously, I would like to see NBC have something that is good and entertaining. Giving up ambitious for comfort food TV is better only if the comfort food is Ben and Jerry's ice cream--well done and entertaining. The way things are now, NBC doesn't even have good junk food (I'm beating the metaphor to death). They have bland, listless seen it a thousand times shows like Trauma and Mercy and an uninspired, funny in the 50's variety show five nights a week. The cables have been the place for great TV for a while now, so if NBC decides to put in compelling entertainment instead of art, then I say let them. Once a few years have passed, and NBC is hopefully in a better place, they will return to great TV.
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2
Just read that HBO is bringing back In Treatment, which is good news for those of us who somehow manage to keep our brains turned on all day long.
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[...] Tuned In A blog about television by TIME's TV critic James Poniewozik. Tuned In Feed Daily E-mail Updates « PreviousShould NBC Become USA? [...]
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4
hmm, i have to say i actually enjoy the escapist pieces like Burn Notice and Leverage (not so much Psych or Royal Pains) but don't think they can't coexist with actual 'good' shows.
i didn't love Southland but was interested enough to see where they were going with it, if they had...
personally i tivo by show so i almost don't know which network is which... am i naive to think that a network could just try to make quality shows in a variety types and that people would watch?
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4.1
I recently realized that I often don't really know which networks the shows I watch are on, too. Not sure what this says for the future of TV programming, but I think it's an interesting development.
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How in the world can The Rockford Files be remade for today? It was very much a product of its time and the show was extremely dependent upon the acting of James Garner, as well as the rich use of supporting characters.
Can you just grab a bunch of actors and hope it all works out?
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A question ---
Do broadcast network shows have union contracts that make them pay more for tech people and "extras" than do shows produced for cable?
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what is the economic difference that makes it feasible for cable networks to produce hour long dramas that get lower ratings than network shows?-
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Some cable show are nonunion or different unions. But also, more revenue streams: carriage fees and/or subscriptions.
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Bob Timmerman said:
"Can you just grab a bunch of actors and hope it all works out?"
Welcome to NBC's development strategy for the past several years. Make that "strategy."
I think there's a middle ground here. There's something to be said for swinging for the fences, but there's also something to be said for just sticking to you knitting and putting out a good product.
USA came up with a strategy and a vision, and it executes that every time out of the gate. I don't necessarily love all of their shows, but I know what they're about and I know that their shows are generally competent and I won't feel like I've wasted my time at the end of an hour.
NBC doesn't have to swing for the fences to improve its fortunes, it simply has to do as good a job at making hourlong TV shows as USA. A few exceptions aside, NBC done a really terrible job of that for years now.
I do wonder about what you pointed out -- that NBC wants more "blue sky" shows and a lite vibe. USA is already doing that really well. Not sure we need NBC to imitate its most successful cable sibling.
Although when it comes to NBC, imitation is the sincerest form of desperation.
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This is only verry tangentially related to your post (the bit about 'appointment shows') but this piece in Vanity Fair about Mad Men > Lost is very funny, if you haven't seen it already:
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/10/a-lost-ies-letter-to-the-mad-men-fans.html
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[...] Should NBC Become USA? If I had gotten around to reviewing USA’s White Collar , which debuts tonight, I’d probably have said what I’d have said about USA shows like Royal Pains or Psych or Monk. [...]
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10
Interesting trend related to White Collar: lesbian FBI agents. I watched White Collar right after Flashforward and FF had just revealed the female FBI agent is a lesbian, and then in White Collar the agent played by Naomi from Lost is also a lesbian. Weird coincidence I guess.
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[...] http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/10/23/should-nbc-become-usa/ a few seconds ago from Gwibber [...]
- poniewozik Loved the season. Mrs Tuned In wd have put u on the main list RT @boredtodeath Thank u for incl us in Time's Top 10. We'll take hon mention. - 9 hours ago
- poniewozik @carr2n Virgin is the best, LAX-JFK - 9 hours ago
- poniewozik Did NPR interview abt multiscreen multitasking. After, automatically reached for iPhone in pocket. Like don draper wd have for cigarettes. - 11 hours ago
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