NBC puts Parks and Rec on hiatus

Woah.

http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/nbc-has-quietly-put-parks-and-recreation-on-hiatus.html

 

It's not your typical hiatus... It still sucks, but it doesn't mean it's gone.

 

Don't a lot of shows typically disappear for a while, or go all-reruns, for a good chunk of November and December? Something having to do with a ratings dipping a bit around the holidays, coupled with a desire to save new episodes for sweeps and an unbroken run leading to finale season?

 

Andy Greenwald's advice to NBC and it's ailing comedies: Blow up the basket

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9862833/five-ways-fix-nbc

 

Yes. It's not uncommon for shows to maybe get only 1-3 new episodes in during the last two months of the year. What some of the networks are overlooking is that reruns and syndication helps shows build audiences. Instead, they move things around so much that people have no idea what's on and they watch nothing as a result.

 

Exactly. I always think of "Cheers," which ranked 74th out of 77 shows in its first season. Nowadays, it would be zapped after the first or maybe second episode.

 

And that's my biggest issue with TV. I feel like some of these shows that are cancelled 2-3 episodes in have no chance to build a viewership, to expand with their characters/plot, etc. If they aren't IMMEDIATELY watched, they're gone. It's ridiculous. Networks spend millions of dollars on these shows and they pull the plug on many of them far too soon.

 

Plenty of shows, though, have muddled through their early stages, gained traction with a core audience, and been kept around because of them, despite low rating. Community is one. Firefly and Arrested Development are two more. Futurama came back from the dead. So did Family Guy, and it spawned a media empire.

 

And then there's "According to Jim," which inexplicably lasted eight seasons and 182 episodes, during which it never surpassed No. 47 in the year-end ratings and sank as low as No. 171 in Season 7.

Seriously, who watched that fucking show? Better question - how many ABC executives was Jim Belushi blackmailing or blowing, or both?

 

I think for everyone, there are certain shows you just play in the background while you're doing other things. Like, it's odd to just have silence in your apartment or house, and maybe you don't want to play music, so you run the TV instead. For me, it would be something like old episodes of Law and Order, or Kitchen Nightmares or Hotel Impossible. For a lot of people, I get the feeling it's the whole CBS lineup. You just want something mellow and not too surprising. According to Jim was on ABC, but it probably could have been a CBS sitcom.

The semi-weird thing about NBC to me is that they've just had an inability to create any of that vanilla programming that you need to fill out a schedule. With NBC, it's either something niche (Community, Parks and Rec, Hannibal, The Office for much of its run), seasonal or stunt programming (The Apprentice, The Voice, NFL football) or something ridiculously bad (Whitney or Ironsides 2 or that even worse Chelsea Handler sitcom). At one point last year, SNL led their ratings one week, which is utterly insane considering its age and its time slot.

With Parks and Recreation, I love it, but I can see why people wouldn't like it. It has definitely improved from the first season, when it was basically The Office Does Politics with Amy Poheler as the Michael Scott character. However, it's still a show that requires you to know most of the players and their relationships, and it's tough to just jump in. Given how bad the rest of the NBC lineup is though, they should just keep playing it. There is at least the chance the show could do some DVD sales or garner some award nominations, whereas the other shows they're airing are dumpster fires with no chance of redemption.

 

Cheers had low ratings at first, but it did have relatively good demographics because people who were a little more educated and made a little more money made it worth keeping for NBC.