The Season That Slaughtered the Sitcom
by Jaime Weinman on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 12:21pm

I was revisiting NewsRadio season 5, and on one of the commentaries, Paul Simms mentioned a season “where NBC had 18 sitcoms. So you can thank them for killing the multi-camera sitcom.” I checked, and discovered the season he was referring to was 1997-8. Though the Wikipedia schedule doesn’t apply to the entire year (NewsRadio was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday at some point, and shows rotated in and out of the Thursday slots), NBC did in fact have 18 sitcom slots that year: Monday through Thursday all had four sitcoms followed by a drama at 10, and there were two other sitcoms on Sunday. Now that’s what I call overkill.

The sense of a sitcom glut was increased by the fact that nearly all these shows were identical: four-camera sitcoms about young, affluent white people living in New York City. This description applied to the good ones (NewsRadio, Seinfeld, Friends) and the bad ones (almost anything airing after Seinfeld or Friends) alike. NBC’s overdose of comedy, combined with the fact that most of the comedies were the same and that the new ones weren’t in the class of Seinfeld/Friends/Frasier, made the network a joke and made it clear that they didn’t have much in reserve to replace Seinfeld. And this was Seinfeld‘s last season.

It was in a way the comedy equivalent of ABC’s decision, a few years later, to do Who Wants to Be A Millionaire every night. In drama, CBS is currently becoming a punchline for a similar reason, since they have the same type of drama on over and over. It’s taken longer for that strategy to become a problem (maybe because dramas are easier to schedule than comedies, which have to be paired off), but the failure of the Criminal Minds spinoff, Laurence Fishburne leaving CSI and the lower-than-expected numbers for Hawaii 5-0 suggest that the network might finally have passed the saturation point.

But back to comedy, 1997-8 also saw the collapse of the family comedy, also because of over-saturation, though of a more specialized type. ABC filled its TGIF lineup with clones of Sabrina, and CBS, which was trying to launch its own family comedy block, unveiled its own magical-person comedy, the legendarily terrible Meego. The CBS lineup never got off the ground; ABC’s TGIF brand was never able to fully recover from having three versions of the same show in one night.

The lesson is a simple and familiar one: TV networks can never resist copying their own successes. It works for a while – after all, NBC reacted to the success of Seinfeld by rolling out Friends and Mad About You. But 18 versions of the same thing is probably too much.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/06/08/the-season-that-slaughtered-the-sitcom/

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Yep I've said the same thing for years. Friends killed the sitcom. It wasn't Friends per say but all the clones that came out during the mid to late 90's and most of them were junk. I'm a big fan of CBS but I'm afraid the same thing is going to happen to the crime drama if they aren't careful.

Same thing happened to the westerns and the game shows.

Same thing happened to the westerns and the game shows.
I wish it would happen to some of these reality shows. lol

Be patient,It will.

I wish it would happen to some of these reality shows. lol
As much as i would love for that to happen,it's unlikely to happen.Cheap production cost is the reason why.

I wish it would happen to some of these reality shows. lol
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This is a mistake that broadcast TV can't stop making....

"Friends" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" are two good examples of quality shows that had too many bad copycats. Same goes with "Lost" and "American Idol" (yes, "The Voice" is a hit and also not quite a copycat but remember all the flops back in the mid 2000s that were copycats?)

Maybe they're starting to learn their lesson though because we haven't really seen clones of "Modern Family" or "Glee" yet - even the upcoming "Smash" is reportedly quite different from "Glee"

Reality TV also isn't what it used to be. It used to be a genre full of dating and shock-genre stuff. Now it's just wasteful stuff custom built to sell tabloid magazines.

I wish it would happen to some of these reality shows. lol

Amen to that!!! I will celebrate when it does!! I'm surprised it hasn't happened already but I know reality TV appeals to the lowest common denominator when it comes to an audience. :rolleyes:

Same thing happened to the westerns and the game shows.

I remember when an episode of The Jetsons made a reference about there being too many shows about westerns and doctors.

The Mid-to-late '60s also had the Spy Drama craze as well and many of the sitcoms of the '60s-early '70s were mostly make-believe, fantasy-based sitcoms.

When a network finds a good thing they always try to reproduce it and what follows usually isn't good. That's going on right now with these reality shows about being on the job. You had L.A. Ink, then Miami Ink and now NYC Ink. There was Jersey Coture and Jerseylicious, trying to capitalize on the Jersey Shore success. The four or so shows about bakeries and there was even one about ice sculptors. There's two pawn shop shows on the air.

Now TLC has a reality show about a Hollywood nail salon. And I think, who in the heck wants to watch people throw tantrums and act like fools at work, especially if you're working and there's times you have to deal with your own work-related drama? All this overload, whether its sitcoms, game shows, reality shows, crime shows---after a while people will get tired and go look for different programming. That's probably why the scripted cable shows are doing so well, even though they write about similar themes, at least there is an attempt at some originality.

Yep I've said the same thing for years. Friends killed the sitcom. It wasn't Friends per say but all the clones that came out during the mid to late 90's and most of them were junk. I'm a big fan of CBS but I'm afraid the same thing is going to happen to the crime drama if they aren't careful.

Speaking of which, around the time that Friends aired its final episode in 2004, I posted this article here:
The fallacies: 6 ways "Friends" hurt the sitcom (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-108583.html)

As far as CBS' attempt at during their own version of TGIF (dubbed the "Block Party"), apparently in hindsight, this could be considered a "Cadmean victory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmean_victory)". In other words, although the block was canceled within a year, ABC releasing two shows (Family Matters and Step by Step, which broadcast their respective final seasons on CBS) caused what turned out to be irreparable harm (and fracturing the audience in the process) to the previously dominant TGIF line-up.

Speaking of which, around the time that Friends aired its final episode in 2004, I posted this article here:
The fallacies: 6 ways "Friends" hurt the sitcom (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-108583.html)

As far as CBS' attempt at during their own version of TGIF (dubbed the "Block Party"), apparently in hindsight, this could be considered a "Cadmean victory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmean_victory)". In other words, although the block was canceled within a year, ABC releasing two shows (Family Matters and Step by Step, which broadcast their respective final seasons on CBS) caused what turned out to be irreparable harm (and fracturing the audience in the process) to the previously dominant TGIF line-up.

Wow, that article is still a fascinating read 8 years after Friends has ended. While I wouldn't contribute the downfall of sitcoms solely to Friends' aweful cookie cutter imitators (and the half baked executives who green lit this sh*t), I would certainly lay a good portion of the fallout at their feet. It has become painfully obvious to everyone who knows TV history that sitcoms have never been the same since the show exploded onto the scene.

I hate to knock Friends because they themselves did nothing wrong and had a lot of originality. It's just really hard for me to sing praises to a show whose overbearing influence is still plaguing all of TV nearly a decade after it ended. Virtually every sitcom on the air right now is STILL carrying components of Friends to various degrees. Some initially great shows like The Big Bang Theory have been morphed into a subtle copycat. Now when executives say "broaden the appeal" they might as well being saying "more like Friends." Of course there are still shows to this day being green lit with the exact same premise like Happy Endings but are really poorly executed.

W" Of course there are still shows to this day being green lit with the exact same premise like Happy Endings but are really poorly executed.

Happy Endings is NOT poorly executed. It's a very good series.

Things are finally starting to turn around slowly.With some good family shows again.I think it will keep happening.Modern Family and Glee are both great examples and there are a few other decent ones.

As long as the networks quit copy cating and come out with some good orignal sitcoms.At the same time though i am open to bringing back a lot of the older sitcoms.

I think it would be awesome too see what is happening on some of these shows .Many years later.

Also i hate reality tv compared to sitcoms lol.I mean they are ok but they get really old and there all the same.The main problem though .Is they are too much like real life and nobody wants to see that.

A couple good dramas that are currently out the secret life and 90210 are pretty good also.

And now with the success of Once Upon a Time, it seems the fantasy and fairytale genre might be the next to be copied, with Beauty and the Beast and Gotham being greenlighted. While I'm all for a different type of show being aired because we've had enough crime dramas and reality shows to fill the rings of Saturn, it wouldn't be surprising if we had a future backlash towards fantasy-themed shows. But then again, 3 of those shows isn't as bad as the tons of Friends cloned we've seen since the late 90's.

I think you guys hit the nail on the head. To me, I dont think any genre is dead unless they make it that way. You want to put on 1 sitcom or 5 sitcoms, thats fine, as long as there good. Same goes for westerns, game shows etc. I'd much rather have 5 good sitcoms, then 10 bad ones.

I think the reason that sitcoms didn't totally die like the Westerns and Variety Shows is because they still were very popular in syndication. It looks like the sitcom is finally back. It would be nice if some of the other genres would come back too.

I think the reason that sitcoms didn't totally die like the Westerns and Variety Shows is because they still were very popular in syndication. It looks like the sitcom is finally back. It would be nice if some of the other genres would come back too.



The reason i love sitcoms so much.Because they are usally how you would want life to be.If it was your choice.The good ones atleast:)

The reason i love sitcoms so much.Because they are usally how you would want life to be.If it was your choice.The good ones atleast:)
Yea I agree and we all need laughter in our lives. If a good comedy can make me forget my troubles for a half hour then it's done it's job.

The sitcom definitely went through a major dry spell, and it can definitely be attributed to the networks desperately trying to re-create Friends (that article's on-the-nose, and it's written by Alan Sepinwall who's definitely one of the best critics out there).

I think it has come back in the past few years though. There's a lot of truly fantastic comedies out there that have avoided the pratfalls that killed so much creativity in the late 90s/early 00s. The networks have finally moved past trying to re-create the big hits of the '90s and have allowed shows to focus more on forming their own identity and style. Not everything's great, but there's a lot of greatness out there, maybe more than any other time in history in my opinion (though the 70s are tough competition).

I don't think the sitcom was ever in danger of being "extinct" like variety/westerns though...I mean, TV comedy is always going to something people want to see, it's never going to go away completely.



I hate to knock Friends because they themselves did nothing wrong and had a lot of originality. It's just really hard for me to sing praises to a show whose overbearing influence is still plaguing all of TV nearly a decade after it ended. Virtually every sitcom on the air right now is STILL carrying components of Friends to various degrees. Some initially great shows like The Big Bang Theory have been morphed into a subtle copycat. Now when executives say "broaden the appeal" they might as well being saying "more like Friends." Of course there are still shows to this day being green lit with the exact same premise like Happy Endings but are really poorly executed.
Honestly, I think Happy Endings is a better show than Friends.

Boom.

I am not a television professional, but I have seen it all my life including the product before I was born (50's-60's television).

Television (and movies too) do not want to change a formula that has worked for them. NBC had a fantastic, monumental run of sitcoms for about 15 years from roughly the mid 1980's to the late 1990's.

Television does not like to take chances, unless they are in dire straits. When one does and the outcome works, then everyone else gets on the bandwagon. The "Who wants to be a Millionaire" show was an example. NBC reserrected the show "21" with Maury Povich (of all people, and it sucked) and CBS had something called "Winning Lines" with Dick Clark. Both shows died quickly. ABC around this time was in the same boat that NBC is in now, a low rated network that was willing to try something new.

Then the idiots got greedy and did the show 5 days a week and it died. (Thankfully, I hated this show, Regis Philbin, the setup and especially, especially 'Is that your final answer?') Sort of like the dumbass Jay Leno five days a week in primetime. Nope. Fail.

Mad Men is a successful show so ABC and NBC tried to make a show like it and it died. The networks are now into talent contests and cooking shows. Reality programming is a biggie too. Everyone does basically the same things because it makes money. When the "craze" is over with, the networks will try something new, hit gold, copy it to death, squeeze every last shekel out of it and then move yet again to something new