http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/how-must-see-tv-lost-its-way/254511/

The current lineup rivals NBC's Must-See TV heyday of the '80s, yet few people are tuning in.

I disagree about that. I watched NBC's must see tv back in the 80's and those sitcoms were laugh out loud funny. They appealed to a wide audience. NBC's current sitcoms appeal to a nitch audience. I do watch Community, 30 Rock and Up All night once in a while and although they are good, they just aren't laugh out loud funny. I prefer Multi-Cams so that's part of it with me but I also prefer ABC's comedy lineup of The Middle, Suburgatory and Modern Family.

http://www.pajiba.com/think_pieces/how-did-it-go-so-wrong-nbcs-thursday-night-comedy-lineup-is-worse-than-its-been-in-30-years.php

Simple, their programming sucks! :barf:

CBS is hot on Thursdays with Big Bang Theory.

I've been watching "Sean Saves the World" but I have a feeling it'll get cancelled early or not renewed for a second season.

I've been watching "Sean Saves the World" but I have a feeling it'll get cancelled early or not renewed for a second season.
I have that one on DVR. It's my dvr day and I record NBC and CBS.

The Community/Parks & Rec/The Office/30 Rock line-up was one of the best ever. The current one is awful though. Welcome to the Family and Sean Saves the World are terrible, and The Michael J. Fox Show has been a disappointment.

That article pretty much hits the nail on the head. By dumping their old identity, they alienated the small group of people who were watching them in the first place, hence their collapse recently.

Sean Hayes is horrible!!!!

Michael J Fox should get his timeslot and that way his ratings should improve a little.

I just watch Parks, then go to bed. Saw the first week of MJF, it wasn't terrible but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Domestic comedies just aren't their cup of tea.

The shows they have on now just don't appeal to me. They used to have such good sitcom line-ups.

I watch "Parks and Recreation" and that's it. I'm waiting for one of these shows (hopefully "Welcome to the Family") to be cancelled so "Community" will return. Then I'll watch two Thursday night shows. :)

The Community/Parks & Rec/The Office/30 Rock line-up was one of the best ever. The current one is awful though. Welcome to the Family and Sean Saves the World are terrible, and The Michael J. Fox Show has been a disappointment.

That article pretty much hits the nail on the head. By dumping their old identity, they alienated the small group of people who were watching them in the first place, hence their collapse recently.
It's that very lineup that this article was discussing - Community, 30 Rock, The Office, (Up All Night) and Parks and Recreation. This is a thread from last season.

Moving on to the current state of NBC comedy, I don't have many words. I'm excited that Michael J. Fox is back, and I'll be sticking with his show no matter what. I just wouldn't exactly call it a quality series this early on. Then again, Family Ties wasn't a runaway smash at first either.

I think the current sitcoms are 'easier' for the average viewer to enjoy, more than the last crop of shows. They just aren't as good. NBC has had an identity crisis for a while.

The Michael J. Fox Show is pretty average but I think it has the potential to be a genuinely good show if NBC doesn't interfere.

I think the show is well-made and has a great cast, but there needs to be stronger material. The plotlines feel stale and it needs to become funnier.

Still, I liked the pilot and the 3rd episode, but felt the 2nd and 4th episodes were pretty weak.

Moving on to the current state of NBC comedy, I don't have many words. I'm excited that Michael J. Fox is back, and I'll be sticking with his show no matter what. I just wouldn't exactly call it a quality series this early on. Then again, Family Ties wasn't a runaway smash at first either. Family Ties was a quality show from the start, its first four episodes were easily better than this year's Michael J. Fox Show.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/nbc-ratings-all-time-thursday-low/

The Peacock's lineup last night finished in 7th place, behind TBS and Univision.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#2zxo1z8l0tqM6R8I.99

Family Ties was a quality show from the start, its first four episodes were easily better than this year's Michael J. Fox Show.
Family Ties wasn't bad, but it improved after the first season. The middle years were arguably the peak of quality and popularity. Hopefully his new show can grow.

NBC's ratings are horrible. I can see them getting rid of this entire lineup in the coming months.

They have 22 episodes of The Michael J. Fox Show so they've gotta do something with it. Same with Parks & Rec. The other two are likely goners.

I doubt they have enough alternative programming to scrap their Thursday lineup entirely.

My guess is that they will eventually schedule Parks with Community and Michael J. Fox will find its way behind The Voice.

I've had my fair share of shows I love that are low rated and ultimately cancelled. I'm getting tired of quality shows being so low rated though. I'm referring to "Parks & Recreation" since I haven't seen the other Thursday shows. It's a wonderful series and deserves higher ratings. At least it's got a good run in it so if this is the final season, it'll have plenty of episodes for reruns but it's still frustrating that's it's not more popular.

C'mon NBC hurry up and bring back "Community", too!

I do enjoy Parks and Recreation (I originally gave up after season four, but caught up with season five OnDemand) but let's be honest, the show should be cancelled. The ratings are not there and in the lead off spot it drags down the entire night.

Overall, I would say the late 80's and early 90's were easily the best time for Must See TV. They did well in the late 90's and early 00's as well, but the night as a whole was not as strong as the earlier years.

The lineup was never better than TCS, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court and Hill Street Blues.

Simple, their programming sucks! :barf:
CBS is bettter.

I miss Outsourced & Up All Night from the recent Thursday lineup. Welcome to the Family & The Michael J. Fox Show are alright, but the rest is crap. I can't believe Sean Saves the World was picked up in 2013...

I do enjoy Parks and Recreation (I originally gave up after season four, but caught up with season five OnDemand) but let's be honest, the show should be cancelled. The ratings are not there and in the lead off spot it drags down the entire night.

It's up against "The Big Bang Theory." No show right now can compete with "The Big Bang Theory." They need to air something at that time slot. Might as well be an already established and quality show like "Parks & Recreation." I'm sure a new show would just deliver worse ratings.

NBC should probably give up on Thursdays being a comedy night. Show some dramas and move comedies to another night. Maybe one year they can reclaim Thursdays as the #1 comedy night but now is not the time.

I guess I don't watch TV on Thursdays. I used to when Survivor was on Thursday, now it's on Wednesday. Well, I take that back. My mom watches Midsommer on PBS and I listen to it while on the Internet.

It's up against "The Big Bang Theory." No show right now can compete with "The Big Bang Theory." They need to air something at that time slot. Might as well be an already established and quality show like "Parks & Recreation." I'm sure a new show would just deliver worse ratings.

NBC should probably give up on Thursdays being a comedy night. Show some dramas and move comedies to another night. Maybe one year they can reclaim Thursdays as the #1 comedy night but now is not the time.
Exactly. If they had tried it at 9PM instead of 8, it probably would've been doing OK. Not great, but better than anything else in the line-up.

I agree that they should move comedy to another night, although they've tried comedy hours on both Tuesday and Wednesday and neither went all that well (though they're trying Tuesday again). I think Community and Parks could probably do OK in the Wednesday 8PM hour - Up All Night actually did pretty well there before they moved it to Thursday.

Geesh! I just realized that the article the OP linked to is 2 years old. I posted a comment on the webpage, then deleted it.

Geesh! I just realized that the article the OP linked to is 2 years old. I posted a comment on the webpage, then deleted it.
Well this thread is two years old too.

My reasons......

My opinion only, the shows offered on Thursday are garbage except for Parks and Recreation. Community must have some lyal cult following somewhere, i watched it twice amd that was it. The Michael J Fox show is also not very good.

30 years ago, there was the three networks, with no other competition besides some basic cable showing reruns and sports. No internet. The lineup of Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court and Hill Street Blues was just a classic. There was no AMC, no a lot of choices we have now. Also, if you missed an episode of a show, you waited until summer to see it again.

Even Parks, which I comsider the greatest small town sitcom since Andy Griffith is losing its luster. No Office too, which is a bummer. The Office was their best anchor show and it came in at what....40th in the ratings maybe? That's sad.

Also, i am picky. Mike and Molly, Parks, Modern Family and The Middle are to me, the only good sitcoms currently on.

The Office retired after last season. Also, have you ever tried watching The Big Bang Theory? Oh, that's right, Parks & Recreation airs up against BBT in th esame timeslot.