http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/fox-pulls-ben-and-kate-scraps-four-sitcom-tuesday-bloc-in-favor-of-hells-kitchen

With "Ben and Kate's" cancellation, Fox is hoping "Hell's Kitchen" can help out "New Girl" and "The Mindy Project."

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/fox-pulls-ben-and-kate-scraps-four-sitcom-tuesday-bloc-in-favor-of-hells-kitchen

With "Ben and Kate's" cancellation, Fox is hoping "Hell's Kitchen" can help out "New Girl" and "The Mindy Project."


Probably because of NBC at 9pm

Perhaps because these quirky single-camera comedies of today are too niche to pull mass audiences? ABC's The Middle and Modern Family are notable exceptions, but I imagine their family-centric premise and cast chemistry play an important role in their success.

ABC's and NBC's comedies on Tuesday night are failing miserably, too. Without "The Voice" lead-in NBC's "Go On" and "The New Normal" have lost 40-50% of their typical post-Voice audience and are now matching the ratings of FOX's "Ben & Kate" which just got pulled.

ABC's "Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23" (which also got pulled and is most certainly on the chopping block) had the lowest ratings of them all. "Happy Endings" did a little better than "Apt 23" (yet worse than FOX's "Ben & Kate"), but is still well below the ABC scripted average, so it's getting the burn-off treatment.

^I agree with what you said about the niche sitcoms. They only cater to a certain audience. The 18-24 college crowd, mostly the ones that are white, liberal and upper middle class, who live in the big city. Friends started this horrible trend. But, it least it was somewhat funny.

I find each batch of these new sitcoms more boring and less funny as the years move on.

Sitcoms have blown since the late 90s.

Yes, most of them do seem to cater to such audiences plus reflect what people in Hollywood themselves might enjoy watching.

Though - to be fair - some CBS comedies like "How I Met Your Mother" and "2 Broke Girls" also focus on the same audience, but their ratings are double (or now almost triple) than the ratings of, say, NBC's "Go On." In which case, I think the old-fashioned multi-camera format might be making them more appealing.

I wish we could see more characters along the lines of Sheriff Andy Taylor, Hazel or Rob and Laura Petrie today.

I'm more of a 70s/80s sitcom fan. But, it would be nice to go back to the olden type comedies for awhile.

I was having a blast watching a Diff'rent Strokes marathon last night.

That's another thing from the past that is gone now. Catch phrases like "Whatchu Talkin' about Willis?" the only recent catch phrase I know of is "And, that's what she said" from The Office.

I would think Barney Stinson's ["How I Met Your Mother"]: "legen-wait for it-dary" also qualifies as a popular catchphrase.

As for FOX, I think "New Girl" and "Raising Hope" will be coming back next fall for sure, but the jury is still out on "The Mindy Project" or the 4-comedy block.

i watched 3 out of the 4 comedies on fox and while i liked ben and kate it was the comedy that i laughed the least at whereas new girl and raising hope i find laugh out loud funny ben and kate was not bad but very weak in spots i have only watcherd one ep of the mindy project i enjoyed it but not enough to quit watching the new normal on nbc

That's another thing from the past that is gone now. Catch phrases like "Whatchu Talkin' about Willis?" the only recent catch phrase I know of is "And, that's what she said" from The Office.

There's "Bazinga" from The Big Bang Theory. But yeah, catch phrases are gone for the most part.

This block not working out had nothing to do with how supposedly "niche" these shows were. 'New Girl' wasn't stable enough to anchor a block, and 'Raising Hope' wasn't successful enough to start off the night.

And I think a lot of people confuse "niche" with intelligent programming. Apparently, America isn't smart enough to understand the humor in many of these programs, and it's sad.

The only one of those sitcoms that I like is Raising Hope. The rest aren't funny. It's as plain as that.

And I think a lot of people confuse "niche" with intelligent programming. Apparently, America isn't smart enough to understand the humor in many of these programs, and it's sad.:rolleyes: That type of elitist attitude is what causes people to stay away from certain shows. You may think it's intelligent but that does not make it a fact, nor does it make America dumb... :nonono:

:rolleyes: That type of elitist attitude is what causes people to stay away from certain shows. You may think it's intelligent but that does not make it a fact, nor does it make America dumb... :nonono:
Exactly!

"Intelligent" is in the... ear of the beholder.

:rolleyes: That type of elitist attitude is what causes people to stay away from certain shows. You may think it's intelligent but that does not make it a fact, nor does it make America dumb... :nonono:

People don't see promos for "Community" or "Louie" or "New Girl" and say, "Wow, their fan base must be elitist, I'm not watching!"

And I'm not referring to all of America. How can I? It's only Nielsen viewers who effect ratings. There are millions of Americans out there who aren't counted watching these shows.

People don't see promos for "Community" or "Louie" or "New Girl" and say, "Wow, their fan base must be elitist, I'm not watching!"

And I'm not referring to all of America. How can I? It's only Nielsen viewers who effect ratings. There are millions of Americans out there who aren't counted watching these shows.


That's the truth, there is never a real honest evaluation of how appealing a TV show is on network TV

People don't see promos for "Community" or "Louie" or "New Girl" and say, "Wow, their fan base must be elitist, I'm not watching!"

And I'm not referring to all of America. How can I? It's only Nielsen viewers who effect ratings. There are millions of Americans out there who aren't counted watching these shows.
There are millions of people out there watching all kinds of shows that aren't counted....not just the so called smart shows. Just because a fanbase thinks their show is smart doesn't make it so. It's just an opinion.

I'm so tired of every failed comedy being labeled "too niche" i.e. single camera. You don't see "mass appeal" shows with multi cams thriving on any network except CBS which has been strong in that area for forever.

The reality is, like what was already said, New Girl wasn't ready to be an anchor and "Raising Hope" wasn't strong enough to lead off. Add in the fact that the new shows couldn't find an audience and that'll do it.

Additionally, a show like New Girl is INCREDIBLY young skewing... more than almost any show. A show like that has an audience that probably doesn't watch it on Tuesday nights at 9. It probably suffers more than most from time shifted viewing, online viewing (legal and illegal), etc.

ALSO, FOX has historically had trouble with live action sitcoms so it's not shocking that they haven't succeeded here.

There are niche shows out there - Community comes to mind - but I don't think these FOX sitcoms except maybe The Mindy Project are the classic "niche" appeal. They could be broadly appealing but they haven't worked for variety of reasons. I bet you half the posters on this thread if not more have not watched one episode of these sitcoms.

I'm so tired of every failed comedy being labeled "too niche" i.e. single camera. You don't see "mass appeal" shows with multi cams thriving on any network except CBS which has been strong in that area for forever.

The reality is, like what was already said, New Girl wasn't ready to be an anchor and "Raising Hope" wasn't strong enough to lead off. Add in the fact that the new shows couldn't find an audience and that'll do it.

Additionally, a show like New Girl is INCREDIBLY young skewing... more than almost any show. A show like that has an audience that probably doesn't watch it on Tuesday nights at 9. It probably suffers more than most from time shifted viewing, online viewing (legal and illegal), etc.

ALSO, FOX has historically had trouble with live action sitcoms so it's not shocking that they haven't succeeded here.

There are niche shows out there - Community comes to mind - but I don't think these FOX sitcoms except maybe The Mindy Project are the classic "niche" appeal. They could be broadly appealing but they haven't worked for variety of reasons. I bet you half the posters on this thread if not more have not watched one episode of these sitcoms.
I watched practically all of the first season of New Girl. I wanted to like it. It just wasn't funny and that's what I want in a comedy. I do like Raising Hope. The other two Fox sitcoms, I only watched one episode but that was enough. I've watched plenty of NBC's niche sitcoms. Some are mildly entertaining...some are just awful. But that's JMO.

I watched practically all of the first season of New Girl. I wanted to like it. It just wasn't funny and that's what I want in a comedy. I do like Raising Hope. The other two Fox sitcoms, I only watched one episode but that was enough. I've watched plenty of NBC's niche sitcoms. Some are mildly entertaining...some are just awful. But that's JMO.

Totally agree with you, Ben & Kate and The Mindy Project have very few laugh out loud moments. New Girl does a little better but Raising Hope beats them all. That show always makes me laugh and that's what you want when you're watching a comedy.

because the millennials don't sit in front of a tv at a set time to watch their favorite program. It is really as simple as that.

Moreover, the Nielsen rating system is outdated.

Quite simple: they aren't funny.

Quite simple: they aren't funny.

OPINION.

OPINION.
Based off ratings, it appears that most viewers agree with me.

Besides Big Bang Theory, I don't watch any other current comedy, nor do I find them funny. I liked Last Man Standing last year but after a few episodes this year, I gave up on it. For whatever reason, they turned it into a bad All in the Family ripoff.

Based off ratings, it appears that most viewers agree with me.

You're ignoring the fact that MOST viewers aren't counted. Young viewers aren't watching shows live anymore. Appointment television is mostly dead.

Appointment television is mostly dead.

:rip:

You're ignoring the fact that MOST viewers aren't counted. Young viewers aren't watching shows live anymore. Appointment television is mostly dead.
And that is why I don't feel sorry for the networks. They only care about the young viewers and they are the ones that aren't watching much live tv.

And that is why I don't feel sorry for the networks. They only care about the young viewers and they are the ones that aren't watching much live tv.


but they're the ones advertisers want based on outdated research

but they're the ones advertisers want based on outdated research
and that's why I don't feel sorry for the advertisers either. They better find another way. I rarely watch anything live anymore. Most is from the DVR where I skim pass the ads. I know I'm not the only one. And since I'll be out of the demographic in 3 years, I don't care about them.

They better find another way. Most is from the DVR where I skim pass the ads. I know I'm not the only one.
And I think that is why product placement has become more common. Anyone remember the episode of Modern Family which seemed like an infomercial for the Apple iPad? As DVR's increase, I think more and more of this will happen.

and that's why I don't feel sorry for the advertisers either. They better find another way. I rarely watch anything live anymore. Most is from the DVR where I skim pass the ads. I know I'm not the only one. And since I'll be out of the demographic in 3 years, I don't care about them.

you're stealing TV since you skim past the ads :lol:

you're stealing TV since you skim past the ads :lol:

That would only be true if he were a Nielsen viewer.

you're stealing TV since you skim past the ads :lol:
Yea just like how I always turned the channel or left the room before I had a DVR. They aren't going to make me watch their commercials no matter how hard they try. :lol: