Frasier W. Crane
05-12-2003, 09:08 PM
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - NBC has confirmed what's been suspected for some time -- that next season will "in all likelihood" be the last for "Frasier."
Those were the words Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, used Monday (May 12) in announcing the network's lineup for the 2003-04 season. To help ensure it goes out strong, NBC and producer Paramount have welcomed back Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd, writers and producers on the show during its Emmy-winning heyday.
Keenan and Lloyd were away from the show last year, when they served as executive producers of CBS' short-lived "Bram and Alice." Their return is part of Zucker's mission to fix NBC's Tuesday-night schedule, which was the network's biggest weakness this season.
Owing in large part to bad lead-ins, "Frasier" is drawing an average of 2 million viewers under what it did last season; it's also dropped about 20 percent in ratings among adults 18-49, the demographic advertisers crave.
The show "operated as an island on the entire night" this season, Zucker says. "That wasn't fair to that show. We now think we've put [two comedies] in front of it that are much stronger and will really reinvigorate 'Frasier.' "
Those two shows are "Whoopi" -- which stars Whoopi Goldberg and will be co-run by Larry Wilmore, creator of "The Bernie Mac Show" -- and "Happy Family," starring Emmy winners John Larroquette and Christine Baranski as would-be empty-nesters whose grown children keep moving back home.
Wilmore signed a deal with NBC shortly after being let go from "Bernie Mac" earlier in the season.
Additionally, NBC is moving "Law & Order: SVU," a top-20 show, to 10 p.m. Tuesdays. The series replaces "Dateline NBC," which is being scaled back to two nights a week; "Boomtown" is moving into "SVU's" 10 p.m. Friday spot.
Those were the words Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, used Monday (May 12) in announcing the network's lineup for the 2003-04 season. To help ensure it goes out strong, NBC and producer Paramount have welcomed back Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd, writers and producers on the show during its Emmy-winning heyday.
Keenan and Lloyd were away from the show last year, when they served as executive producers of CBS' short-lived "Bram and Alice." Their return is part of Zucker's mission to fix NBC's Tuesday-night schedule, which was the network's biggest weakness this season.
Owing in large part to bad lead-ins, "Frasier" is drawing an average of 2 million viewers under what it did last season; it's also dropped about 20 percent in ratings among adults 18-49, the demographic advertisers crave.
The show "operated as an island on the entire night" this season, Zucker says. "That wasn't fair to that show. We now think we've put [two comedies] in front of it that are much stronger and will really reinvigorate 'Frasier.' "
Those two shows are "Whoopi" -- which stars Whoopi Goldberg and will be co-run by Larry Wilmore, creator of "The Bernie Mac Show" -- and "Happy Family," starring Emmy winners John Larroquette and Christine Baranski as would-be empty-nesters whose grown children keep moving back home.
Wilmore signed a deal with NBC shortly after being let go from "Bernie Mac" earlier in the season.
Additionally, NBC is moving "Law & Order: SVU," a top-20 show, to 10 p.m. Tuesdays. The series replaces "Dateline NBC," which is being scaled back to two nights a week; "Boomtown" is moving into "SVU's" 10 p.m. Friday spot.