The Rise and Fall of the NBC "Empire"

[DianeChambers87]

Thursday night dead?
End of Friends also end of `Must See TV' formula

Four sitcoms plus one drama ruled NBC Thursdays


DOUG CUDMORE
TORONTO STAR

Like the great empires of the past, it was golden in its prime, but it was doomed to fail. As the years piled up, there was too much going against this glorious institution — incompetence, laziness, the rapaciousness of its enemies. And so, at last, it crumbled.

I'm talking, of course, about NBC's Thursday-night prime-time lineup.

It was 20 years ago this fall that the U.S. network launched its classic four-top-sitcoms-and-a-drama format. Fuelled by a desire to dominate the night (and, eventually, attract the young Thursday-night viewers that movie advertisers crave), they came up with a classic night of TV — The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court and Hill Street Blues. Since then, the format, and the entertainment, have been a hit, more or less.

Until this year, that is. After two decades, the network has finally been forced to throw Thursday night into upheaval. Sitcoms have been supersized, an hour of The Apprentice's reality TV has been added at 9 p.m., and the night's only real remaining anchor, Friends, is set to go off the air on May 6.

We are witnessing the very decline and fall of the Must-See TV Empire...


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THE GOLDEN AGE (1984-1991)

NBC ruled the air, led by a comedian in baggy sweaters...

The Cosby Show: 8 p.m., 1984-1992. Stars: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad. A monster — America's top-rated show for a while. The perfect 8 p.m. family-friendly kick-off.

Family Ties: 8:30 p.m., 1984-1987. Stars: Michael J. Fox, Meredith Baxter Birney. The show moved in behind The Cos, shot to No.2, and made Fox one of the biggest stars of the '80s. Reached 8:30 glory that would rarely be recaptured.

Cheers: 9 p.m., 1982-1993. Stars: Ted Danson, Shelley Long. With Cosby, Cheers formed the 8-9 pillars that held Thursday night for so long (they'd later be replaced by Friends and Seinfeld). In the ratings Top 5 from 1985 to 1992.

Night Court: 9:30 p.m., 1984-1988. Stars: Harry Anderson, John Larroquette. The (never subtle) hilarity at a New York night court made for the only long-term 9:30 show. Seedy, but reached no.7.

A Different World: 8:30 p.m., 1987-1992; 8 p.m., 1992 to 1993. Stars: Lisa Bonet, Kadeem Hardison. A hit (it reached no.2), and Cosby got a wholesome follow-up with one of only two Thursday night spin-offs (with Frasier). Still, broke the initial Thursday-night karma.

Dear John: 9:30 p.m., 1988-1990. Stars: Judd Hirsch, Jere Burns. "Wacky" singles meet at a divorce-survivors support group, in this stopgap for that troubling 9:30 slot.

Grand: 9:30 p.m., 1990. Stars: Bonnie Hunt, Michael McKean. Do soap opera spoofs ever work? This one never made it out of 1990.


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THE AGE OF TRANSFORMATION (1991-1995)

The legends of the past were fading and soon would die. The world was thrown into disarray. What would become of Thursday?

Wings: A midseason replacement in 1990. Ran 9:30 p.m., 1991-1993, and 8:30 p.m., 1993-1994. Stars: Timothy Daly, Steven Weber. Call it Cheers, except it's at an airport in Nantucket, and it's not so funny. But it did have Lowell. The last of the semi-regular 9:30 shows.

Rhythm & Blues: 8:30 p.m., 1992-1993. Stars: Ron Glass, Chris Babers. A white DJ is accidentally hired by a black radio station. Was quickly replaced by a new show — Seinfeld.

Mad About You: 8 p.m., 1993-1995. Stars: Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt. After Cosby and before Friends, Reiser owned the coveted Thursday-night kick-off spot, then was bitterly booted off to Sunday. But Hunt was queen of the world for a while.

Seinfeld: After a brief midseason stint, it went to Wednesdays, then ruled 9 p.m. Thursdays from 1993 to 1998. Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Regarded by many as the best sitcom ever, it was, like Cheers, a classic that started off with poor ratings, but became a monster. Kept 9 p.m. golden.

Frasier: 9:30 from 1993-1994, then returned to take over Seinfeld's old time, 1998 to 2000. Stars: Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce. Emmys: Plenty. Respect: None, as it was bounced around between Thursday and its current home, Tuesday.

Friends: 8:30 p.m., 1993-1994. 8 p.m., 1994 to present. Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox. Not a critical darling, but a top-five hit. Kicked off the wave of young, good-looking, singles sitcoms.

Madman Of The People: 9:30 p.m., part of the 1994 season. Star: Dabney Coleman, who played a crotchety magazine columnist who battled his new boss — his daughter! Dabney Coleman ... the Robert Urich of sitcoms?

Hope & Gloria: Spring 1995. Stars: Cynthia Stevenson and Jessica Lundy. Two mismatched single female pals — one perky, one tough — share life's ups and downs. Mostly downs.


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THE YOUNG, URBAN, SINGLE YEARS (1995-1997)

With Friends and Seinfeld holding the night, who cared if there was nothing to watch at 8:30 or 9:30? Just set everything in New York...

The Single Guy: 8:30 p.m., on and off, 1995 to 1997. Stars: Jonathan Silverman, Ming-Na. Not horrid, but began a series of not-so-entertaining 8:30 shows.

Caroline In The City: 9:30 p.m., 1995-96. Somebody thought Lea Thompson should have a 9:30 sitcom. A New York single, Caroline drew a Cathy-like cartoon.

Suddenly Susan: 9:30 p.m., 1996-1998. Somebody thought Brooke Shields should have a 9:30 sitcom. Another young single — but in San Francisco! — Susan "worked" for an indie magazine.

Fired Up: 8:30 p.m., 1997. Stars: Sharon Lawrence and Leah Remini. A high-maintenance executive (in New York) and her assistant are both laid off and start a business as partners. Can they both survive? Not for long.


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THE FALL (1998-2004)

Viewers began to find better things to do than watch poor shows, as old favourites prepared to go off the air. And the competition heats up...

Union Square: 8:30, 1997-1998. Stars: Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter, Christine Burke. A group of people ... really, NBC thought they could put almost anything on at 8:30 and people would watch. Oops.

Veronica's Closet: 9:30 p.m., 1997 to 1999. Stars: Kirstie Alley, Kathy Najimy. Somebody thought Kirstie Alley should have a 9:30 sitcom, set at a lingerie-empire office.

Just Shoot Me: Replaced Union Square in 1998. Also ran at 9:30, 2000-01. Stars: Laura San Giacomo, David Spade. A brief respite from dreadful 9:30 sitcoms, if only thanks to Spade.

Jesse: 8:30 p.m., 1998-2000. Stars: Christina Applegate, Bruno Campos. Two sitcoms in one. In season one, Jesse works at a bar. In season two, she's at a hospital. NBC did the incredible: It made Christina Applegate not funny. Twice.

Will & Grace: A mid-season show in 1999, it still runs at 9 p.m. Stars: Eric McCormack, Debra Messing. Gay finally went mainstream and, while this wasn't quite Cheers or Seinfeld, it was funny for a while.

Stark Raving Mad: Part of the 1999-2000 season, at 9:30 p.m. Stars: Neal Patrick Harris, Tony Shalhoub. Remember this one? Me neither.

Cursed (aka The Weber Show): 8:30 p.m., 2000-01. Stars: Steven Weber, Chris Elliott (always a bad sign). The pilot featured Weber receiving a horrible spell that would follow him through the series. By the next episode, the curse was gone. Soon the show was, too.

Inside Schwartz: 8:30 p.m., fall 2001 Stars: Breckin Meyer, Maggie Lawson. Gee, there seems to be a lot of short-lived series here...

Scrubs: 8:30 or 9:30 since 2002. Stars: Zach Braff, John C. McGinley. The single-camera, laugh-track-free genre finally comes to Thursday. Is it too late?

Good Morning, Miami: 2002-2003 at 9:30 p.m. Stars: Mark Feuerstein, Ashley Williams. An implausible plot. Wacky characters. Painful.

Coupling: Hyped show lasted four episodes at 9:30 last fall. Stars: It doesn't really matter. The empire is dead.

[*GoodMorningCalgary*]

Scrubs should have stayed on Thursdays after Friends if ya ask me....Theyre all a bunch of Idiots at NBC

[FamilyTiesGOP]

I think we are definately seeing the end of NBC's dominance for awhile. I know that I don't watch anything but Whoopi that NBC puts out. It really makes me sick to know what Must See TV used to be like and to see what has happened since...

I really think that CBS is set to be the new dominant network with all of its dramas and sitcoms (especially Monday night).

[Miss Golden]

I hope Will and Grace moves to Frasier's old Tuesday 9PM timeslot in the Fall of 2004, it deserves better than the 8:30 Thursday slot, since the Apprentice looks to have secured the long running Cheers/Seinfeld slot.

[dawsongirl]

Good. Must See TV is on CBS Thursdays now anyway.

[treky]

the only things I watch anymore on NBC are "Frasier" & "Friends". I agree, I think they are losing their touch, and CBS is becoming the new ratings champ with "Everybody Loves Raymond" "Two and a Half Men" & "The King of Queens".

[Ant-Lox]

Nbc should re-air Seinfeld at it's regular time, it will draw ratings.

[barwars]

Originally posted by Ant-Lox
Nbc should re-air Seinfeld at it's regular time, it will draw ratings.

Its better than everything they air now (with the exception of Frasier)




Well now that I know that a Frasier spinoff is not coming....
the only show Ill watch on NBC come next fall is SNL.

[Ant-Lox]

Originally posted by barwars88
Its better than everything they air now (with the exception of Frasier)




Well now that I know that a Frasier spinoff is not coming....
the only show Ill watch on NBC come next fall is SNL.

A Fraiser Spinoff would have been a good idea, since Fraiser spun-off from cheers it could keep that whole Cheers world alive, but It has to end somewhere.

[DianeChambers87]

Originally posted by Ant-Lox
A Fraiser Spinoff would have been a good idea, since Fraiser spun-off from cheers it could keep that whole Cheers world alive, but It has to end somewhere.

Do they have to end it? C'mon its' a 22 year legacy....why not make it....25? or 50 ...i know that will never happen ...but a fan can dream....

Now all is left is the hopes of a reunion movie....

[jamesanthony]

In terms of an empire CBS has had a long long long history of Monday night comedies that have been marketed more towards women than men. They've been counterprogramming against Monday night football even before Monday night Football. All of Lucy's shows were Monday night shows and shows like Family Affair, Andy Griffith, Danny Thomas, Kate and Allie, Murphy Brown, Designing Women and Raymond were Monday night staples. I can't think of any other night of viewing that has stayed so relatively consistent in terms of the demographic targeted. They also usually capped off the night with a "quality" melodrama like Cagney and Lacey or Lou Grant. the type of show that gets lots of emmy nominations.

[FamilyTiesGOP]

Originally posted by DianeChambers87
Do they have to end it? C'mon its' a 22 year legacy....why not make it....25? or 50 ...i know that will never happen ...but a fan can dream....

Now all is left is the hopes of a reunion movie....

Has there ever been a fictional character that has been active on television as long as Frasier Crane?

[Mr. Television]

Originally posted by FamilyTiesGOP
Has there ever been a fictional character that has been active on television as long as Frasier Crane?

Janes Arness as Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke is the only one. He played the part for 20 years too.

[spunkygirl]

Originally posted by DianeChambers87
Do they have to end it? C'mon its' a 22 year legacy....why not make it....25? or 50 ...i know that will never happen ...but a fan can dream....

Now all is left is the hopes of a reunion movie....

There's also too much of a good thing, for example Star Trek: Enterprise, this show will probably be the last of the Star Trek Saga, why not let Frasier be the last, and drag down the legacy with a show that could bring it down?

[spunkygirl]

Originally posted by FamilyTiesGOP
Has there ever been a fictional character that has been active on television as long as Frasier Crane?

If you count Soap Operas there is