Been catching up on emails this week and I happened to see a story from TelevisionWeek that NBC has ordered additional episodes of The Marriage Ref, Who Do You Think You Are? and Minute to Win It.
And I just had to think to myself... Huh?
Is anybody really watching these shows? I’m serious. I can’t believe they have any kind of a significant audience. At least not enough to warrant making more episodes. As my wife Cindy often says when we see a promo for some silly television series, “Who watches these?”
Because of the Jerry Seinfeld connection (he’s an Executive Producer of the show), it’s hard not to know about The Marriage Ref. It received tons of press and NBC promoted the hell out of it during its Olympic coverage. If you haven’t heard of the other two, don’t feel too bad. Not many people have. I stumbled onto Who Do You Think You Are? while reading Entertainment Weekly, and just assumed it was one of those obscure cable shows that come and go with alarming frequency. I don’t even think I knew about Minute to Win It until I read the TelevisionWeek story.
I haven’t watched any of these. From what I know of them, I have no interest in doing so. As I understand, The Marriage Ref assembles a panel of celebrities who offer marriage advice to couples having problems... hilarity ensues. Minute to Win It appears to be a game show where contestants have to do challenging stunts within a certain time frame. I remember that show as a kid. It was called Beat the Clock. In Who Do You Think You Are?, celebrities trace their ancestry. Forgive me if I’m not on the edge of my seat!
Can Celebrity Naval Gazing be far behind?
Friday, April 16, 2010
Now, I can’t blame NBC for throwing these shows on the air. When the network dumped Conan and moved Jay back to late night, it had to fill five hours of primetime programming in a hurry. Obviously, panic programming raged. And in the case of The Marriage Ref, it makes sense for The Peacock to get on Jerry’s good side. Who knows? Maybe he’ll actually come to them with a decent idea at some point.
Instead, I’m perplexed about the decision to order more episodes. Is this really what the network that gave us ER, Friends, Frasier, The Cosby Show, L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues, West Wing and, yes, Seinfeld, aspires to these days? What happened to “Must See TV”?
The only NBC show I’d currently put in this category is 30 Rock. I also enjoy Law and Order and Law and Order: SVU. They’re well written and never disappoint. But they are the kind of shows that don’t have to be watched immediately. It’s no big deal if you miss one. So, if there’s something else on, we’ll often opt for that. And when there’s nothing else on, there always seems to be a Law and Order to watch. And it appears there’s no danger of them going away. NBC wants to keep the franchise going and Dick Wolf happy. Case in point -- it just announced plans for a new Law and Order series to be set in Los Angeles.
According to NBC, the network is satisfied with the ratings for the trio of reality shows it just renewed. Yet a quick check at tvbythenumbers.com shows that, on average, only one NBC show makes the weekly top 25. And as long as it is banking its viewership on Who Do You Think You Are?, Minute to Win It and The Marriage Ref, my guess is that’s not going to change any time soon.
Who Do You Think You Are?
Minute to Win It
