Dear ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox (sorry CW, but I think you’re imaginary),
You develop wonderful pilots every day. Some of these pilots get approval and are aired on your respective networks. Granted, a few of them aren’t very good, but most of them are pretty entertaining. However, you usually premiere a show and then move it to another time slot on another day. Or, you air an episode and decide to take a winter hiatus. When you look at the numbers a week later, you decide–in your infinite wisdom–that the show should be canceled. STOP doing that!
You need to give TV shows a chance to gain an audience and a consistent following. Airing one episode one week at one time and airing the next one a few weeks later at a different time slot on another day isn’t working. I propose giving all new shows a 6-episode trial run. If at the end of those 6 episodes the show hasn’t developed a following, by all means cancel it. But throwing shows all over your networks and hoping that something sticks is like throwing spaghetti against the wall.
You want to know why your little brothers and sisters like USA, FX, and A&E are doing so much better than you in many respects? They actually give their shows a chance. Granted, their numbers aren’t as high, but they’re starting to bring in the advertisers and slowly chip away at your market share.
Based on just the first episode, I know that I wouldn’t have wanted to see shows like the Simpsons or Seinfeld ever again. Good thing your older counterparts actually knew what they were doing 10, 20 years ago.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
[…] This is not a new trend. I stick by what I said before–shows should be given 6 episodes on the same day, the same network, and at the same time. If after that trial period the ratings are still bad, then cancel the show. But otherwise, let the audience watch the show and grow to like or dislike it. It’s stupid to spend all this money and not give a show any chance. If someone had to determine what type of person I was based on just one day in my life, I’m not sure if I would like my chances. We all have bad days. Of course, Quarterlife’s first episode happened to be a great one–meaning that everyone else was just having a bad day. […]