Robert and I are contacted from time to time by reporters looking for TV ratings data for a story they're writing. Often it seems like they're bent on writing the story the way they want to write it, whether or not the data fits.
While we weren't contacted about it, today's story in the NY Times by Stuart Elliot, "10 New Sitcoms Meant to Cure the Recession Blues" has the feel of a story being written to fit the idea of "comedy is big during a recession" whether it actually fits the current facts or not.
As the big broadcast networks get ready to start selling advertisers commercial time for the coming season, they are hoping for an affirmative answer to this question: Is there money in funny?
The prime-time lineups for 2009-10, which the broadcasters presented to Madison Avenue last week, are chockablock with shows meant to make recession-weary viewers laugh and feel better.
Problem is, the reality of the fall broadcast comedy schedules don't really fit that story.
The CW is abandoning its two remaining comedies, The Game and Everybody Hates Chris. Recession scrooges? Hardly. They just don't fit the demographic the network's after, but that doesn't write a "comedy in a recession" story.
CBS is adding the Jenna Elfman vehicle Accidentally on Purpose, but they've cancelled Worst Week, for no net comedy addition. Les Moonves, think of the unemployed, where will they find cheer?
Fox is also maintaining the comedy status quo, canceling King of the Hill and Do Not Disturb while adding The Cleveland Show and Brothers. Does Rupert Murdoch not want people to laugh when their houses go into foreclosure?
NBC is also keeping its number of half hour comedies constant. And while it is adding 5 hours of The Jay Leno Show in prime-time, the history of the show (created to keep Jay away from the competition at 11:35, as well as a money saving schedule buffer for NBC) makes arguing that it's some sort of recession inspired move just silly.
Finally, ABC is the only broadcaster adding net comedies, canceling one, while picking up 4. Could that be a recession inspired move? Perhaps. Or it could be the recognition of (1) the cost of producing comedies vs. dramas and their value in syndication, or (2) a strategy change after ABC's drama devastation from last fall (Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Life on Mars).
Given those facts what story would you write?
Don’t forget the CW abandoning its hour long comedy Reaper!
THE CW IS A COMEDY IN IT SELF, SIMPLY THEIR EXISTENCE
I would argue that NBC isn’t adding any comedy, seeing as how Jay Leno is totally bland and unfunny.
Well, given the facts above, the article is wrong even if you drop the recession concept, since only ABC is adding net comedies. Picking one network out of the five to support an article about comedies being added for any reason would be incorrect.
No surprise. This is the New York Times. They had Bill Kristol on their op-ed page. They were totally wrong about Saddam’s WMDs courtesy of Judith Miller. Who expects that paper to get anything right?
I always considered Pushing Daisies a comedy…..
Good job by you guys. What an embarrassing, asinine story.
I’m actually a big fan and defender of the NY Times, but their m.o. lately has been: link absolutely everything to the recession; if the hard facts don’t back it up, use anecdotal evidence, or none at all.
What’s the one genre of TV programming that has indisputably thrived during the recession? 24-hour news. Does that suggest an audience looking for escapism? Of course not, but why muddy up your assertions with facts?
Actually, ABC cancelled two comedies this year. I know it is easy to overlook but According to Jim got the axe in addition to Samantha Who? So ABC is actually only adding 2 comedies, not 3.
Trent, the comparison is fall to fall. According to Jim was not on the schedule until later in the season.
The problem is bigger than a lack of data, the narrative the story is mapped onto is hackneyed at best – a theory of strong media effects as well as a coordinated effort between media companies are a non-starter from the start.
Sounds like a throwaway article rather than a serious analysis by the NYT, not that their serious analysises are any better, as RSH points out.
I’m sure there’s a greater demand for escapism when the world outside gets awful. But that just means viewing figures of virtually all non-reality content would go up, not that the networks would change their available content.
squiggleslash, the basic idea of the post makes “common” sense, which is likely why it was written, but the facts just don’t support it.
And I only compared fall to fall, because next spring’s schedules are guesses, at best.
Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, Fringe, NCIS… all top rated shows. NONE are comedies.
Well, I thought the idea of the post was that the networks are deliberately adding comedies, and also doing so at the expense of other genres. I may be misreading it all though.
As I told Nick C, I’d probably make a worse scheduler than Dawn Ostroff. He doesn’t believe me though. Coming up on STV: “Choose My Shirt!”, the new reality show where someone with poor taste in shirts has one chosen for them by the audience. At 9, Dollchuck, our new hilarious and disconcerting cost saving combined show involving reprogrammed people. And then at 10, taking you into the night, six hours of Leno!
You know, Nick C’s probably still right.
What happened to Jiggle TV? We don’t need more lame comedies to laugh away our dwindling 401K reports. We need a new set of Landers sisters to come up with lame excuses to stick them in a bikini.
There does need to be more anger about CBS moving Big Bang Theory to 9:30 p.m. on Mondays. Sheldon is becoming a sensation amongst small kids. They’re burning an icon for the sake of promoting another lame Jenna Elfman sitcom – Knocked Up Jr. And judging from the previews – she’s not in a bikini.
Looking at Fox and I see it’s all very formulaic, except for maybe Glee. It tells me that they aren’t taking very many risks due to the recession.
It seems that this article is focused on the sitcom rather than other forms of Comedy, such as the Dramety.
Others like NCIS, Bones, and Castle have comedic elements.
Don, but even including “dramedy” shows my point holds, there is no big incremental addition for next fall. About as many dramedies are being cancelled as are being picked up.
I think Ugly Betty will change Fridays!