Community, the tv show

Without having to launch these comedies on Friday at this time, we can keep our promotion focused on earlier in the week

NBC was actually going to promote Community? By running an ad or two on their own network?

Which is probably the biggest mistake Harmon made. He should've just done whatever was possible to fly under the radar.

Sony fired him, not NBC

it cracks me up when people talk like NBC will rue the day they messed with Community. NBC fucks up all the time -- if they go down the tubes it won't be because of any one decision, and certainly not because they didn't try harder to treat one low-rated comedy well and keep it on the air as long as possible.

Yeah, how they handled Community is nowhere near the biggest of their fuck ups.

30 Rock was a living memorial to their neverending stream of mistakes

i'm not really suggesting nbc will survive or collapse entirely depending on the fate of this one show. but on the other hand, seinfield didn't have great ratings to begin with, it was kind of an underground, bubbling-under-kind-of-show for a few seasons at first, and wasn't until, what, the 3rd or 4th season, that it really became a ratings blockbuster, right?

maybe if nbc actually let their critically-acclaimed, rabidly-fanbased underground hit develop naturally, with a bit of love and support from it's parent company, instead of seemingly trying to fuck it up, firing the creator, not premiering it on schedule, etc maybe they'd eventually have a hit on their hands?

don't tell me larry david got along with his corporate overlords any better than dan harmon

I think Harmon was ditched by Sony, not NBC.

seinfield didn't have great ratings to begin with, it was kind of an underground, bubbling-under-kind-of-show for a few seasons at first, and wasn't until, what, the 3rd or 4th season, that it really became a ratings blockbuster, right?

Seinfeld, Cheers, probably a number of other shows that went on to be at least moderately successful. But that's not how NBC operates anymore. Doesn't fit the "tankin' it" model.

if Seinfeld's ratings were as bad at the end of season 2 or season 3 as Community's were (and they weren't going up instead of going down like Community's), that show would've been canceled or had some of its creative team fired too. Community got a pretty fuckin' sweet deal doing 70 episodes more or less the way they and their (very small) audience wanted them done.

I know we've had this discussion before, but you really can't compare ratings today to ratings twenty+ years ago. The fact that any show with Community's ratings would've been canceled in '92 isn't really germane. It's a whole different ballgame now (which NBC and, tbf, the other networks) don't seem to fully comprehend. Almost everyone I know who's around my age watches those super low-rated Thursday night shows, so I have to assume there's something amiss in the data.

we're likely in the wrong demographic. i mean, i don't know any people who watch new episodes of Two and Half Men or The Voice either

fwiw i was going on ranking, not audience #s. Seinfeld was ranked the 42nd most watched primetime show in its 3rd season, which was its highest rank at that point and it kept climbing from there. Community was #97 in its first season and kept dropping lower from there.

Community had a really solid 1.7 rating at 8pm. It was interesting that the normally higher-rated 30 Rock absolutely tanked in that time slot, with 1.3 iirc. 1.7/1.8 is *not* a good number, and that show wouldn't last more than a season on any other network. I don't begrudge NBC for moving away from these critically-acclaimed, rabid fanbase shows if they can't find a larger audience. I just hope that doesn't mean sacrificing quality, even though I know somewhere inside that it probably does.

optimistically speaking, we could get some Modern Familys out of this (a good sitcom that's also high rated), but truthfully it's way more likely we'll get more Daddios

As someone who doesn't like Modern Family, I hope not.

Cosign. Not that I think it's bad, but if ever there was an overpraised show...

fair enough, but can you give me an example of a currently high-rated sitcom that is good? and god help you if you say Big Bang Theory lol

i guess i could sneak HIMYM in that category, but i'm not sure it's that good or high-rated at this point

I didn't "get" Modern Family until the episode when Phil got that super-unfortunate ad silkscreened onto their minivan

I don't dislike Modern Family, I just never find myself wanting to watch it.

Modern Family isn't the best sitcom, but its decent enough, and Ty Burrell is a brilliant physical comedian. He's up there with Chris Pratt.

Wasn't last season HIMYM's highest season, ratings-wise? I'd say it counts. And yeah, it's spinning its wheels a bit, but it's still surprisingly enjoyable for a sitcom in its seventh season. That said, I don't think it should be used as a model for other shows, as its success (imo) lies in the writing and the ensemble and the formal experimentation. In other hands, it'd probably be just another shitty multicamera sitcom.

HIMYM is pretty bad at this point, and has been for a while. Modern Family has its moments, and Ty Burrell is very good, but it hasn't been as funny as it was in its first season and even then it relied on way too many stock sitcom tropes. It probably is the best of the high-rated sitcoms, though, and that's the problem.

lol I have never liked HIMYM

Aside from Happy Endings, ABC's sitcom slate just isn't for me, but they're well-made and feature a lot of talented people. I see the appeal and don't begrudge their success at all. Like, it's perfectly pleasant to be in the room with other people who are watching them while I'm doing other stuff. Except that awful The Neighbors show, which needs to die a quick death.

Modern Family won me over with that Spandau Ballet ep

I only saw the pilot to The Neighbors, which was amusing if totally wafer thin

mostly I just want Jamie Gertz to have a successful show

I am thoroughly unsurprised when anyone who hasn't consistently watched from the start says they don't like HIMYM. Yet another reason why I don't think it should be a model for other shows. Gags that take several seasons to pay off are probably too insular to lure new viewers.

I said a long time ago that I'd watch HIMYM from the beginning once it was over. I honestly didn't expect it to last this long, so now I'm screwed.

Jami Gertz had a somewhat successful show! It was one of the worst sitcoms ever!

I watched maybe the first 3 episodes of HIMYM and was basically annoyed that they were wasting Allyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris on some unfunny horsehit that was going to go off the air in 6 weeks; then I blinked and SEVEN YEARS went by and ppl were talking about how it was the funniest thing ever

xp: Square Pegs was awesome

Oh yeah, Jami Gertz was Mark Addy's wife on that one show.

Still Standing, DJP.

Yeah, that one. #enougheps4syndication

how i met your mother is a better show than community

oh lol I had no idea, I avoided "Still Standing" like the plague

I wouldn't say HIMYM is the funniest ever, but it hits a sweet spot between straight-up multicamera laffery and something like Community that rewards long-time viewers. Plus, it still has the ability to pleasantly surprise (the arc with Marshall's dad's death was legitimately affecting).

i'm not trying to defend HIMYM or Modern Family too much in this thread, though I do enjoy both of them. I'm asking a serious question though - is there a currently existing viable sitcom model for NBC to actually follow without following the lead of Chuck Lorre? granted - i'm just as guilty as you guys - all my favorite sitcoms are the ones America doesn't give a crap about

i do gotta give ABC credit for trying to do some interesting stuff like Happy Endings or even The Middle or Suburgatory, but I'm skeptical those will ever blossom into network leading hits, as they are too "weird"

xxpost

As you should have.

Happy Endings is wonderfully weird and insane, no quotes

I did a few seasons of HIMYM but I guess I kind of got tired of it? Mostly Radnoor's emo sadsackery, lol. I'd like to revisit one day, maybe *shrug*

is there a currently existing viable sitcom model for NBC to actually follow without following the lead of Chuck Lorre?

The Seth MacFarlane model? These would be two strong arguments against models.

I don't really see a point in picking between the NBC critical darlings and the ABC critical darlings; they're all really, really funny shows. CBS is really the place where terrible sitcoms live, and even there I get and enjoy most of the humor fueling BBT.

Yeah, Radnor (or his character, tbf) is kinda HIMYM's universally-acknowledged weak link. He does get less intolerable as the show progresses, fwiw.

tbh i'm ok with the Seth McFarlane model, but as it barely works as is, i wouldn't recommend it to NBC

HIMYM was way better when they acknowledged Ted being a douche, and whenever he had less focus on the show

CBS is #1 by a landslide in sitcom ratings right? but HIMYM is a definite exception to their lineup which mostly mediocre/crap stuff like Terms of Engagement. Poor David Krumholtz.

2 Broke Girls + BBT + (to a lesser extent now) 2.5 Men are the heavy hitters. HIMYM and Mike and Molly do very well. Partners only got a 2.2 last night, which is bad news for it. On NBC that would be a smashing success.

2 Broke Girls is the worst thing in the world

you're kidding me - 2 Broke Girls is a smash hit? I honestly had no idea

Depressing but unsurprising. It's so LCD. It's of a piece with that string of awful sitcoms NBC parked between Friends and Seinfeld in the '90s.

Or after Seinfeld, even. Must See TV wasn't so Must See even back then.

NBC Thursday night lineup history

Union Square is the show that immediately came to mind. Couldn't remember the name off the top of my head.