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Madonna Gives The Media What For

The pop diva's husband, Guy Ritchie, with their Malawian adoptee, David Banda.
The pop diva's husband, Guy Ritchie, with their Malawian adoptee, David Banda. (By Shavawn Rissman Via Associated Press)
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Madonna's head smiled.

* * *

NBC started right away making good on its plan to move pricier scripted fare out of the first hour of prime time, announcing yesterday it would clear comedies "30 Rock" and "Twenty Good Years" out of the Wednesday 8 p.m. hour.

And, in a move that can only be called PR genius, NBC announced "30 Rock," Tina Fey's sendup of "Saturday Night Live," and mothballed doctor comedy "Scrubs" would join "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" for a four-comedy block on Thursday night, harkening back to the golden days of NBC, long before it became just another cog in the great GE/NBC Universal 2.0 mandala.

Based on early exit polling, it worked like gangbusters. Critics seemed to like it; ditto members of the Hollywood TV community. The move "at least gives the network an identity" on one night of the week, said one industry suit who wished to remain anonymous because private schools aren't cheap.

In the announcement, NBC Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly said, "We still stay on-brand with the best comedy block on television, which will position us for the future on the night."

"Stay on-brand" isn't strictly accurate since the network has been running downscale reality show "Deal or No Deal" Thursdays at 9 after deciding its smart, sophisticated "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" would get its clock cleaned against ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and moved it to Monday, where it's getting its clock cleaned by CBS's "CSI: Miami," which is a lot more embarrassing.

NBC did not say what would fill the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot, except that it would be specials for the time being.

But most industry gamblers put their money on low-cost reality programming, as NBC Universal TV Group CEO Jeff Zucker promised last week when the company unveiled its NBC Universal 2.0 strategy for success -- a.k.a. layoffs and budget cuts.

NBC also did not say what had become of "Twenty Good Years," a traditional sitcom that averaged a lousy 5.1 million viewers last week. Many industry gamblers put their money on took-it-out-behind-the- barn-and-shot-it.


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