'Quarterlife' Equals 1/22 of a Season on NBC

By Lisa de Moraes
Friday, February 29, 2008

"Quarterlife" -- the much-ballyhooed broadcast-TV pilot to Internet series to broadcast-TV series about a hot 20-something blogger and her hot-but-sensitive friends -- is moving off the NBC lineup after just one broadcast, in which it posted the network's worst numbers in the Tuesday 10 p.m. time slot in at least 17 years.

The show never got a chance to debut in its regular Sunday berth. NBC decided Howie Mandel and real people screaming at briefcases was a better idea, so "Deal or No Deal" has taken that time slot this weekend.

Navel-gazers expect NBC Universal to announce "quarterlife" has been moved to the company's Bravo cable network, where an audience of 3.1 million would cause champagne to be broken out.

That's how many people watched Tuesday's broadcast-TV debut of the series. The crowd included just 1.3 percent of the country's 18-to-49-year-olds -- NBC's target audience.

Yesterday, "quarterlife" co-creator Marshall Herskovitz issued a statement saying, "I am happy to say that the reports of 'quarterlife's' demise are exaggerated. We're deeply grateful for NBC's efforts to make 'quarterlife' a success on network television. However, I've always had concerns about whether 'quarterlife' was the kind of show that could pull in the big numbers necessary to succeed on a major broadcast network."

These concerns are not in evidence on NBC's Web interview with Herskovitz, in which he and NBC Co-Chairman Ben Silverman waxed enthusiastic about the show's upcoming unveiling on NBC -- the interview clearly was done before Tuesday night. Silverman noted the show had not yet reached its critical mass, audience-wise, "which it will, once the network window further enhances it."

Herskovitz raved about the lead actress, who, he says, is so accomplished that to play the character she has to "change who she is." For instance, he explains, the character is a slob but in real life, the actress is a neat freak. Now that's acting.

"We make stars and our audience is going to discover these incredible performers," Silverman tells Herskovitz as they sit in comfy chairs in some generic office-like place. "You created the college common hall for the postgraduate set."

Before Tuesday's botched premiere, "quarterlife" could be found on various online platforms, most notably MySpace. NBC struck a deal to pick it up in the early days of the Hollywood writers' strike.

The day after the NBC premiere, Herskovitz told an audience at a Harvard Business School conference that "it never should have been a network show."

"It's too specific . . . from the first three minutes, I knew it wasn't right," he told the confab, which was covered by the trade paper the Hollywood Reporter.

And while as of late yesterday, NBC had not announced its plans for the remaining handful of "quarterlife" episodes it had ordered, Herskovitz hinted that they would wind up on one of NBC Universal's cable networks. (Dibs on Bravo.) "It is important to remember that 'quarterlife' has already proved itself as a successful online series and social network with millions of enthusiastic fans," Herskovitz said. "We live in a media world today where many shows are considered successful on cable networks with audiences that are a fraction of those on the Big Four. I'm confident that 'quarterlife' will find the right home on television as well."

* * *

It appears another NBC series, granted a longer-running one, may be moving elsewhere.

"Scrubs."

To ABC, according to industry sources.

Not so fast, says NBC.

While moving prime-time series from one broadcast network to another is not unheard of -- "Taxi," "Family Matters," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "JAG," etc. -- the "Scrubs" switch, if it happens, will have taken place in slow motion.

Rumors it would migrate to ABC have been floating around for two years, mostly because the show is produced by ABC Studios, and ABC programming chief Steve McPherson kept saying he'd pick it up if NBC passed on another season. McPherson developed "Scrubs" when he was head of ABC-parent Disney's TV development division (called Touchstone TV at the time; later changed to ABC Studios).

Most recently, last spring McPherson said he'd do so -- as did show creator Bill Lawrence in news accounts -- this TV season.

But NBC didn't pass. This season, however, the 18-episode order for "Scrubs" was slashed to 12 episodes in the wake of the writers' strike.

The series is scheduled to return to NBC's lineup in April for the rest of what was thought to be its final season.

It's unclear how many episodes ABC might order for next season if "Scrubs" finally does make the switch.

But late yesterday NBC Entertainment co-chair Marc Graboff told trade paper Variety that if in fact ABC is close to picking up the show, then ABC Studios would be in breach of contract and NBC would take legal action. "NBC has a license agreement with ABC Studios which includes a right of first negotiation and first refusal to extend the series term beyond this season," Graboff told Variety.

And suddenly the ugly stepchild sitcom is looking like the prettiest comedy in the room.

Never a ratings juggernaut, it already is considered to have been one of the most batted-about series since its start in the 2001-02 TV season. In its first five seasons it had seven different time slots on NBC.

* * *

Because we like to get it right: The final numbers on last weekend's triumphant return of "Saturday Night Live" are in at last, and they're a little less, well, triumphant, but pretty good nonetheless.

Yes, the show clocked 7.5 million viewers and 3.2 percent of the nation's 18-to-49-year-olds. This may not sound like a lot of 18-to-49-year-olds until you stop to consider that's a larger collection of people in that age bracket -- the one the network targets -- than was amassed by 14 of NBC's prime-time programs last week.

But this performance, hosted by "SNL" alum and "30 Rock" star-executive producer Tina Fey, with guest Carrie Underwood, was not the late-night show's biggest audience since a February '06 episode hosted by Steve Martin, as early, metered-market numbers had suggested.

It was, instead, the show's best ratings performance since March 24 last year, when Peyton Manning hosted and -- hey, what's this? -- Carrie Underwood was music guest. Which raises the question, did viewers flock to the show to witness its first original broadcast since being forced into reruns by the writers' strike, or did viewers flock to the show to see Carrie Underwood?

Anyway, the "SNL" return was the No. 1-rated telecast on any network Saturday night -- including prime time. In fact, NBC notes, among those younger viewers, it outrated every Saturday non-sports prime-time telecast on every network in more than two years.

Which is kind of damning with faint praise if you look at what the networks are putting on Saturday nights these days. This past Saturday, for instance, you had your choice of the gajillionth broadcast of "Forrest Gump," a rerun of "48 Hours Mystery," another rerun of "48 Hours Mystery," a repeat of "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad," a repeat of the new "Knight Rider" made-for-TV flick, "Cops," another "Cops" and, let's not forget, "AMW: America Fights Back."

* * *

ABC announced it's bringing back some of its reality series next season.

No surprises here: The list includes "Dancing With the Stars," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Supernanny," "Wife Swap" and "America's Funniest Home Videos" -- the longest running prime-time show in ABC history (now in its 18th season).

Noticeably missing: freshman series "Dance Wars," which did lackluster numbers on Monday in the "DWTS" time slot.

ABC already had announced "The Bachelor" is coming back.