By Lisa de Moraes
Friday, January 16, 2009
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Jan. 15 NBC dodged questions about its decision to do away with scripted programming at 10 on weeknights to make room for a Jay Leno talk show.
Fox took questions about it.
CBS took questions about it.
NBC chickened out.
At the winter TV press tour, NBC co-whatevs Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, who'd held a well-scripted news conference to unveil the deal several weeks ago, declined to take the stage to answer TV critics' questions about the historic move. Instead, they trotted out the two latest people charged with trying to develop actual programming that actual people might watch to bring NBC out of the ratings toilet and back into the game. They are Angela Bromstad, president of prime-time entertainment for both NBC network and the Universal Media Studios, and Paul Telegdy, executive vice president of alternative programming (reality TV, etc.) for NBC and Universal Media Studios.
They filibustered for the first half of their allotted Q&A hour with such announcements as picking up Tina Fey's "30 Rock" (duh), "The Office" (duh) and "The Biggest Loser" (duh, duh, duh).
And, they announced that Amy Poehler's new "The Office"-esque comedy, a mockumentary about local government, will premiere on April 9. And no, it doesn't have yet a name.
Plus, they announced they'd picked up a new cop drama from John Wells, which they love so much they're going to super-rush it onto the air April 9 in what will be its regular Thursday 10 p.m. time slot, which has to be the fastest fast-track ever -- though, as with all NBC debut announcements, it's best if you write these on your calendar in pencil.
For instance, one TV critic noticed that Wells's new drama was getting "ER's" coveted time slot, which was odd because, just a few weeks earlier, NBC had announced that Ben Silverman's pet project, the Ian McShane drama "Kings," was getting that time slot.
Oh, yes, Angela said, that's true: "Kings" is moving to Sundays at 8. And, she was happy to report, the executive producer of "Kings" couldn't be happier with the move.
Anyway, they also announced that "ER" fans will get three more episodes than NBC previously announced -- again, see what we mean? -- so that Wells will have time to get his super-rushed LAPD drama on the air. The "ER" swan song is now scheduled for April 2.
"With all due respect to you, NBC has made some pretty historic moves, and we don't get to talk to the top executives," one critic said to Bromstad and Telegdy.
"We're here to talk about TV shows rather than corporate changes," Telegdy said darkly -- this was the second time a critic dared to suggest that Silverman and Graboff join them onstage to take a question or two about the biggest news in prime time to come along in ages.
"We'd love to focus on the creative," Telegdy added, which frightened about 10 percent more of the critics. He really is one scary suit.
"Marc and Ben are around -- if you want to catch them," he added, ominously.
One heroic critic did screw up the nerve to ask Bromstad and Telegdy about the whole Leno-at-10 thing, given that it meant NBC would have five fewer hours of prime time with which to play, programming-wise.
"We are thrilled to have Jay Leno and Conan at the same network," Bromstad said icily.
Another critic noted that they had inherited a "broken" schedule -- by which the critic meant that the once-first-place network in prime time was now the last-place network (excluding CW, of course) in prime time.
"I have to disagree a little bit," Bromstad said, because, she noted, NBC has "such amazing shows" as "Heroes," "Law & Order," "The Office," "30 Rock" and "Friday Night Lights."
That said, she acknowledged that "we definitely have holes, and that's my job and Paul's, to fill, with some more great, amazing dramas and comedies. . . . That's what I'm here to do and looking forward to."
But Bromstad, who gets major props for having formerly run the TV studio side of the General Electric division, did address questions put to her about some of the shows she's now saddled with. Shows such as "Knight Rider" and "Kath & Kim."
"Some of the people in the room know my taste. . . . I ran the studio for three years," she said, noting that those were the years "The Office," "Heroes" and "Friday Night Lights," along with Fox's "House" (a production of NBC Universal), were developed. "My strategy is to live up to the brand and legacy of NBC," which, she helpfully explained since it's not exactly clear these days, constitute popular shows that exude quality and appeal to a broad audience.
"Do 'Kath & Kim' and 'Knight Rider' live up to that brand?" one critic asked. She noted that they were not holding up in the ratings, and she would "absolutely try and beat that."
"Heroes," on the other hand, is "very secure" despite its ratings problems, said Bromstad, though she added that she wanted to make sure "that show is on track." (NBC recently let go some of the "Heroes" producers.)
But "Heroes" was not among the shows she had announced as having been picked up for next season. "There's no indication in that announcement that 'Heroes' will not be picked up," she told critics. "Those are just the announcements we made today."
It got to be pretty fun for the critics, rattling off the names of NBC prime-time shows with which Bromstad has been saddled, to watch her reaction.
"Chuck," for instance.
" 'Chuck' is going to face tough competition," she noted but said she "certainly will look at it when we make our decisions this spring" for next season.
* * *
Unlike the NBC programming suits, "ER" creator John Wells did not dodge the Jay Leno question when he talked to TV critics about his new LAPD drama, "Southland," which will air at 10 p.m. Thursdays for the last few weeks of this season and, if it finds success, would have to move to an earlier time slot next season.
"As someone who makes or at least who tries to make adult dramas, I'm sad we've lost another place you can make those dramas," Wells said.
NBC execs have been "straightforward" in ensuring him the network will continue to make 10 p.m. dramas, and will schedule them -- at 9 p.m. (Kind of like Fox, which also does not schedule 10 p.m.)
"My concern is: Will people in the broadcast world encourage us to do these kinds of shows so it doesn't become something that only happens on cable?" Wells said to critics.
* * *
"Will it really feel like you get 'The Tonight Show'?" one critic asked Conan O'Brien during his Q&A session, in re Leno doing a 10 p.m. "Tonight Show"-esque talker.
Conan noted that since the late '40s, "The Tonight Show" has aired around 11:30 p.m. "That is sacred territory," he said. " 'The Tonight Show' has huge resonance for me."
Leno's prime-time show "doesn't in any way affect the show that I'm getting," Conan insisted. Then he, too, got all dodgy, insisting there's been "speculation and probably some uneasiness" every time NBC changes "Tonight Show" hosts. He wrote it off as people inherently not loving change. But, of course, this is hooey because when Jack Paar took over for Steve Allen, NBC didn't give Allen a 10 o'clock talk show. Ditto when Johnny Carson took over for Paar and when Leno took over from Carson.
"I don't take it personally," Conan insisted. "It's very natural. This is a big change."
* * *
Despite the addition of aspirational bikinis, nearly blind men and newly widowed music teachers -- not to mention a fourth judge who has only just begun to ratchet up the Paula craziness -- the first week of "American Idol" is trailing the same week last year in the ratings.
On the other hand, "Aspirational Idol" is only trailing last year slightly. It's one of those glass-half-empty/glass-half-full arguments that do so much to cause rifts between old friends who previously walked hand in hand, sharing each other's joys and sorrows and holding the same views on religion, politics and the decadence of the younger generation.
Anyway, Wednesday's Kansas City auditions episode logged 30.3 million viewers -- compared with 30.5 million on the same night last year.
Wednesday also held on to virtually all of Tuesday's "Idol" unveiling; that broadcast logged 30.4 million viewers. And all these are numbers no other series on television can touch.
Fox reality-TV evil genius Mike Darnell gave interviews to trade publications Thursday, announcing that the numbers proved the tweaks made to the "Idol" formula had worked.
"The creative is working," Darnell said, insisting that America had fallen in love with Kara DioGuardi.
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