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The Demise of NBC

First off, read this:

http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/09/30/is-nbc-dead?icid=main|main|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Finsidetv.aol.com%2F2009%2F09%2F30%2Fis-nbc-dead

This saddens me. A good chunk of me was raised by television (the lovable dysfunctional part) and it kills me to see a network that produced such great television (L.A. Law, ER--the first few seasons) going so wrong.

My suggestions?

First off, fire whoever is in charge. Clearly somebody is producing all these bad ideas, and that should merit consequences. Whoever came up with taking a show like "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" after it had already failed on ABC and recycling it on NBC should not only be terminated but trapped in a room with Heidi and Spencer just like the rest of America was this summer.

Secondly, hire smart people. Fox realized that it needed to get on the Ryan Murphy train--and it wound up with Glee. ABC invested in Marc Cherry and got Desperate Housewives. There are so many good writers out there. Find one, and give them a chance to shine. (It might not be bad idea to get in with Aaron Sorkin again. Sunset Strip may have been a misstep, but the man gave NBC one of the biggest hits in the history of television with West Wing.)

Third, fire Leno. I disagree with the article--I think Leno NEEDS to go. I don't care how cheap his show is to produce. Wasted air time is wasted air time. Clearly, people who watched him were just hanging onto Tonight Show nostalgia because his ratings are horrible. America, I told you so.

Fourth--and this may get me in trouble--you might want to take a cue from the CW. Familiar names couldn't hurt, and certain shows, with a revamp, could be modernized with good results. No, I'm not talking about Knight Rider. I'm talking about the aforementioned L.A. Law or Hill Street Blues.

Fifth, it's time to do a clean sweep. ABC went for broke before the Lost/Desperate Housewives years, and took a chance by cutting back on the successful Who Wants to Be a Millionaire franchise. NBC needs to go for broke to prevent itself from, well, going broke.

What do y'all think?

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