No. No. No. No. No.
Posted by Maggie
April 2nd, 2008 at 05:18pm
In All Things TV SNL The Office
NBC has announced its schedule for the next year, and it kind of makes me want to puke.
NO: Why dilute the Office brand with a spin-off? Why not come up with a new idea instead? Oh right. That would be expensive. And take time. But the strike means there’s none of either available. Sigh.
NO: Practically no new shows at all, and definitely no definitive season openers like we’ve had in Septembers past. And the new shows that they’ve got are stale, stale, stale. A paraplegic psychic who solves crimes? A comedy import from Australia? GET OUT.
NO: Knight Rider.
NO: “SNL Thursday Night Live” — they do know that those initials mean something, and therefore the title is actually “Saturday Night Live Thursday Night Live,” right? Also: I don’t want any more political sketches than what we already have. And why Thursday? Why??
NO: Chuck has been renewed. I can’t quit it! If they air it, I will be forced to watch! And they’re following it with a spy drama starring Christian Slater. I quote from the description of his show, because its ridiculousness cannot be summarized:
Henry Spivey (Christian Slater, “Bobby”) is a middle-class efficiency expert living a humdrum life in the suburbs with a wife, two kids, a dog, and a minivan. Edward Albright is an operative who speaks 13 languages, runs a four-minute mile, and is trained to kill with his teeth. Henry and Edward are polar opposites who share only one thing in common — the same body. When the carefully constructed wall between them breaks down, Henry and Edward are thrust into unfamiliar territory where each man is dangerously out of his element. “My Own Worst Enemy” explores the duality of a man who is literally pitted against himself. And it raises the question: who can you trust when you can’t trust yourself?
What is this, written by Donald Kaufman?
MAYBE: I kind of like the idea of Merlin starring Anthony Head. Ditto for Ian McShane’s Kings.
That is the saddest slate of new shows I’ve seen in a long time. And this is not just because they’ve deprived me of my precious upfronts. I suppose I am resistant to change, even if it’s probably going to be good for me — in theory, I am all for year-round TV. In theory. But not if it’s going to be all diluted like this schedule.
That Australian show as you call it…Kath and Kim down here we call it…is friggen funny…I dont think the Americans can pull it off thou, anytime they try our brand of humour they F it up totally, and your spy drama sounds like a TV rip off of Bourne Identity just to put it in perspective for you…which sounds like its gonna blow for the simple reason…Christian Slater…
The SNL Thursday thing has precedent — back when they were riding high on the Fallon/Fey Weekend Update (I want to say fall 2001, but maybe it was fall 2000 to coincide with the elections — that would’ve been really fast after they took over the desk, though), they filled in some Thursday night time with extra material. As I remember, they’d show a super-sized Friends or whatever and then from 8:40 to 9, they’d do like a super-extended Weekend Update with several guests. It was funny (though, agreed, political sketches are not their strong point right now, so I don’t know what they’ll do with extra election-themed space) (but maybe it’ll get them back into fighting shape, because they really ought to be doing better in that department).
Anyway, I like that idea better than an Office spin-off as it keeps the all-comedy-I-like block thing. Agree, though, that they should’ve just had Greg Daniels come up with a new show to fill the fourth comedy slot. I liked their idea last year that if they had a good show that people liked, they would… make extra episodes! For comedies, at least, I think that’s a good strategy. They should give us some additional 30 Rock/Office episodes to make up for what we missed during the strike.
Also, the 52-week programming thing is an idea whose time has come (even if they’re introducing it via some extremely cheesy and mostly ’80s-emulating crapola).
I’ve seen Kath and Kim, and I highly doubt that it could cross into North America. With Selma Blair, no less! And the Office Spin off is just horrific. Instead of 1 great show we’ll get 2 mediocre ones. I thought even the hourlongs were a strech.
And SATURDAY Night Live on THURSDAY??? Are they crazy?
Gharg, can we please get new execs?