I guess I'm still in the ...
Question: I guess I'm still in the minority on
The Class, but I love it. And I find myself loving it more as the weeks go by. I know you've always been a bit iffy about it, but I'm not seeing the mess. It's better without Holly, and I agree with you that any marginalization of Kyle has nothing to do with him being gay, but is rather an attempt to focus on fewer characters. (For the record, I prefer him with Ethan and Kat anyway.) It saddens me to think that CBS will probably dump this show, but my question is, why? You mentioned that
30 Rock will more than likely get a pickup, and while I understand its award pedigree,
The Class regularly outdoes
Rock in ratings. Even
How I Met Your Mother doesn't do that much better ratings-wise, but for whatever reason that is seen as a success. This show still has better ratings than any other new half-hour comedy on TV (not that it's that hard right now), and better than several of the long-existing ones (just not on CBS). I also have nothing against
Christine, but the
HIMYM/Class combo seems like a pairing that would work much better in the long run if CBS wants to try to attract younger viewers. But I think CBS has given up. Do they just want overnight success? I also get the impression that they are banking on the horrific
Rules of Engagement doing well, thereby providing another reason to ditch
The Class. Yay, another married-life-sucks sitcom. That should change CBS' program reputation. Ugh, guess I'd better enjoy what could possibly be my last
Class episodes ever. I can at least hope that it will eventually show up on DVD.
Answer: You probably could have made the same argument about
Out of Practice a year ago. The situation with CBS is that it only has one solid comedy night with four slots available at any given time, and that's not likely to change anytime soon, at least not until the vogue for crime dramas begins to wane (let it be soon). A show that is seen as being in creative disarray or with iffy ratings —
The Class goes up and down like a seesaw — has serious strikes against it, and unfortunately, the much more mediocre
Rules of Engagement got a pretty significant post-Super Bowl lift in its first week out. We'll see if that holds. We'll also see how
The New Adventures of Old Christine does when it's paired with
Mother in its mid-March return, after
The Class finishes its run of original episodes. It also depends, as usual, on CBS' development for next season. There are many things about
The Class that I would miss, including its handful of truly funny characters. But to be honest, the show itself feels like a missed opportunity. I feel bad that it didn't come together better, but there are times when you just have to be a realist.
