What is your opinion on the ...
Question: What is your opinion on the dramatic drop in ratings of NBC's Thursday-night comedies, more specifically of
The Office? As a huge fan, I find its ratings decrease to be a bit mind-boggling. I understand a new
Survivor has arrived, but I felt the show had picked up some serious steam and viewers in the wake of the Emmys last year and the SAG awards this year — not to mention that the quality has yet to falter. Do you believe the ratings decrease has to do with the audience's impatience with the tired Jim/Pam/Karen triangle and the more dramatic and angst-y approach taken this season to one of the most adorable and lovable non-relationship relationships in TV history? To be honest, even I, a fervent and loyal fan, feel the sadness deters my enjoyment of an otherwise brilliant episode and thus have to re-watch to truly laugh at its greatness. Does NBC expect the casual viewer to hang in there week after week watching Jim continue to date a girl he's not that into while Pam cries and looks on with sad puppy-dog eyes in the background?
Answer: There are many circumstances at play with NBC's downturn on Thursday: a confusing cycle of new and repeat episodes through the spring, the early onset of Daylight Savings, the increased competition on Fox (of all networks) with
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and the exodus of viewers during spring-break weeks. I'm not the expert at ratings number-crunching, so I'll tackle the creative angle to argue that NBC's devotion to the single-camera comedy format may also be hurting it in the long run. Individually, I enjoy each of NBC's Thursday comedies, but with the exception of the broadly played
My Name Is Earl, they all have a cult feel about them. Which is OK by me, but I can't help thinking someone at NBC wishes there were a
Friends-like mass-appeal breakout in the mix to make the lineup more competitive.
