Question: You recently mentioned that the middling ratings for Bravo's Situation: Comedy prompted its move to Fridays. But honestly, does it really matter when Bravo airs new episodes? If I don't catch it on Friday, I know I can catch it Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. And if I miss a week or two or three, I can catch the repeats that air before the new ep. Or I could wait for the whole thing to be over and catch the entire series marathon that Bravo will surely repeat for at least three weeks. Part of what makes watching Survivor or Amazing Race such an "event" is that it's aired exclusively on one day and at one time. And if you miss it, it sucks to be you! Do you think that Bravo could improve ratings by having fewer repeats?
Answer: Ha! So true. Except if you're low on the Bravo totem pole, like Situation: Comedy, you're not nearly as overexposed. If you don't watch this one on Fridays, that "sucks to be you" refrain (nice shout-out to my beloved Avenue Q)
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Will & Grace's Sean Hayes and his producing partner, Todd Milliner, whose Situation: Comedy is currently living out its final days on Bravo, are developing a semiscripted local-news parody for TBS. Broken News will feature actors improvising a newscast for a fictional small town. Lawyers for my mom's quaint hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio, stand poised to sue.
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Question: Why do you think Bravo's Situation: Comedy has apparently failed to find an audience so drastically that new episodes have been banished from a prime-time slot? Am I the only person out here who finds shows like this and Project: Greenlight vastly more entertaining than most of the other reality out there? This show isn't stellar by any means, but it's an interesting peek into the struggle for mediocrity inherent in the network system.
Answer: You may have answered your own question in that last sentence. Yes, Situation and Greenlight are more engrossing and interesting than the run-of-the-mill reality show, but the creative process exposed on these shows isn't exactly what the average reality buff seems to crave. Perhaps if they were less smart, they'd be more successful. But it also probably boils down to the fact that once the projects get picked, there's little suspense (as in the who-will-win? variety, although there is an end game for Situation: Comedy, I guess). And s ...
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Question: Love your column! Have you seen Bravo's reality/Sean Hayes-produced Situation: Comedy? I saw one episode and found it very interesting to get an insider's look at developing a TV comedy. But I found one thing disturbing: One of the two winning sitcom ideas was about a girl not sure about which of two men is her biological father. Hellooo? Does anyone remember an '80s series called My Two Dads? (Gee... maybe the title would be a giveaway). What's worse is the NBC programming chief called it a fresh idea — and My Two Dads aired on NBC! Hey, maybe I can sell my idea about two supercool undercover cops who drive fast Ferrari cars and wear pastel suits and have a pet alligator and live in Montana! Montana Vice! I love it!
Answer: Surely you know that no self-respecting programmer, not even on NBC, would buy a show set in a "fly-over" state like Montana. But seriously, the lack of originality in TV gets even worse. There's a midseason comedy for WB, Misconceptions, that has nearly
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In a fate worse than cancellation, Bravo has unceremoniously banished its Sean Hayes-hosted reality competition Situation: Comedy to Fridays at 7pm/ET, effective immediately. The show had been airing Tuesdays at 9pm.
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