Did I speak too soon? I don’t think so but, NBC has just announced that they will be pulling Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip one week earlier than previously planned. The Black Donnellys will begin on February 26th at 10pm instead of March 5th.
The schedule change comes as the result of Monday night’s poor showing in the ratings. The “Friday Night Slaughter” episode of Studio 60 attracted its lowest audience to date. Insiders say that the peacock network hasn’t made a final decision on Studio 60’s future and that the schedule change was made to give The Black Donnellys a strong launch in sweeps (which is getting a lot of promotion and will likely garner big numbers). No return date for Studio 60 has been set.
Personally, I still think that Studio 60 will still return to primetime. They have a lot of time and money vested into it. However, if NBC finds other programming that attracts significantly more viewers, there’s only so long they can stick with the Aaron Sorkin series. They might air the rest of this season but a second year would be highly unlikely. Stay tuned!
I love Aaron Sorkin – I think he’s brilliant. But this show isn’t. I watched it because I loved West Wing. I knew this show couldn’t make it when there were fewer laughs on a late night comedy show than there were in the White House. The characters on West Wing were so good and so sharply defined. The Studio 60 characters were flat and I couldn’t really care about any of them.
I loved having my Studio 60(which was like NBC making fun of themselves) right after my Heroes. If anything, split the two apart and put Studio over with some other serious show. Don’t cancel it or the show just proves it’s point from the start. That NBC is run by a bunch on idiots who are scared to take a chance on anything worth wild.
Why do they always cancel the intelligent comedies? This is at least the 3rd show that I’ve watched religiously that seems to get canceled by the end of the 1st season. There are enough doctor, cop, and other dumb comedy shows…Studio 60 had clever writing and if not everyone can appreciate that they should stick to watching FX. Leave Studio 60 for those of us with a brain.
PLEASE GIVE THIS SHOW A CHANCE and Please find [or help develop/fund] a more accurate way to gauge & track viewership over that ANTIQUATED NIELSEN SYSTEM. Appointment TV is so last century. With advent of Tivos/PVRs/DVRs & VCRs, PEOPLE ARE WATCHING. Cunning, sly & intelligent INFLUENCERS–so desired & sought after by marketers–ARE WATCHING, but ON THEIR TIME. They’re watching a show about a show that watches how its viewership rides the weekly ebb & flow of the fickle tide of trendy teens, twenty-somethings and their tuned-in folks. How ironic that ratings, demos & share play such a big part in… Read more »
The problem with the show was that it became a primetime soap opera. I enmjoyed it at first for all the reasone mentioned above. Fast witty righting, interesting characters etc. But then it became a show about 2 love stories and I lost interest. If they can get back to good writing about a comedy staff, and trhe drama of an SNL like crew then I am in. Until then, NBC did the right thing.
Besides sports and the History channel, Monday was the only night I set aside to watch network television. I skipped Monday Night Football for this show. I agree with most all of the previous comments regarding the show’s great writing, character development, witty dialogue and just plain good, if not great, acting. Big mistake NBC. I don’t often invest my time in television series and may never again if I can’t count on the good programming getting a decent chance.
I am not happy that this show was cancelled. The writing was brilliant and witty. It was refreshing to see a show that forced you to think a little. It was of course replaced by a show that emphasizes violence and over done drama. They wanted to appeal to the masses so they on something that required less attention. I hate that NBC thinks so little of their audiences. Thanks NBC for dumbing done America.
It would be a shame if they canceled Studio 60. I think the show is intelligent and the episodes are well written. The cast is excellent and this is the first show in a long time where I’ve actually cared about the characters. Maybe one of the network geniuses at NBC can air the show in a different time slot? I’ve signed the petition that a couple people have mentioned. There are already 8758 posts there.
Studio is nice break from the usual shows you find on Monday nights. I record every episode via DVR and watch it the next morning. It’s a great way to get my day going. If it gets pulled I have nothing to watch until Thursday. Way to go NBC…another bad decision.
Please don’t pull Studio 60. It’s 1 of 2 shows on all of television that I actually look forward to watching week to week. It is the epitome of quick-witted humor. Don’t yank it. It’s the last thing that gives me faith in primetime TV.
My Monday nights just wont be the same. Studio 60 was an incredibly bright comedy for a mature audience–What a rarity. It was a highlight of my week. I can’t wait till it’s back on again. I was disgusted by the show they put in it’s place. NBC, let me know when you decide return to quality shows.
Put it back on. I need closure!
It was mentioned elsewhere but is worth mentioning here – the ratings don’t include those viewers who record or TiVo the shows. The ratings models are out-of-date and badly need to be revamped. Unfortunately it won’t happen in time to save a lot of decent shows. The show-runners know that their audiences are larger than shown but the bean-counters only look at the ratings – their answer to all this would be “You want to save the show? Watch it when it’s on, not when it’s convenient for you.”
I really like Studio 60. It is a breath of fresh air that there are some quality shows out there. (A few, for sure) They complain about no audience, so why don’t they move it to a more audience friendly time slot.
This show deserves better. They should bring it back next year to give it a fair shot.
There is a petition to NBC to renew/save Studio 60 at:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Save-NBC-Studio-60
If you are like myself, and feel that intelligent and witty programming is worth saving, then maybe drop a line at the petition. Presumably, even if they don’t read the comments left, they see the numbers of people concerned.