How NBC can fix Thursday night

How NBC can
fix Thursday night

Bold moves are needed. Move 'Friends' to 9 p.m.

By Robin Epstein

   In "Crimes and Misdemeanors," Woody Allen taught us that if it bends, it’s funny, if it breaks, it's not funny. For years, NBC had an unbroken streak of success with its Thursday-night lineup of comedies.
   But recently, smart counter-programming by CBS and NBC's own failure to develop new shows threatens to snap the streak while in the process causing NBC to lose its Must See TV status."
   It needn't have to, even with the gains by CBS.
But to hold onto its No.1 position, NBC must take some bold and unconventional steps, which is not something TV networks are wont to do.
   Little fixes won't work. NBC has already tried them, as when it super-sized "Friends" two seasons ago by tacking on an additional 10 minutes.
   While that might have seemed a bold move, it was no more than a limp Band-Aid effort to hold viewers back from jumping the dial to watch "Survivor" on CBS.
    NBC must be far more aggressive, rethinking not just its entire Thursday-night lineup but reexamining and tossing out some longstanding conventions of primetime programming.
   One convention is that a night must be anchored by a half-hour sitcom. The thinking: sitcoms to dramas but not the other way around.
    Here’s what the network can do to save Thursday night.

1. Flip the night and start the evening with the hour-long "E.R." or another popular drama series.
     Why? Analysis of the Nielsens shows that though "Friends" is still able to win its 8 p.m. timeslot, as soon as the credits roll at the end of the show, people start flipping to CBS to catch the last half-hour of "Survivor." Anyone who knows "Survivor" know that’s really the only part of the show worth watching, as it's when the unsuspecting half-naked boob gets booted from the island.
   NBC, by starting with an hour-long show, could prevent a lot of this channel-switching at 8:30.

2. Start "Friends" at 9.
CBS brilliantly capitalizes on "Survivor" by following it with another great show, "CSI," at 9. However, "Friends" is still powerful enough to beat "CSI." Pitting "Friends" for that first half hour against "CSI" would cut deeply into "CSI's" audience. "CSI" is an engaging show for sure, but you have to watch it from the opening seconds or you'll be in the dark. It is not a show one can jump to at the half-hour and figure out the story line.

3. Put "Scrubs" on at 9:30.
The show flourished in that time slot last season on Tuesday nights. There’s no reason to think it wouldn’t do well there again.

4. Plug "Will and Grace" in at 10 p.m., and by now you’ve sewn up the evening. Most people are not going to start flipping around at 10:30 for something new.

5. Dump "Good Morning, Miami," NBC’s newest sitcom, airing at 9:30.
It’s awful and there seems little doubt it’ll only become more and more of an embarrassment. Staunch the bleeding now before it becomes a gaping wound.

NBC's Thursday schedule		Robin's Thursday Schedule
8/7PM	FRIENDS	8/7PM	ER
8:30/7:30PM	SCRUBS
9/8PM	WILL & GRACE	9/8PM	FRIENDS
9:30/8:30PM	GOOD MORNING, MIAMI	9:30/8:30PM	SCRUBS
10/9PM	ER	10/9PM	WILL & GRACE

-Robin Epstein is a New York writer.

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