There is an old saying that what you do in adversity says more about you than how you handle success.  The National Broadcasting Company has both feet stuck in a swamp of adversity right now.  The fiasco of the Leno/Conan situation has left them with a 5 hour hole in their most expensive prime time lineup that needs programming the day after the Olympics end, March 1st.  Shortly after giving Conan the boot, NBC announced this as their solution:

• Monday – Law & Order
• Tuesday – Parenthood
• Wednesday – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Thursday – The Marriage Ref
• Friday – Dateline NBC

What would they have done if they didn’t have the Olympics as a buffer?

  Leno at 10 was getting beat in the ratings by History Channels Pawn Stars, so at least the finest athletes in the world did NBC a favor by giving them more time to stock pile episodes.  Unfortunately, I don’t think this revised 10 o’clock capable of challenging for a medal.

Law & Order is stale and it takes up 2 of the 5 hours available.  I’m not saying the shows are bad, they have their audience, but the franchise is only a band aid for NBC’s bigger probelm; last place ratings.  SVU did give a huge bump to the numbers when it filled in for Leno prior to the Olympics, but that is like saying the ice cream cone with ice cream in it is better than the one with nothing but cone.  Not to mention, when are networks gonna stop with the copies of existing shows?  The C.S.I.’s and the Law & Orders etc.  Let’s work up some originality people.

The lone piece of potential in the new lineup is Parenthood.  The cast is superb and from the commercials it looks like it could be a funnier thirtysomething type of show that lands squarely into the adult demographic.  As we’ve seen with Modern Family, audiences enjoy witty stories about complex family units and assuming the writing is strong, Parenthood could very well stick around and help reshape perception of the network.

I can only imagine the celebration at NBC when their nineties meal ticket Jerry Seinfeld called up with a cheap show with his name attached.  Toss in some under contract NBC celebs and quirky reality show personalities and we will get what is no doubt the Seinfeld equivalent of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire phenomenon.  A show that will draw big ratings at first, generate some cultural buzz and catch phrases, and then burn out quickly as audiences grow tired of what is more of an event than a solid TV franchise.  It will have its moments, with Jerry making us laugh, and buy NBC some time to develop pilots, but don’t get too attached.

Dateline is another example of an older franchise that will fail to generate new viewers, especially on a Friday night.  Now, the type of people who enjoy an investigative news show like Dateline will be home on Fridays, but the night is a death slot and NBC is clearly just trying to plug leaks until they get their favorite time slot whipping boy Friday Night Lights on at the end of April.  A critically acclaimed and fan supported masterpiece that has already been served notice of its demise.  Keep up that forward thinking guys!

There’s another saying that I like to use in my life that goes “luck is when opportunity meets preparation.”  In that equation, NBC are some of the unluckiest bastards on the planet.  Looking at this patch work line up, I can’t help but think that the idea of a back up plan for a potential Leno failure just never entered anyone’s mind.  The Peacock was completely unprepared for what happened and it shows.

Listen, I don’t hate NBC.  They have some shows I adore like Chuck, The Office, and 30 Rock (although I still can’t figure out the fascination with Community, I need to give it another shot I guess), but they’re in the dumper and need to call in bigger guns than some bartender doing tricks with toilet paper for money if they expect to pull back into the race with the other majors.  Stop being cheap, tell the shareholders they don’t get a 10% return this year, maybe it goes down to 8%, and find the brilliant scripted dramas that are being pitched every single day across Hollywood.  Look at ABC and their new Wednesday night comedies.  They found a great stable of new shows, invested in them, believed in them, and now it is one of the best nights on TV.  I hope NBC keeps working and develops a better plan for the Fall schedule.