NBC: Keep or Cancel

It’s Keep Or Cancel time again – and this time around we’re talking about NBC, the once mighty network king that’s had a rough ride over the last few years.

But things are looking up for the network with some interesting new projects slated for the Fall – I’m excited for Smash, the behind the scenes Broadway show, A Mann’s World, set in an LA hair salon and the much talked about Playboy TV series. Beats your usual cop shows!

But first NBC has to decide what to keep for the Fall – and as you can see from the very short list of already renewed shows there’s not much Must See TV on the network currently. So what stays – and what goes?

ALREADY RENEWED: Community, Parks And Recreation, 30 Rock, The Office, The Sing Off, The Biggest Loser

ALREADY GONE: Outlaw, Undercovers, Chase, The Cape

KEEP OR CANCEL:
PARENTHOOD: NBC really wants its ensemble parenting drama to be a hit – but despite a familiar cast and many magazine covers, Parenthood is still not an out-and-out hit. The most recent showing scored less than 5 million viewers and a 1.9 18-49 share – we’re not exactly talking American Idol here! But NBC seems committed to the show and I can’t see them giving up on it anytime soon so I think it gets one more season to prove itself (which it won’t) KEEP

THE EVENT: And to think it all started out so promisingly!

I was definitely a fan of NBC’s sci-fi series when it debuted last Fall and had high hopes for the show. But just like Flash Forward before it, The Event has been on a decline ever since its debut. While ratings started in the 11 million range they’re now hovering around the 4 million mark, with a measly 1.2 18-49 rating. And this is an expensive show with a large cast, location filming and special effects.

Chances of The Event returning for a second season? Pretty much zero at this point. Shows with complex storylines are notoriously difficult for new viewers to get into so NBC know the ratings aren’t going to go up. Let’s just hope the series finale ‘Event’ is worth the wait! CANCEL

PERFECT COUPLES: Wait is this show still on the air? Yep, by a miracle NBC are still airing episodes of their rookie sitcom that’s the latest addition to the Thursday night comedy block. Couples is underperforming like fellow ‘relationship comedy’ series Mad Love and Better With You – only worse! Last week’s new episode pulled in just over TWO million viewers and a 1.0 18-49 share. Yep, you read that right. Do you even need to ask if the show will come back? CANCEL

OUTSOURCED: I’m not a huge fan of NBC’s Indian call center comedy – though to be fair I haven’t watched it recently, so it may have improved. Sadly the ratings haven’t and given that NBC have already renewed Parks And Recreation and Community I have a feeling Outsourced is on its way out. CANCEL

LAW AND ORDER: SVU / LA: The revamped Law And Order: LA returns next week so it’s hard to judge at this stage. Meanwhile TV veteran SVU – now in its 12th season – is still performing relatively well, despite some slippage in the last couple of years. If cast deals can be hammered out this one’s a dead cert to come back. KEEP

CHUCK: Uh oh – I could get in trouble here! This time last year I was berating NBC for bringing Chuck back and setting of quite a firestorm here on the site! But I still stand by my argument that Chuck has never been a hit and will never be a hit, so by renewing the show NBC was essentially throwing in the towel and lowering the ratings bar.

Now here we are 12 months later, Chuck is even lower in the ratings (hovering around the 1.5 18-49 mark) and yet chances are the show will return for another season, simply by default, as the network competition is so poor and the fan base so rabid! KEEP


HARRY’S LAW: A few weeks ago Harry’s Law was a dead cert for renewal with rosy ratings out of the box (though below par 18-49 demos). But like so many shows recently, Harry has been losing ground ever since. That said, though those youth demos aren’t great – a 1.6 last week – Harry’s is still well above the network average for viewers. Last week’s episode pulled in 8.54 million eyeballs. That’s why I call this one a keeper! KEEP

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT: It’s back for another season this summer but let’s be honest Simon Cowell’s warm weather talent show is going to run and run. It’s been the number one show of the summer for the last 5 years running and the Season 5 finale was the highest rated to date, pulling in a mighty 16.41 million viewers. Plus last season delivered the show’s first legitimate recording star, child opera singer Jackie Evancho whose post AGT CD has now sold over a million copies (somehow I don’t expect series winner Michael Grimm to do the same). KEEP


THE MARRIAGE REF: It was meant to return to our screens last month but has now been pushed back to the summer. Jerry Seinfeld’s universally loathed Marriage Ref somehow scored a second season pick up but I just can’t see the lame premise gaining any traction. Fact is – it’s not a good show and will never be. One more season and its gone. CANCEL

AMERICA’S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT: Say bye bye everyone! You can’t pull in less than 4 million viewers on the ultra competitive Sunday night and stay on air. CANCEL

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE: Ugh – Donald Trump! His presidential run is pure PR stunt to me, but Celebrity Apprentice still delivers decent ratings, good demo numbers and plenty of buzzworthy TV moments. There’s no way NBC are letting this one go. KEEP

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE: Oh the wasteland that is Friday nights! CBS and Fox are sticking with scripted shows – foolishly in my opinion – while ABC and NBC have gone the unscripted route. NBC’s chief offering, genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are attracts great names and is a classy, smart show. And with ratings of just over 6 million viewers and an okay (for Friday) 1.3 18-49 rating, it’s not going anywhere. KEEP

MINUTE TO WIN IT: I happen to think Minute is a really fun game show – but no matter how NBC schedules it the format just doesn’t seem to be catching on here in the US. Still the show is cheap to produce and has sold around the world so I think it’ll stick around for a while. KEEP

THE PAUL REISER SHOW / THE VOICE: These two are still to launch so who knows how they’ll fare…