TVSquad

They were going strong, with The Office between 9 and 10 million viewers before th damn hiatus. My guess is people used their free time to check what the competition was broadcasting. Throwing an odd repeat in somewhere may hurt viewers coming back weekly, NBC, but not as bad as going with 6 weeks of repeats and allowing almost half your viewers to become completely addicted to something else.

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That's what happens when you show repests for weeks upon weeks.

I think networks should put on shows all at once.

Sunday@8 - Heroes 1
Sunday@9 - Heroes 2
Sunday@10 - Heroes 3

Monday@8 - Heroes 4
Monday@9 - Heroes 5
Monday@10 - Heroes 6

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Saturday@8 - Heroes 19
Saturday@9 - Heroes 20
Saturday@10 - Heroes 21

Hey, that was a good show... what's on next week?

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Well they put on shows and then cancel them. I loved the Black Donnellys and they took that off. I am still hoping they put the rest of the missing 6 shows online. 30 Rock, gone, Studio 60 gone. Why watch a network if they never let a series finish. Bad ratings or not. And now we are going to get Reality tShows this summer. NBC has it's head where the sunshine does not shine..
Leave the shows alone and just ride it out...

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What readers and writers of TV Squad might call "smart and funny" often translates to "inaccessible" for most of the Emmy-nominated-Kevin James-loving, Idol-watching masses.

I doubt MediaWeek is also including Apple Store downloads and NBC.com viewings of The Office and 30 Rock episodes as part of their ratings numbers; though I'm doubtful that those numbers would provide huge boost in total viewership for either show.

NBC can easily fix their problem by airing yet another edition of Deal or No Deal at 8 as a lead in to the 9pm sitcom block. Move E.R. to Sundays and you got a rejiggered Thursday that might produce.

Here's to the lowest common denominator!

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I agree that canceling shows at the drop of a hat really sucks. Every network does it though, and with good shows.

Unfortunately for the most part, if a show is too clever or the storyline isn't wrapped up in an hour, then the masses don't want to watch it. Somebody smarter than me needs to come up with a way to get great shows to catch on.

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Must See?

Earl is solid, good start.
The office is unwatchable.
30 Rock - If Imus is racist what is this??? Not to mention Alec is the only good thing about this show.

(tick 30rock was already renewed for next season)

Scrubs - Series well past it's prime.
ER - How many time can they do the same things. I used to love this show, but its too repetitive.

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Why do they HAVE to be #1 in ratings if they are quality shows? Quality should count for more.

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Although the networks don't give some shows enough time to find an audience, that's not the problem with NBC's Thursday line-up. "Earl," "Office" and "Scrubs" have all had multiple seasons in relatively stable time slots, and "30 Rock" has gotten a big promo boost from NBC this season.

I like these shows a lot, but is NBC just going to trot this Thursday schedule out again in September? I don't see it getting any better.

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It is surprising that nobody is talking about how ratings across the board are down. American Idol's rating are down. Three weeks ago they were "winning" ratings with over 30 million. Now they only had 26.7 million. Last week's new Desperate Housewives had 15.9 million viewers, when it usually has closer to 19-20. I think what is going on is that there really has not been a week since February that the networks have put up a full slate of new shows for the week. Instead, it's a new CSI here, and a new Grey's there. How I Met Your Mother comes back new for 1 week, then is not new this week. What I think is happening is that with new technologies like TIVO, Bittorent, and Networks shows online, people aren't willing to plan to stay home for prime time because they can always watch it later. For me personally, aside from 24 and Lost and Heroes(which are watercooler type shows), I don't ever set a time to watch TV because I know I can always watch it later. Time shifting is going to be a bitch for advertisers.

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The Office and 30 Rock are the two best comedies on the schedule. Earl is not watchable with that trashy Jamie Prestly. Scrubs I agree, is starting to age, as is ER. If I were NBC, I would shift Heroes to the 10 pm (fresh new show), and test some new comedies in Earl or Scrub's spot. What NBC really needs to do is start developing new shows. Aside From SVU and Heroes, there is no real respectable ratings hit on the network. I am thankful though that they are above putting trash such as Two and Half Men or King of Queens on their network.

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I don't watch sitcoms for the most part because they shuffle them around so much I usually just watch them when I'm flipping. They seem to be shuffling less, but now they do the "3 hours of Scrubs" thing, which REALLY won't get me to watch, because

1) I probably already saw one of the shows (aggravating when they mix new with the old shows)

2) Don't want to watch more than one half hour at a time of one sitcom usually.

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Kevin c wrote: "30 Rock - If Imus is racist what is this??? Not to mention Alec is the only good thing about this show."

What praytell is racist about 30 Rock?

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it really is too bad people are so stupid. all those shows are really funny.

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It is indeed sad that more people don't watch shows that don't pander to the lowest common denominator. However, there is more to the story than just the raw numbers. Networks care far more about viewers in the 25-54 age bracket than they do total viewers. They also care more about the demographics of those 25-54 viewers. One early episode of Studio 60 even mentioned the fact that they'd trade one full ratings point for a higher-incomed audience in a heartbeat, because they can charge advertizers more for those upper-income viewers.

So it's not just about ratings, it's about profitability. If for example, and I'm just making up numbers, NBC can make $400,000 per commercial for their affluent audience when CBS can only get $300,000 for their lower-earning audience, then NBC only need to have 3/4 of CBS audience to bring in the same amount of money. Then factor in the cost of the show as an expense, and whatever's left over is profit. That's likely why Studio 60 is doomed and 30 Rock will live on.

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I really hate the world.

first, Grindhouse flops while garbage like Are We Done Yet? does better, and the best comedy lineup in years on any network is failing to succeed.

I really hope nothing bad happens to the lineup, cause it's the one night on TV I look forward to every week.just because I am not with the majority of the public and watch mindless garbage like Grey's Anatomy and Survivor that means I have to suffer?

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While you argue (like 3 year olds saying are too and am not) it doesn't really address the issue that while many find these shows really funny. (I like the Office and Earl, but not the others) it's not like I have to see them. It's not must watch, it's not like I'm going to set aside time to watch these shows or even tape/tivo them.
I'm more on the internet or gaming than watching these shows.

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I tivo a total of 5 shows, my fiancee insists on 1.

1. Veronica Mars
2. 30 Rock

I could stop there and be happy.

3. The Office
4. Entourage

I'd like to have them available.

5. Heroes (the one she demands we Tivo)
6. My Name is Earl (laughs at times, Jaime Pressly's really the only sure fire laugh consistently)

Take away Thursday nights and we're literally left with only 3 shows to Tivo. Veronica's going away at the end of the season and Entourage always has short seasons. All told, there's not much worth watching since Arrested Develpment disappeared.

Honestly, someone needs to create a channel that DOESN'T cater to the LCD. Most broadcast TV is unwatchable. :(

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count me as one who didnt know the shows were new this week. i guess they think every viewer writes down or puts into their google calendar, "new 'the office' next thursday" every week. or maybe they think we tivo users actually read the lines at the bottom or wait for the credits to tell us new episode next week. here's an idea...dont make it like a gift from above when the episode next week is new. it's as if they expect us to thank them for a new episode each week. as opposed to "let's run a rerun and maybe they'll think it's new and tune in and watch it anyway". all these stupid breaks in scheduling are too much for our busy lives.

i'm still pissed my tivo deleted a 30rock cause i was 5 behind and didnt know a new one was on this week and it deleted the oldest 5th one to make room for the new one.

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Other than Tracy's character, his attitude and speech - How about Tracy Jordan prancing about in white face as Tomas Jefferson ???

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I think Thursday night is the worse for TV shows, I don't want to watch any of the trash on any of the networks.

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