Hurtling Toward Total Destruction

Oh, NBC. Maybe you should just stop now while you're only woefully behind... Just when I think the network can't fall any further, it proves me wrong time and time again. NBC has been struggling for the past few years, but in just the past few months alone, it has re-branded itself as a pathetic wasteland where decent shows go to die and crappy shows find a feeble home. (And lest you think NBC might crawl its way back from the brink in the seasons to come, take a look at what they have planned. "Yikes" just doesn't quite cover it...)

Hot on the heels of cancelling Southland before it even had a chance to premiere its second season, the dumbasses that be at the peacock network have picked up Mercy for a full season over Trauma. I have mixed feelings about this, for various reasons, but my own proclivities aside, this is yet another sign that NBC has forsaken everything in the interest of ratings (and not even very good ratings at that). Trauma isn't a spectacular show or anything, but ounce for ounce, it's a hell of a lot better than Mercy will ever be.

You've all heard my thoughts on Mercy, but I never really assessed Trauma. It's a high-octane, paramedic based medical drama that has a lot more explosions than it does character development, but all in all, it's a fairly decent show that's actually pretty watchable. Mercy, on the other hand, is just as painful now as it was in the pilot. Uninspired, unoriginal, and sanctimonious as all get out, Mercy tries to be Grey's Anatomy for nurses instead of surgeons, but only succeeds in mimicking the craptacularity of recent seasons in spite of clearly aiming for the awesomeness of earlier seasons. Thanks, but no thanks. Honestly, when choosing between paramedics or yet another show focusing on nurses, I'll take paramedics any day. As would most people, methinks, if the brass at NBC has a brain among them.

What it boils down to is that Trauma is in a rather unenviable timeslot on Monday and Mercy is in the most uncrowded of slots on any other day but Monday. For those of you who have tried scheduling your DVRs for Mondays, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I catch it here or there when they re-air it later in the week and find it adequately entertaining for a rainy day. Whereas I fast-forward through far more than just the commercials during Mercy (which I only keep up with in the most cursory of senses--like I said, there's nothing else on at that time), I can sit through Trauma with very little annoyance or trigger happy fast-forwarding. Why am I lobbying for a show that I've given such a tepid assessment, you ask? Well, it's not so much lobbying for a cause as pointing out how bone-headed NBC has become. If they had put Trauma in a decent timeslot and promoted it the right way, it could have been a solid performer, but instead, the network would rather invest in a show they think has mass appeal rather than any actual creative potential--a recurring trend these days.

We all knew NBC was struggling, but after they cut their evening schedule for 5 hours to accommodate the terminally un-funny Jay Leno Show, it was clear that this season would be the worst yet. NBC has made a lot of bad decisions in its day (shuffling Life all over the schedule then cancelling it even after consistent ratings, placing Chuck in the most competitive possible timeslot and making a freshman show anchor the evening, etc, etc), but lately I've lost what little faith I once had. The network has become the new Fox (circa late nineties, early, um... zeros?) and writers/showrunners would rather take their shows elsewhere. Lucky for them, I say. On that note, it's looking more and more like Southland will find a home at TNT. I think that will prove to be a perfect home for the promising series and will fit in well with the network's other programming. NBC was apparently too scared to put something a little edgier out there and that sends a huge message to creative talents who are shopping pilots. The network's message? If you have a good show, take it elsewhere. If you have a bad show, you'll surely get picked up. Oy.

There are exceptions, of course, but the rule is thing to be afraid of. To NBC's credit, new comedy Community was also picked up for a full season, and very deservedly so. I never gave Parks and Recreation another shot, but I hear it has improved considerably since its lackluster first season. I can support those decisions, but they are so overshadowed with the bad decisions that it's hard to maintain focus.

Anyway, it's looking like Trauma (the only new show not to get a pick-up already) will go the way of so many others for NBC. And, while it won't really be missed all that much by me or anyone else it seems, it's a step in the wrong direction. I'm a bit torn, however, because it has become pretty clear to those in the know that the sooner Trauma dies, the sooner Chuck will be back. In a perfect world, Mercy would have gotten the axe three weeks ago and Chuck would already be back on the air, but alas, some poorly trained circus chimps appear to be calling the shots.

For professional television watchers such as myself, NBC's recent decisions act as a warning. Like the Fox network of not too long ago, one has to be cautious when getting attached to a show on NBC because odds are it won't survive. Fox has recently redeemed itself to large degree. I never thought I'd see the day when Fox would be a safer home than NBC, but here we are.

What's really clear after this rant is that the only thing more pathetic than NBC would have to be myself. I mean, really. It's just sad how invested I am in all this. Sad, sad, pathetic, and sad.