Must See TV
"Must See TV" is an advertising slogan used by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) to brand its prime time blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured such popular sitcoms/dramas series, and allowed NBC to dominate prime time ratings on Thursday nights in the 1980s and 1990s. Ratings fell in the mid-to-late 2000s, and today the night is weekly behind the competition on FOX, ABC, and CBS.
Usage
In popular culture the phrase is most strongly associated with the network's entire Thursday night lineup, including both sitcoms and dramas, which dominated the ratings from the 1980s through late 1990s.
However, contrary to popular belief, "Must See TV" originally applied to sitcoms only (dramas would normally be promoted separately), and for much of the 1990s the phrase was used several nights a week as an attempt at brand extension. At one point in the fall of 1997, the brand was used five nights a week, with four sitcoms a night from Monday to Thursday, and two on Sunday.[1] NBC itself would later adopt the more common interpretation; the 2002 retrospective, 20 Years of Must See TV, focused on NBC's overall Thursday-night dominance from 1982 onwards, and overlooked extensions such as "Must See TV Tuesday."
Advertising
Thursday nights are coveted by advertisers due to the large proportion of young, affluent viewers who tune in. Of particular interest, movie advertisers promote their titles to this target demographic on Thursday night, in hopes of influencing what movies they see on the following Friday night, the traditional opening night for most films outside of holiday periods.[2]
The "Must See" slogan was created by Dan Holm, a NBC promo producer, during a NBC promo brainstorming session in June 1993 at NBC Burbank. "Must See TV" made its first appearance in NBC promotions in August 1993 and included the day of the week: "Must See TV Thursday." In late summer of 1993, NBC wanted viewers to tune in an hour prior to Seinfeld, and created the "Must See TV" slogan to brand the comedy block. The first "Must See TV" block promo aired during late summer repeats and promoted Mad About You, Wings, and Seinfeld – Frasier had not yet premiered. It ended with the words "Get home early for Must See TV Thursday." The "Must See TV" slogan continued in every NBC Thursday night comedy promo throughout the 1993 television season to promote the 8 – 10 p.m. comedy block. When Frasier and Wings moved to Tuesday nights, NBC expanded the second season of the "Must See TV" brand to include the Tuesday night comedy block: "Must See TV Tuesday."
Branding the quality Thursday night line-up began as early as the 1982 fall slogan, which promoted Fame, Cheers, Taxi, and Hill Street Blues as "America's Best Night of Television on Television."
On November 3, 1994, NBC's Thursday night lineup featured the "blackout Thursday", where three of four sitcoms on primetime had a storyline involving a power outage.[3] Starting with Mad About You episode "Pandora's Box", where Jamie Buchman accidentally causes the blackout while trying to steal cable; continuing with Friends episode "The One with the Blackout", where Chandler is trapped in an ATM vestibule with Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre; then a Seinfeld non-blackout episode "The Gymnast"; and ending with Madman of the People episode "Birthday in the Big House".
Other series and specials
Several series aired on Thursdays to take advantage of the huge audience. These series include: FM (summer 1990), Quantum Leap (summer 1990), Blossom (July 5, 1990), Ferris Bueller (August 23, 1990), Parenthood (September 6, 1990; repeat of pilot), Law & Order (September 13, 1990; October 4, 1990; October 11, 1990; June 2, 1994; spring 1997), American Dreamer (September 20, 1990), Sisters (summer 1991), The Adventures of Mark and Brian, Reasonable Doubts (September 26, 1991), The Torkelsons (January 9, 1992), Home Fires (June 25, 1992), Dateline NBC (October 8, 1992; July 29, 1993; March 31, 1994; June 16, 1994; June 30, 1994; July 7, 1994; July 14, 1994; July 28, 1994; August 4, 1994; August 11, 1994; August 25, 1994; September 1, 1994; September 1, 2005), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (November 5, 1992), South Beach (August 12, 1993), First Person with Maria Shriver (August 26, 1993; July 21, 1994), seaQuest DSV (December 30, 1993), Sweet Justice (September 15, 1994), Prince Street (March 6, 1997), NewsRadio (June 1997), Men Behaving Badly (U.S. TV series) (summer 1997: June 12, 1997), 3rd Rock from the Sun (July 9, 1998), Las Vegas (July 8, 2004), Medical Investigation (September 9, 2004), Medium (January 6, 2005)
- Specials: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: 28th Anniversary (September 27, 1990), Bob Hope's Star-Studded Comedy Special of the New Season (September 1991), The Funny Women of Television (October 24, 1991), The Comedy Store's 20th Anniversary (September 24, 1992), A Spinal Tap Reunion (December 31, 1992), Hillary: America's First Lady (June 10, 1993), Michael Jordan Special (August 5, 1993), The Seinfeld Story (November 2004), The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: 29th Anniversary
Summer programming
Series airing on Must See TV during the summer: Come To Papa, Last Comic Standing, Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, The Law Firm, Windfall, and Love Bites.
TV ratings
Highest Rated Episode: 84 million viewers (Cheers: Series Finale; May 1993; 9-10:30pm) Highest Rated Episode (Drama): 48 million viewers (ER: Hell and High Water; November 1995; 10pm)
Decline
By the early 2000s, the "Must See TV" slogan had fallen by the wayside in NBC's promotions; more importantly, NBC had gone from the top-rated network on Thursday nights to second behind CBS, eventually third behind ABC and ultimately a distant fourth behind Fox. NBC failed to develop hit shows to replace long-running staples Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld and, to a lesser extent, Will and Grace.
After airing a two-hour comedy block on Thursday for 21 straight seasons, NBC broke with tradition in 2004 by replacing the 9pm hour with hour-long reality show The Apprentice, although its Thursday night lineup retained its top 20 position.[4]
Other networks' Thursday programming have also gotten increasingly stronger. CBS was first to break through with the Thursday-night schedule of Survivor, CSI, and later Without a Trace. In Fall 2012, CBS moved highly rated comedy, which had become the highest rated sitcom in the U.S., The Big Bang Theory to the Thursday 8:00pm slot, and Two and a Half Men to the 8:30pm slot, which have earned very strong ratings. ABC had success on Thursday nights with its hit reality series, Dancing with the Stars. In fall 2006, Grey's Anatomy was moved to Thursdays to counter CSI; ABC's lineup of Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy has proved successful in the 18-49-year-old demographic.
The "Must See TV" slogan reappeared briefly in early 2006 with the addition of two critically acclaimed and ratings-successful comedies, My Name Is Earl and The Office. This was an attempt to re-establish a four-sitcom block after the rise and fall of The Apprentice, which was moved to Monday nights.
In November 2006, NBC rebranded the Thursday format with a new different slogan, "Comedy Night Done Right", and added Scrubs and 30 Rock to the lineup, forming an entire lineup of comedy series without laugh tracks or the multiple-camera setup typical of past Must See TV comedies.[5]
In January 2011, NBC rebranded the night once again, renaming it "Comedy Night Done Right - All Night", adding a third hour of comedies at 10pm. The three hour comedy block was disbanded in the fall of 2011, when the night reverted to two hours of comedies and one drama and, in 2012, two hours of comedy and the news magazine Rock Center.
Change and record Lows
Prior to the 2013 fall season, NBC cancelled or ended nine of its eleven comedies, including long-running 30 Rock and The Office, in an effort to broaden its comedy lineup. [6] In May 2013, NBC picked-up three family comedies (The Michael J. Fox Show, Sean Saves the World, and Welcome to the Family) and rebranded its Thursday night lineup as "NBC's New Family of Comedies" for the fall season. [7]
The debut of The Michael J. Fox Show was the lowest-rated Thursday fall comedy series premiere in network history. [8] One week later, the debut of Welcome to the Family became the new record-holder, with Sean Saves the World ranking as the second lowest ever. [9]
On October 10, 2013, NBC tied an all time low on Thursday nights (tied with May 17, 2012), while finishing in seventh place. [10]
On November 21, 2013, NBC averaged a 1.0 in the adults 18-49 age bracket, its lowest ever in-season average for regularly scheduled programming on the night. [11] On the same night, The CW defeated the NBC comedy block, a first for the network.
NBC Thursday-night lineup history
- Lime indicates the #1 most-watched program of the season.[12]
- Yellow indicates the top-10 most-watched programs of the season.
- Cyan indicates the top-20 most watched programs of the season.
- Magenta indicates the top-30 most watched programs of the season.
- Orange indicates the top-40 most watched programs of the season.
- Silver indicates the top-50 most watched programs of the season.
^1 Because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, shows that would regularly air were replaced with repeats and unscripted television.
References
- ^ Schneider, Michael (May 13, 2006). "Peacock pulls back on 'Must See' revival". Variety.
- ^ Lamonica, Paul (October 16, 2006). "NBC's Heroic Return". CNN/Money.
- ^ http://www.poobala.com/blackout.html
- ^ Crawford, Krysten (May 18, 2005). "Thursday TV: prized and in play". CNN/Money.
- ^ Gilbert, Matthew (January 28, 2007). "For sitcoms today, quality trumps quantity". The Boston Globe.
- ^ http://screenrant.com/nbc-ratings-comedy-shows/
- ^ http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/nbcs-2013-14-schedule-revolution-moves-to-wednesday-parenthood-to-thursday-chicago-fire-to-tuesday-blacklist-gets-post-voice-slot/
- ^ http://www.thewrap.com/early-ratings-robin-williams-easily-tops-michael-j-fox/
- ^ http://www.adweek.com/news/television/nbc-s-thursday-night-comedies-fall-flat-152915
- ^ http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/nbc-ratings-all-time-thursday-low/
- ^ http://www.deadline.com/2013/11/ratings-big-bang-theory-nbc-lo/
- ^ "Die Season ist vorbei: Amerikas heißeste Liste". quotenmeter.de. 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
- ^ "'Scrubs' Returns as NBC Remakes Thursdays". Zap2It. 2006-10-25.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2007-03-13). "NBC switches "30 Rock," "Scrubs"". Yahoo!.
- ^ "NBC Orders Extra 'Office,' 'Earl'". Zap2It.com. 2007-05-14.
- ^ "NBC Slots 'Medium,' Firms Up Schedule". Zap2It.com. 2007-12-07.
- ^ "'30 Rock,' 'Scrubs' Swap Timeslots". Zap2It.com. 2008–5-22.
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