NBC’s “Slam Dunk” Is an Egregious Foul Against Loyal Viewers
If you listen closely, you can hear the grating squeaks of sneakers against shiny hardwood.
Well, at least that’s the sound you’ll hear when NBC‘s primetime schedule in the Fall is essentially wall-to-wall basketball coverage thanks to NBC striking a deal with the NBA.
Forgive me if the noise, already like nails on a chalkboard, irks me more than ever as we lose some of the best series on primetime.
NBC Sharpened Their Axe and Swung Like Crazy
As we’ve learned, to accommodate roughly 180 hours of basketball (we’re not even getting into NBC, which also has the rights for the Olympics and other sports), the Peacock network gave lovers of scripted programming their tail feather to kiss by decimating pretty much their entire scripted lineup.
Blessed be Dick Wolf, whose Law & Order and One Chicago franchises emerge from the dust like the heroes that they are, but, hell, even they’re taking a beating come next year.
If you’ve already been in your feelings about the budget-saving measures that often include benching half the cast every other episode and series operating on skeleton crews, get used to it. Come next season, they’ll continue doubling down on those measures to keep the shows on the air.
Oh, and of course, Chicago Fire is losing at least two crucial members, and Law & Order: SVU is facing a similar cast culling.
No, not even the series that survived have earned their spots on NBC’s limited lineup unscathed, and it leaves us wondering what the quality of the shows will be like if networks sacrifice storytelling for economics.
The Business of Television Swallows Up the Art of It
It’s not just the business of television. It’s a whole art form lost in the wake of money, and it’s been to the detriment of the viewers tuning in and the people bringing these stories to life.
I get it. Sports is a million-dollar industry, and it racks up the money spent on it and some. It’s a business all on its own, and from a business perspective, it’s likely a smart maneuver for NBC.
There aren’t many sports networks existing anymore, and bringing basketball to primetime via broadcast and streaming, well, I can see the dollar signs from here.
But where does that leave the rest of us?
As broadcast continues to lean into sports and reality television to curb the cost of producing quality scripted programming, it’s like we’re holding the longest funeral for television as we know it ever.
Are we really headed toward a time when streaming networks will become the dominant force for anything scripted and worthwhile? The Pitt and Severance are brilliant, but even they don’t compare to the comforts of scripted broadcast procedurals, which have been the bread and butter of television for decades.
Constant Moves to Chase After Other Demos and Cut Costs Ignores Loyal Viewers
NBC’s decision may be the greatest move they can make. It’ll likely line their pockets quite handsomely, but I can’t help but wonder at what cost.
They’re essentially discarding millions of viewers and loyal, steady demographics spanning multiple successful series to chase after, what? Sports fans alone?
When you weigh the consequences, is it worth it in the long run? Hell, is it worth it even in the short run?
There’s already a growing sense of dissent among viewers. They’re beyond exhausted from keeping up their end of an unspoken deal only to have networks consistently disregard, disrespect, and dismiss them.
We’ve already seen how CBS has viewers fuming with its long string of cancellations and broken promises. Every decision made at the top trickles down and seeps into the shows that remain, the stories that series tell, and what our favorite characters endure.
We could barely catch our breaths from the endless stream of disappointing developments and frustrating decisions, and then NBC said, “Hold our fancy new basketball,” and sliced through its impressive lineup like a serrated blade through a filet.
It’s not just that NBC has to make all of this room for non-scripted programming, but it’s in the quality of the series that they’re willing to sacrifice for this deal.
We’re Losing Powerful Stories Beautifully Capturing the Human Experience For … What?
If you’ve followed our coverage here at TV Fanatic, you’ll know how passionately we love Found. It’s been one of the most consistently solid series of the Fall, delivering what the series always should: character-centric storytelling that connects viewers to the stories it tells.
Found is a special series. It’s earnest in its attempts to combine procedural formatting with that of a thriller, giving us nonstop twists and turns while also providing some of the most raw depictions of trauma, survival, hope, and found family onscreen.
The entire premise of a group of flawed, beautiful, determined people finding all these marginalized, forgotten individuals who fall through the cracks is inspiring.
I literally cannot think of a time when we need this series and its premise most, and to think that NBC can easily discard it as if it doesn’t matter is so deeply unsettling and upsetting that I still don’t quite have the proper words to discuss it with you.
Similarly, The Irrational is one of our most popular series, precisely because Jesse L. Martin is a charming lead, and his character and the stories the show tells MATTER.
They resonate with people because we see our stories, characters we love, and things that connect us as humans onscreen and outlined in such deeply evocative ways.
STORIES Matter. CHARACTERS Matter.
It feels like that concept gets lost, which is deeply concerning to me.
I have enjoyed stories since I was a child, whether as a voracious reader, watching films, or enjoying television series.
When did the people delivering them to us lose sight of that and stop caring? But forgive me, I’m nearly going on a tangent.
Losses like Found and The Irrational cut so deeply that there aren’t enough words for them.
We now at least know about Brilliant Minds renewal. It is another strong offering from the network, one of the best and most unique medical dramas to emerge from the year outside of The Pitt and Doc.
It’s another series with such vision and important stories to tell, but there’s no reason whatsoever why such a critically acclaimed show with strong ratings should have even been on the bubble in the first place.
The Numbers We Thought Mattered Really Don’t, So What’s the Point?
We also have now learned the news about The Hunting Party, a solid enough offering that should have the space and ample room to grow and truly flourish.
It’s prime for NBC, too, somehow akin to previous darlings The Blacklist and oddly enough Timeless. Thankfully, it has survived this slaughtering unscathed, but it’s disheartening that it even came close at all.
While it’s not entirely surprising that we’re losing Suits: LA or that the network opted to cut comedies like Lopez versus Lopez and Night Court, they don’t deserve to be casualties of something as frustrating as sports acquisition.
For so long, they’ve fed viewers the idea that everything is about ratings, requiring us to tune into our favorite series to keep them alive and kicking.
If cancellations happened, it was because we didn’t tune in enough, ratings dropped, or the correct demo didn’t lock into a series.
While ratings are a factor in cancellations and other decisions, the elusive “numbers” don’t really seem to matter anymore.
Nothing matters except the bottom line and expenses, and it’d be much easier to cope with some of these decisions if there were transparency about that rather than this endless stream of gaslighting and eternal frustration.
We’ve already discussed how series with millions of viewers can still end up on the chopping block because of unforeseen number crunching and any other barrier that is getting in the way of networks producing quality art and viewers actually getting to consume it.
It’s so disheartening.
The Death of Broadcast Continues: Where Do We Go from Here?
NBC’s latest slaughter of its scripted programming left me numb. Fans are once again pouring their heart into campaigns, rallying for their favorite series to find a new home, pleading, bargaining, and fighting like hell.
It’s the same song and dance; all we can do is hope and wish that those efforts will result in a coveted save. That a series like Found, which is reportedly getting shopped around to find a new home, will actually find it, and we’ll get more time with this delightful series and its compelling characters.
We’ll hold out hope for “hail marys” in the face of more disappointment.
But it’s such a demoralizing process. An overwhelming sense of defeat often shadows the hope, only because even if we win these small battles, there’s a larger war at play for where the television landscape is, and I don’t know what to do with it or how to process that.
Basketball may be a slam dunk for NBC, and there’s a method to this madness that many of us don’t see. It could be, I’m not delusional when it comes to the massive appeal and success of sports and what this deal means.
What’s bothersome is witnessing its cost. Sacrificing some of the best scripted broadcast has to offer to pad the network with reality television and sports, both acquired tastes in their own right, is a level of disappointment I’ve yet to fully process.
Tell me I’m not alone in this.
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