Thank God You're Here, Now Where the Hell's Studio 60?

NBC has been running a very mundane improvisational show called Thank God You're Here in the 8-10:00 Monday night timeslots. They haven't completely canceled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip yet, but Black Donnellys didn't even do as well as Studio 60 which they replaced due to low ratings.

Studio 60 is a truly great show with quite possibly the best ensemble cast ever assembled for a TV show. It was just starting to hit its stride when they removed it from the air. Some people complained that they'd begun getting too involved in the interpersonal character relationships, which slowed the pace and created a heavier tone, which turned some viewers off. I agree that they were spending a lot more time on the relationship angle than was necessary - possibly to the point that it was overshadowing the rest of the concept - but I tend to think its timeslot was the real problem; 9:00 Mondays belongs to CSI: Miami and has for like 5-6 years. Were they to give Studio 60 a shot in a different time period, I believe it would find its audience.

And yes, the focus on the relationships was getting old and they were losing the real focus of the show, which should have been the faux-show around which everything is centered. But Studio 60 did a really good job of handling such a large cast. Come to think of it, following Heroes might not have been so good for it either, since Heroes also has a large cast (and handles it bumblingly, when it manages to handle it at all).

NBC: bring back Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and kill this semi-reality TV horseshit you've got going. The Real Wedding Crashers? Really, NBC? I mean, really? If you're going to lay an egg in the timeslot, why not make it golden? By this time - since you pulled it - Studio 60 would have found its audience, hit its first season stride, and probably be climbing in the ratings (at the very least, have stabilized). It's a large cast dramedy about a network sketch show - that's a tall order to start with! And yet, the acting, characters, and writing drew in a lot of people and that says something about its strength, even if it's a high-concept show with limited appeal.