...This can't be good. According to Variety, there's a 50/50 chance that Frasier will be moved out of the 9.00pm slot, to be replaced by... Will and Grace. Either NBC didn't get *any* more seasons out of the Friends cast, they didn't get as many as they were hoping, or they don't have the faith in the show to carry the slot. Worried it might get slaughtered by Regis and co.?
In happier news, the same report also says that Veronica's Closet and Jesse have officially been canned. Ah, we can but hope. :)
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Manh Tuong Lewis Nguyen doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
But then again, not such a stupid move when you consider Friends probably won't be around beyond next season, if they *have* resigned. It's not worth giving Friends the slot for one season, when it's already beginning to get a bit weak in the ratings as it is.
It's still the number one comedy in America. Why not put Friends at 9, Will and Grace at 8? Will and Grace would then still be nurtured, while not having to fend off Millionaire.
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Manh Tuong Lewis Nguyen doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
Point is, NBC aren't going to want to have a show in that slot for just one season, and I suspect that the cast aren't going to want to go beyond another season, for various reasons. They'll want a show that could have a long life ahead of it in that slot, not a show which is, frankly, nearing the end of its life. In two years at most, Friends will be gone, whereas Will and Grace is only a couple of seasons old, and so has a long time ahead of it. Given the ratings hell they're going through with the lineup at the moment, do you really think they're going to want to try and stablise the ratings by putting Friends in the slot when they don't even know how long it's going to be around for? Not worth the hassle; they may as well put in a popular show that still has the potential to go for a good few years.
That, and I'm willing to bet that they just plain don't want to risk Friends going up against Millionaire, especially with that pesky 13% ratings slump.
Will and Grace still needs nurturing. To put it on the network's best sitcome timeslot against a giant like Millionaire seems like a giant leap of faith. Will and Grace can't even beat Dharma and Greg, for Heaven's sake! How do you think W&G will hold as the linchpin of Thursday's Must-See-TV lineup. By putting it on 8 on Thursday, it won't have nearly as much competition. And when Friends is over, move W&G to 9. Hardly a revolutionary move. Would Americans feel all out of joint if Friends suddenly moved to 9?
Lewis.
Well, ratings for Will and Grace are down too. So, what can ya do?
No, but the ratings for Friends would really drop if it was against Regis. So, why go through all the trouble of signing on the 6 Friends for a huge amount of money, just to have the show struggle for its last year. Moving Frasier back to Thursday somewhat solidifies the "Pillar" concept of maintaining 2 strong days a week for NBC. And, by moving an 8pm show to 9pm opposite Millionaire, NBC might carry over some viewers who would rather watch W&G than Millionaire because they have been fans for the last two years. In my opinion, it's a great chance at getting some ratings back while keeping the two strong days.
I don't think so. Without Millionaire, Friends moving to 9 would signal a signficant increase in viewers, from parents who put the kids to bed, from adults who are done with chores and get sit back and watch tv, and from ER viewers settling to see the doctors do their thing (the send-off for JM caused a gigantic increase in ratings for Frasier last night). So even with Millionaire, there might not be as big an increase, but increase there will be.
Because it won't.
Moving
The audience for W&G and Friends are pretty much identical. So W&G will do well at 8. Friends viewers used to this timeslot will watch W&G instead. And in two years, this Millionaire phenom will die down, allowing W&G to gain that spot and dominate.