Yesterday's LA Times had an article about Seinfeld and the move to Thursday, which had some interesting tidbits.
- As everybody already knows, it finished fifth with its highest ratings ever, tied with HI and a notch above Cheers, which was 7th. It is the first time since 1982 that the show following Cheers has increased the audience. Back then it was Taxi. It is the top-rated show with adults 18 to 49, which is very desirable by the advertisers.
- "...it has been viewed as an upscale, urban TV series hip enough to play in LA and NY but supposedly a puzzle to the rest of the country." Wrong. When I lived in St. Louis, the reception there was such that Jerry passed up the bigger markets for his New Year's Eve show one year in gratitude. Jerry says "It's nice to have that stigma of being a cult hit removed..."
- They make it sound as if NBC moved Seinfeld to face HI, when in face they were already in that slot and it was the other way around. "Seinfeld's sophisticated humor was short-circuited by the mass appeal of Tim Allen and his power tools..." According to NBC's programming VP, "I'll be perfectly honest: 'HI' won the battle. 'Seinfeld' wasn't showing signs of improving. It was literally wallowing. We had to get it out of there. It wasn't a time to be proud."
- Seinfeld says "You have a lot of people watching 'Cheers'... and they're like a built-in audience. Then you add to them our audience, which follows us wherever we go. I guess it has added up to a substantial figure." Speculation is that Seinfeld will take over 9 pm slot next year. "We're in the apprenticeship program," JLD said with a laugh.
- There has been talk about moving Mad About You back with Seinfeld. It has improved its ratings on Saturdays. But there is also a Cheers spinoff that may be scheduled there. They expect the final episode of Cheers to be one of the most-watched entertainment shows in history, with 30-second spots going for $600,000.
- And very important: SEINFELD IS GOING INTO SYNDICATION NEXT YEAR! There are 60-some episodes that will be used.
John