NBC announces plans to schedule year-round television :: Culture News :: Articles

[Above: The cast of NBC's The Office]

Back in 1991, Fox, a then-fledgling network, unveiled a revolutionary plan to show new episodes of its struggling teen drama Beverly Hills 90210 over the summer. Critics were astounded. Who would watch TV over the summer? Wouldn't most folks rather spend the warm nights outside enjoying nature, rather than plopped in front of the tube?

Of course not. After all, this is America! Land of the free and home of the obese! Sandwiches for all! We kid, of course...but mostly because we're worried about CIA operatives silencing our dissenting voice.

ANYWAY...

90210's summer run strengthened the show, and it quickly became the most watched program by the coveted teenage demographic. However, even in the face of its summer success, networks remained weary of trotting out new programming in the warmer months, preferring to focus on the fall and (more recently) winter months to unveil anything but reality television hits like Big Brother and Survivor.

That was then. Ben Silverman is now. Yesterday, the co-chairman and other head honchos of NBC Entertainment unveiled plans to bravely go where no network has gone before—into 52-week prime-time programming. Announced yesterday by Jeff Zucker, president/CEO of NBC Universal, the format will reflect "today's multiplatform media environment," and help to quell what he calls an "insatiable desire for new content year round."

Silverman, a favorite of New York magazine's Vulture blog for his boy-wonder-slash-mad-genius ways, has already begun to change the face of television as we know it (or perhaps it's more accurate to say begun to change it back to how we knew it...in the '90s). Since 2008 began, new programs like American Gladiators and Knight Rider have popped up on NBC in an attempt to move the network out of its current spot at the bottom of the barrel. So far, there seems to be a method to Silverman's madness - American Gladiators had the highest ratings of any premiere this season, and the Knight Rider TV movie scored better ratings than anything else in its time slot.

All of which begs the question of whether the network can continue to pump out enough quality programming to keep viewers interested over those endless summer days. Can Silverman continue his hot streak? Or is this all just an attempt to punish TV writers for their strike earlier this year?

In true network television fashion, the answers to these questions, and more, will unfold over the coming weeks. In the meantime, watch the following trailer for the original Knight Rider. But remember...

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