Here are the other three reasons the show deserves a second chance:

Byn: Weaver95: the entire concept of 'prime time' is obsolete. ditto for ratings.

Yep.

This. Schedule means nothing.
Streaming and 'on demand' are how shows are watched now.

Screw you, subby, for reminding me of Terriers.

Physical Education (new window) is one of the best episodes on TV ever and I think even ranks as high art. It's good, very, very good.

Any show that gets Joel McHale and Blake Clark down to skivvies (and less) in prime time is great.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: adamgreeney: I watched an episode of BBT on a flight last month, and despite the smooth ride, i had reason to use the motion sickness bag.

It isnt clever, and the "geek" humor is surface and insulting. Its thrown in to look geeky, but it has no concept of the culture and does nothing but insult us.

It seems like TBBT goes out of its way to pander, and ends up failing spectacularly.

I never watched it until september. I love it. Sure, the geek humor is pedestrian, but Sheldon is where the show excels. His quirks and OCD, borderline Aspergers, most can relate to it. Especially when he freaks about the neighbors moving out because of who may move in, or not understanding the needless drama most people interject into their lives.

Didn't they as this about arrested development?

/ still waiting

How long until the networks figure out "schedules" don't even matter. We watch what we want when we want. And if we could just see everything on demand we'd likely watch more of their shiat.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener:

It's upsetting that it isn't getting the attention that The Big Bang Theory is getting. This is indeed the darkest possible timeline.

Nice reference but there could be darker timelines.

Hey Subby, way to Brita the headline.

For those into the 'geek and pop-culture' sit-coms, check out "Spaced" (which is now on Netflix). Doubly so if you are into British comedies and/or Simon Pegg.

/Pretty sure the house in Spaced is the same one from "The Young Ones"

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: adamgreeney: I watched an episode of BBT on a flight last month, and despite the smooth ride, i had reason to use the motion sickness bag.

It isnt clever, and the "geek" humor is surface and insulting. Its thrown in to look geeky, but it has no concept of the culture and does nothing but insult us.

It seems like TBBT goes out of its way to pander, and ends up failing spectacularly.

THIS. I use to like big bang theory but it has just gotten so bad in the last few seasons. The writing has gone downhill tremendously and every episode is about who is gonna hook up with who, it's like a semi nerdy Friends and I freaking hated that show.


If Community dies at NBC it needs to be sold off to FX or some other network so it can live on. Long live Alison Bries breasts.

SharkTrager: How long until the networks figure out "schedules" don't even matter. We watch what we want when we want. And if we could just see everything on demand we'd likely watch more of their shiat.

Im wondering why they still haven't figured it out yet.nobody except old baby boomers have time to sit at a TV and watch their shows. Only one of my friends I know even have cable and he does it because he is a lazy guy who loves way to many sports. Other than him no one pays for TV we either watch it on Netflix, Hulu, or torrent the stuff from private trackers. I would of thought people would of understood this after the whole Conan vs Jay Leno thing when they tried to realize that his audience is the more technologically oriented and not going to sit down and watch it that night.

Execs need to start getting a clue and realize how things work because right now all the good stuff gets canceled mostly because people don't have time to sit a TV and watch it.

adamgreeney: I watched an episode of BBT on a flight last month, and despite the smooth ride, i had reason to use the motion sickness bag.

It isnt clever, and the "geek" humor is surface and insulting. Its thrown in to look geeky, but it has no concept of the culture and does nothing but insult us.


THIS.

At least they made it to regionals.

Old school content companies still don't take the internet seriously in 2012, more at 11.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: It's upsetting that it isn't getting the attention that The Big Bang Theory is getting. This is indeed the darkest possible timeline.

TBBT is the 'smart' show for dumb people. Community is the dumb show for smart people.

FishyFred: FeedTheCollapse: I've always thought it odd that some network executive hasn't figured out how to put programming on Saturdays or not turned Friday night into a deathslot.

That's more than a little ambitious/crazy. Saturday Night Live only happens about once in a generation.

Not necessarily. In the 1970s, Saturday night WAS the night for television especially CBS. I mean check out this lineup that was in 1973-1974 for CBS:

8:00 All in the Family
8:30 M*A*S*H*
9:00 Mary Tyler Moore Show
9:30 Bob Newhart Show
10:00 Carol Burnett Show

That's quite a powerhouse lineup to say the least. They also had The Jeffersons mixed in there in the later 70s.

I don't think it's really about the day of the week but rather the quality of the shows that are being displayed. If the shows are good enough, then people will watch. Well...at least they SHOULD watch. I think some of the issue with some shows is that it either is hidden and stashed away in the worst possible timeslot (basically anything on Fridays these days) or it's moved around so much that you don't ever really end up catching it until it hits syndications (That's how it was for Newsradio throughout its entire time...even though the fifth season was a lost cause since the show basically died w/ Phil Hartman)

/TV nerd
//Wasn't born yet in the 70s but grew up on a lot of Nick at Nite

Neilsen is broken. And behind the times. And TV executives cling to an outdated model of how to define "success".

Adding in at least one last bit that I forgot:

The internet, however, is changing things, so I could be entirely wrong and have made you all dumber as a result. Sorry bout that.

TheGhostofFarkPast: SharkTrager: How long until the networks figure out "schedules" don't even matter. We watch what we want when we want. And if we could just see everything on demand we'd likely watch more of their shiat.

Im wondering why they still haven't figured it out yet.nobody except old baby boomers have time to sit at a TV and watch their shows. Only one of my friends I know even have cable and he does it because he is a lazy guy who loves way to many sports. Other than him no one pays for TV we either watch it on Netflix, Hulu, or torrent the stuff from private trackers. I would of thought people would of understood this after the whole Conan vs Jay Leno thing when they tried to realize that his audience is the more technologically oriented and not going to sit down and watch it that night.

Execs need to start getting a clue and realize how things work because right now all the good stuff gets canceled mostly because people don't have time to sit a TV and watch it.


It's not entirely the networks that are ignorant as it is the advertisers. They're not going to take the networks word for it since the networks are the ones wanting their ad money. It's not going to change until the advertisers figure it out for themselves.

Weaver95: the entire concept of 'prime time' is obsolete. ditto for ratings.

Yes. Two things matter now:

1. How many people will pay cash to download this?
2. How many people are not willing to do #1, but will watch a stream of the show (that includes ads).

If the total profit from #1 and #2 exceeds the cost of the show, let it live and just distribute it online.

Instead people like HBO refuse to distribute Game of Thrones on iTunes, a Hulu like service or anything else and demand I pay for cable to see their product. So instead I visit Project Free TV. I assume this is because HBO doesn't like free money (sans their bandwidth costs to give me the show).

FeedTheCollapse: SharkTrager: How long until the networks figure out "schedules" don't even matter. We watch what we want when we want. And if we could just see everything on demand we'd likely watch more of their shiat.

I've always thought it odd that some network executive hasn't figured out how to put programming on Saturdays or not turned Friday night into a deathslot. It seems like only recently some of the network have figured out that they could get away with non-reruns during summertime...

Hell, Miami Vice was on Friday and it was must see at the time. But they still haven't figured out it can work.

I must be a weirdo, I like TBBT, and Community. I like Community better, and I haven't seen TBBT lately, but I will admit to liking both.

The shows I don't get are 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation. They are just the SNL rejects that aren't funny not being funny. I know people who just love both shows, but I don't understand why.

/to each his own, I guess

Any Pie Left: Neilsen is broken. And behind the times. And TV executives cling to an outdated model of how to define "success".

No they're not. They define success in only one way: how much money a production makes them relative to how much it costs. The way it makes them money is by selling advertising. Advertisers rely on ratings systems to determine which shows are worthwhile for purchasing advertising.

It's all fine and good to say, "Go a la carte!" or "Just sell straight to the customer!" but that's a huge shift in business models for these companies. They'd basically be completely changing who they do business with, and that's not a change that can happen quickly, if at all.

As for things like HBO, I doubt they could legally put their programming on Hulu or similar services. They might not use ads as a revenue stream, but that's because cable services pay them money to get their programming. The cable providers in turn charge their customers for the privilege of seeing premium channels. I imagine that HBO's contracts with cable providers prevent HBO from providing their programming on a direct-to-customer basis (or at least limit it).

Seth'n'Spectrum: Screw you, subby, for reminding me of Terriers.

Came here to say Terriers is the only fog that deserves another chance.

Seth'n'Spectrum: Screw you, subby, for reminding me of Terriers.

*dog

t3knomanser: Any Pie Left: Neilsen is broken. And behind the times. And TV executives cling to an outdated model of how to define "success".

No they're not. They define success in only one way: how much money a production makes them relative to how much it costs. The way it makes them money is by selling advertising. Advertisers rely on ratings systems to determine which shows are worthwhile for purchasing advertising.

It's all fine and good to say, "Go a la carte!" or "Just sell straight to the customer!" but that's a huge shift in business models for these companies. They'd basically be completely changing who they do business with, and that's not a change that can happen quickly, if at all.

As for things like HBO, I doubt they could legally put their programming on Hulu or similar services. They might not use ads as a revenue stream, but that's because cable services pay them money to get their programming. The cable providers in turn charge their customers for the privilege of seeing premium channels. I imagine that HBO's contracts with cable providers prevent HBO from providing their programming on a direct-to-customer basis (or at least limit it).

Oh I think it probably could. But they'd prefer not to go to any trouble,

InfidelSavant: Oh I think it probably could. But they'd prefer not to go to any trouble,

I'm not certain that a company engaged in B2B operations can transition to a B2C business and actually remain the same business. It's difficult and expensive. Even the odd wholesaler that goes B2C via a web storefront usually still keeps the lion's share of their business on the B2B side.

There's a lot of hurdles- from managing distribution and collections, setting pricing, to a million other things. The only way I could actually see it happening is if a third party, like a Google type company, stepped in and said, "Look, we're building this network and we want your content on here. Here's a check with a big pile of zeroes on it that should answer any questions you might have."

Any Pie Left: Neilsen is broken. And behind the times. And TV executives cling to an outdated model of how to define "success".

Just wait until someone does a study on the effectiveness of advertising on demographics and media types. TV is generally older audiences who are already brand loyal, younger audiences are more likely to try out new products hence why they are targeted by advertisers. I typically zone out all advertising except for the hulu recommendations but maybe that is just me (20-30 Male).