TV Execs: The sitcom is dead! Uh… we killed it…

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 27th, 2005

The television executives have once again been embarassed. At least they didn’t embarass themselves this time– they left it to someone else, a report by a media buying firm. Cynthia Littleton, for the Hollywood Reporter, in an article on how wonderful the numbers were on the debuts of Everybody Hates Chris and My Name Is Earl:

A study released this month by media buying agency Magna Global found that despite the conventional comedy-is-dead wisdom, viewers actually are watching slightly more comedy programming on TV these days per week than they did 10 years ago (or 4.58 hours per week per household last season, compared with 4.14 hours per week in the 1994-95 season, to be specific.)

The big difference is the source of those laughs. Ten years ago, most comedy viewing stemmed from first-run broadcast network programs. According to Magna Global’s study of Nielsen Media Research data, nowadays the majority of time is spent on repeats of vintage and contemporary shows — think Friends, Seinfeld, Home
Improvement and The Simpsons— via cable and off-network syndication.

As Magna Global analyst Steve Sternberg notes in his “Comedies on Television” report, viewers haven’t given up on the notion of small-screen yucks, they’re just spending time with their favorites while “waiting for a new one to join the club.”

It’s an industry cliche that the next big comedy hit is going to come out of left field from the most unexpected source. If last week is any indication, the leading edge of left field this season just might be 8 p.m. Thursday night on UPN.

Sitcoms are dead, say the execs, with finality, every chance they get. Well, yes and no. The sitcoms you have been creating might lead one to believe that. If you build good ones, they will come.

Of course, the critics and the media don’t help the situation any. Note the article above. The headline of Littleton’s piece was “Comedy still kicking as ‘Chris,’ ‘Earl’ sizzle,” but the “leading edge of left field” leaves out mention of Earl (Tuesdays at 9, for those of you with clocks and/or calendars). The media and critical frenzy centered on Rock’s sitcom has been way out of proportion. (We haven’t seen either show, but we were totally oblivious to Earl and we couldn’t get away from hype about Chris.) So, while Earl may be a better show, expect three or four clones of Rock’s show to be greenlighted in the next few months, as the TV goofballs seek to please the critics and media.

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