ARTICLE - Remember 'Friends,' Content is King

Recently I began to rediscover what is likely the best 3-camera (more commonly know as "situation" comedy or "sit-com") television program ever. Friends. The premise was brilliantly simple. 6 friends living in New York. It was Universal. We all knew people like the characters, and we could all be identified as one or a combination of them. It was extremely well written. Its universality still holds up against a decade of time. And it was also, in fairness, extremely well acted. The best episodes are easily those with as little fanfare as possible, where it's just the six friends in Monica's apartment. Like a great piece of comedic theater.

I could easily make the argument that Friends  killed the 3-camera sitcom because it was just so dang good. See Modern Family's, Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm's and the format for 'just about every comedy on television now''s single camera format and their corresponding popularity and the ratings for what three camera comedies are now airing. (How I met Your Mother being, admittedly, the shining star to date with 2 1/2 Men quickly deflating as the novelty of Ashton Kutcher wears off).

But none of them are Friends. That piece of genius was the brain child of Co-Creater Marta Kauffman. And it wasn't so long ago that between Friends and Seinfeld, NBC was the king of Thursday and the king of the ratings race among networks. It was a good time to be an NBC executive, I'm sure. But .. things have changed. NBC is now consistently among the bottom of ratings in overall, the key 18-25 demo and the adult 25-59 demo.

So, I must admit, I was slightly taken aback when it was announced today that Marta Kauffman just landed a huge deal over at NBC rival ABC.  Selling two premises for new shows: A kitchen musical, appropriately titled The Kitchen Musical and The Red Band Society based on young hospital patients. I'm not surprised she sold them, but that she sold them to ABC (in what sounds like a very lucrative deal for her btw). Because it was also announced today that NBC bought an untitled comedy from Andrea Savage (who?) and Jay Roach (of Meet the Parents) which is described as:

The untitled comedy centers on a woman who prides herself on her humor and edge and refuses to become typical after becoming a parent for the first time.

In other words, very similar to a million other comedies that have been tried and have failed a dozen times over. See every comedy bought this last season, or any other season, that was created by a female.

So ABC paid handsomely for what seems to be very "unique" content that you will not be able to find anywhere else, from a former NBC creative that gave NBC one of the biggest shows of all time, on the same day NBC bought a run of the mill comedy from Savage/Roach.

MY PREDICTION: One of the two shows by Kauffman becomes a hit. Possibly both. Savage/Roach's comedy might be ordered past the pilot if they can get a good writing team together, but the lack of originality in the premise keeps audiences away and it doesn't make it past the first season. If it even gets picked up for series.

Oh NBC. You were once must watch TV. What happened?  

UPDATE (3:00 pm): NBC buys Jim Gaffigan (who I love) "Family Comedy." 


Gaffigan will write and star in the project based on his life as a lazy man, married to a strong woman, raising 4 children in a 2 bedroom apartment in New York City.


Hm. ... That sounds REALLY unique doesn't it? (note my tone of sarcasm). NBC's one hope here is Gaffigan has enough of a fan base to pull in an audience. And he does have some stalwart fans, I'll give him that. But so did Hank Azaria, and that couldn't save a much more interesting and unique show about agents - Free Agents. *wah wah.*