Friday Night Lights Bleeding Viewers
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I don't know why NBC renewed FNL over Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. They both were ratings challenged but there is a huge difference between the talent behind FNL and television master Aaron Sorkin. If things don't change, FNL won't be hanging around much longer, which makes 30 Rock next. Both FNL and 30 Rock should have been canceled and those resources shifted over to the stellar Studio 60 last year. It's a miracle that NBC had Heroes dropped in its lap and didn't somehow screw it up.
Not surprisingly, the addition of "Murder Club" to the night affected drama competitors "Moonlight" on CBS (prelim 2.0/6 in 18-49, 7.3 million) and "Friday Night Lights" on NBC (prelim 1.7/5 in 18-49, 5.4 million). "Moonlight" was down a couple of ticks week to week to its lowest score in three tries, while "Friday" fumbled away 19% of its audience from the previous week when it kicked off its second season with credible numbers. (Variety)
Some people rave about this show but hardly anybody watches it - those numbers are like half of what Studio 60 was pulling when NBC axed it.
October 16, 2007 12:11 AM | Reply
The reasons FNL was kept rather than Studio 60, besides actually being a good show, is that FNL has a cast of nobodies making more or less television minimum, while Studio 60 was a cast of all stars making a shit load of money. You can tell that show cost a boat load because once it became obvious that the show wasn't surviving they cut show costs dramatically, major characters would disappear for episodes and far less effort and money was put into the stage.