THE BOOK OF LIFE RECAP

Twenty shows premiered on the five broadcast networks this fall. They were all entered into The Book of Life. Entries were made following three telecasts. Here's the summary:

BUY THE DELI PLATTER AND PAY A SHIVA CALL (stick a fork in it, it's done)
MINORITY REPORT
HEROES REBORN
THE PLAYER
BLOOD AND OIL
CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
WICKED CITY

WILL CELEBRATE THEIR B'NAI MITZVAH (will get to 13 on the air)
THE MUPPETS
GRANDFATHERED

SET A PLACE AT THE SEDER TABLE (should finish the full season)
LIFE IN PIECES
ROSEWOOD
GRINDER

SEE YOU AT NEXT YEAR'S KOL NIDRE SERVICE (there's a second season)
BLINDSPOT
LIMITLESS
SCREAM QUEENS
QUANTICO
CODE BLACK
DR.KEN
SUPERGIRL
CHICAGO MED

So how did I do now that we are pretty much through the fourth quarter. Well I may have been a bit harsh on HEROES REBORN although I don't expect it to return for another season. I like CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND....a lot. Happy CW ordered more episodes but still with that JANE THE VIRGIN had a bit more support in its second season. THE MUPPETS and GRANDFATHERED look like they will go beyond 13 but I don't expect either to return for another year. LIFE IN PIECES and ROSEWOOD have probably increased their chances of returning for a second season. I still think the eight shows I thought would return for a second season will do just that.

Schedulers are generally a pretty conservative bunch when it comes to advocating the cancellation of a show. Historically they have operated in a world where development is a game and an addiction. There is a belief that 'we can always do better" when all the evidence points to the reality that we are far more likely to do worse.

Early in my scheduling career I asked the NBC audience measurement group the following question: In the fall, how many hours of new programming can we put on before we are better off keeping the current shows? I asked this not specifically about NBC but about network television in general. The answer: After two hours a network is better off holding on to what they've got than in adding more new product.

I asked the question out of frustration with the culture of network TV where there were far more people interested in developing and marketing new stuff than there were people in preserving and nurturing the current shows. Although I showed this research to whoever would listen we continued, as did the other networks on most occasions (this was the early 90's), to add far more than two hours of new product every fall.

There are several reasons why the broadcast network share of the audience has eroded over time. There are many that were beyond our control; but I do believe that the obsession with adding new product was something we could control....and we didn't. The good thing about all this talk of the aggregated audience may finally convince executives to believe what schedulers have known for decades: Stick with what you've got. So, for me, I hope more shows are given a shot at growing for a second season. I do believe that some of the rules of the game need to change so that there is less pressure on the business to cancel series.

Ladies and Gentlemen The Crown Prince of Reggae Mr. Dennis Brown