If NBC is thinking about winning over women on Wednesday nights, it might want to rethink its strategy. “The Mysteries of Laura,” a new Debra Messing show about a tightly wound cop trying to be a good mom premiered last night, upsetting critics and fans.
Next week, it will open for Chicago P.D. and Law and Order: SVU — both of which have strong social media followings.
Marketing the lineup as #WCW just feels weird. “Women Crush Wednesday” is problematic for many reasons, the first of which is that it’s juvenile. Either you are targeting middle school girls with Instagram accounts for your Wednesday night lineup, or you’re trying to emulate ABC’s Shondaland Thursdays and have totally missed the mark. Neither situation is ideal or makes sense.
And then there’s the fact that the Debra Messing is apparently doomed on NBC (remember “Smash?”).
No one seems happy about the new programming:
And me on MYSTERIES OF LAURA: “You can have it all! You can be a terrible cop show AND a terrible parenting show.” http://t.co/LQ9RHmSGX2
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) September 17, 2014
‘The Mysteries of Laura’s’ Biggest Mystery: How Did This Show Get Made in 2014? http://t.co/QQjpehhdvw — Flavorwire (@flavorwire) September 18, 2014
On Mysteries of Laura there’s a scene in which a woman is supposed to be uptight. So they put her hair in a bun and made her purse her lips. — Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) September 18, 2014
Watched “The Mysteries of Laura” and the mystery is how this horrible show got on the air. — Mommy Unit (@MommyUnit) September 18, 2014
Holy mother of god Mysteries of Laura did a 2.1. That’s like 25% better than New Girl. I mean, good for MoL keeping that lead-in audience.
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) September 18, 2014
But the actual ratings were pretty good, which is a surprise. If they can keep it up, good for them. Just try not to #WCW. There’s got to be a better hashtag.