Mr. TV: A Sporting Chance

In what is arguably one of the worst prime-time seasons in the history of NBC, there is some relief on the horizon: the XXI Olympic Winter Games, live from Vancouver, B.C., Canada, which kicks off with the opening ceremonies this Friday. Needless to say, NBC will dominate over the next two weeks. But when a network is this down in the dumps, chances are ratings for an event of this magnitude will likely be lower than if it had aired on ABC, CBS or Fox. And that, naturally, limits the promotional platform that NBC so desperately needs.While I don’t plan to watch much of the games, it was the 1998 Winter Olympics from Nagano, Japan, that actually helped land me my current job. At the time I was working at TV rep firm Seltel in programming and was asked to write a daily analysis on the ratings each day via e-mail. When the e-mail format took off, I eventually started crunching other dayparts and ultimately added a trivia question because one of the higher-ups at the time wanted to make sure it was a “fun read.” That put me on Mediaweek’s radar, and when I was hired, I turned it into the Programming Insider newsletter. Flash to the present, and I’ve written an estimated 2,600 trivia questions to date for Mediaweek. Now, if only I could get that trivia-themed book going…Immediately following the Winter Olympics on NBC the first week of March is, of course, the return of Jay Leno to The Tonight Show and a new rotation of scripted and nonscripted programming in the 10 p.m. weeknight hour. All things considered, NBC came up with some respectable replacements: Law & Order on Monday, long-awaited new drama Parenthood on Tuesday, Law & Order: SVU on Wednesday, the new Jerry Seinfeld reality hour The Marriage Ref on Thursday and an expanded Friday edition of Dateline. Of the five, the return of SVU to its former Wednesday time-slot makes the most sense, and I actually like the idea of putting Seinfeld back on Thursday (although I wanted to barf at the recent Winter Press Tour when Seinfeld defended NBC). But I do not believe Leno, who is damaged goods now, will be able to attract his former audience levels. Now everyone has their opinions of Leno versus Conan O’Brien. But what bothers me the most is that Leno never reached out to Conan, man to man, during the whole ordeal. Sometimes you have to forget the politics and just do what’s right. Tonight on NBC is what the network is billing as the season finale of four-year-old Heroes, which immediately fell from grace after a successful first season. Considering the trouble the wilted Peacock is in, this is the last show they need for next season. I doubt it will return. This week also marks the return of my favorite reality/competition, CBS’ Survivor, which will feature former contestants in this “Heroes vs. Villains”-themed edition. This is one hour of weekly television I never miss.Opposite Survivor is the two-hour series launch of new Fox drama Past Life, the story of a psychologist with a specialty in reincarnation and past-life regression therapy who teams up with a former NYPD detective to solve crimes. You know by now that I am not the biggest fan of crime solvers. The last show of that nature that I watched regularly, in fact, was NBC’s Hill Street Blues, which signed off 23 years ago. Before that it was Mike Connors as Mannix a full decade earlier. So, no, I probably wouldn’t have sampled Past Life if I worked outside this business. But from what I saw, there is little hope for this convoluted hour of scripted mediocrity. Leading out of Bones effective next week will give Past Life some lead-in support, but it will take a miracle to survive opposite Grey’s Anatomy, CSI and The Office/30 Rock.Capping off the week on Sunday is the 16th season premiere of CBS’ multi-Emmy winner The Amazing Race. While I am not necessarily an advocate for cast stunting, I like the idea of recent Big Brother lovebirds Jordan and Jeff participating. After sitting on their rumps for three months in the Big Brother house, I hope J&J saved their energy to actually win this thing. It won’t be easy.Related: Mr. TV: Thoroughly ModernSign up for PIFeedback Today

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Mr. TV: A Sporting Chance

Marc Berman

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Marc Berman