An Open Letter to NBC – Part 3

(This is a series of open letter to NBC from the writers at TVDoneWright.com.  Part one was written by Tim and Part Two was written by Adam Wright. Now here is the final, Part Three, by Darby Semeniuk)

NBC,

I’m saddened that this intervention is necessary, but the writing team at TVDoneWright.com can no longer watch you harm yourself and the viewers who have loved you for so many years. We’re here today to tell you reasons we’re worried about you, and to offer you a chance at rehabilitation before it’s too late. Otherwise, we have no choice but to shut you out of our lives for good.

Sometimes you lie. Your president Angela Bromstad said at the Television Critics Association press tour that some shows weren’t ‘on brand’ and that NBC programming needs to be relatable, about real people. Heroes fans will be disappointed to hear that superpowers, time travellers and rapid cell regenerating cheerleaders no longer fit your brand. Also, why did you program The Philanthropist, Merlin and The Listener – to varying degrees of failure – if you want to be more about real people? If fantasy, science fiction, escapism, action and melodrama work for other networks – think Fringe, Lost, Dollhouse, Ghost Whisperer, 24, Smallville, Supernatural, Torchwood, True Blood and the like – it can probably work for you too.

You don’t listen anymore. The message boards at my.nbc.com are full of rants and criticisms on your fall schedule and your recent cancellation decisions. The Twitter community was on fire trying to save Kings, which was probably one of your better offerings of late. And television critics are laughing at your recent panel appearance at the TCA press tour. If you listened to the people that love you, you might not be in this mess. We know you better than you know yourself right now.

You surround yourself with bad people. And by bad people, I mean Jimmy Fallon. He’s not funny. And you’re spending too much time with that Leno fella. We like your friends from Saturday Night Live, though. In fact, I think you’d be lost without people like that in your life.

You can’t commit. You cancelled Kings and lost a very engaged and active audience in the process. Kings – which you could still consider saving, by the way – was an opportunity to send a message to viewers that you heard them and appreciate them, and want to provide the programs they ask for. But you said it was too high brow and hard to sell in a 30-second spot. You also toyed with Chuck fans while you decided whether to renew it or not, and although you eventually did, you’re still trying to figure out when to bring it back and for how many episodes.

If you want to build a strong brand, NBC, you need to listen to the people that care about you and focus on your best features. You’ve done it before and you can do it again. But you have to start today.

At a time when economic worries and the tediousness of everyday survival are on everyone’s mind, you have the opportunity to bring fantasy, laughter, intrigue and unique situations into the homes of people that want to escape for a little while, or at least want to think about the world in new and interesting ways. Relatable, realistic programming has its merits, but it’s not enough to build a major network image on – especially if you can hardly show us one good new example.

If you focus on what already works, take some time to really define and communicate your brand, and start listening to us, NBC, we might let you back into our lives.

Darby

Posted by Adam Wright on August 14, 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry