It seems SNL has struck gold with booking music stars as hosts. Despite my long-standing pet peeve of musical guests making cameos in sketches — No one wants to watch Cee Lo read cue cards! — I have been proven wrong, again and again, as pop stars and rock legends have strapped on their host shoes and presided over far better episodes than most athletes, comedians, or A-listers have. While I was never sold on the argument that musicians' live-concert backgrounds causally make them natural live sketch performers, musicians are often less likely to let their nerves get the best of them, and they typically bring a fun-loving charisma and game-faced hustle [...]
In an interesting twist of fate for the broadcast networks this past week, NBC finished in first place in the 18-49 demo for “Premiere Week” for the first time since 2003 (back when Friends, Will & Grace, and ER were still things and people cared about The Apprentice). NBC’s ratings rose 12 percent compared to last year’s Premiere Week, whereas the other three big networks (ABC, CBS, Fox) all suffered sharp plunges of at least 20 percent. NBC’s surprising victory is mainly thanks to singing competition The Voice, which is a smash hit on both Mondays and Tuesday nights, and not thanks to the network’s comedies, which [...]
The Voice is officially a hit for NBC: it's ratings increased 10% from its impressive debut for its second episode, beating the likes of Glee and Dancing with the Stars. Regardless of how you feel about the show, it's great news for NBC, who has needed a hit very badly for a very long time. Here's the question that's relevant to our interests: what does this mean for NBC's comedies?
On the one hand, this takes the pressure off of the Thursday night lineup to be the breadwinners for NBC, as The Voice can be the moneymaker that pays for the less popular but more prestigious fare. [...]
