Must See TV

Must See TV
Title card for NBC's 2002 special, 20 Years of Must See TV

"Must See TV" is an advertising slogan used by the NBC television network to brand its prime time blocks of sitcoms during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured such popular sitcoms as The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, A Different World, Seinfeld, Wings, Frasier, Friends, NewsRadio, and Will & Grace (as well as such drama series as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and ER) and allowed NBC to dominate prime time ratings on Thursday nights in the 1980s and 1990s.

Contents

Usage

In popular culture the phrase is most strongly associated with the network's entire Thursday night lineup, including both sitcoms and dramas, which dominated the ratings from the 1980s through late 1990s.

However, contrary to popular belief, "Must See TV" originally applied to sitcoms only (dramas would normally be promoted separately), and for much of the 1990s the phrase was used several nights a week as an attempt at brand extension. At one point in the fall of 1997, the brand was used five nights a week, with four sitcoms a night from Monday to Thursday, and two on Sunday.[1] NBC itself would later adopt the more common interpretation; the 2002 retrospective, 20 Years of Must See TV, focused on NBC's overall Thursday-night dominance from 1982 onwards, and overlooked extensions such as "Must See TV Tuesday."

Advertising

Thursday nights are coveted by advertisers due to the large proportion of young, affluent viewers who tune in. Of particular interest, movie advertisers promote their titles to this target demographic on Thursday night, in hopes of influencing what movies they see on the following Friday night, the traditional opening night for most films outside of holiday periods.[2]

The slogan made its first appearance in NBC promotions in August 1993 and included the day of the week: "Must See TV Thursday." In late summer of 1993, NBC wanted viewers to tune in an hour prior to the popular Seinfeld, and created the "Must See TV" slogan to brand the comedy block. The first "Must See TV" block promo aired during late summer repeats and promoted Mad About You, Wings, and Seinfeld – Frasier had not yet premiered. It ended with the words "Get home early for Must See TV Thursday." The "Must See TV" slogan continued in every NBC Thursday night comedy promo throughout the 1993 television season to promote the 8 – 10 p.m. comedy block. When Frasier and Wings moved to Tuesday nights, NBC expanded the second season of the "Must See TV" brand to include the Tuesday night comedy block: "Must See TV Tuesday."

Branding the quality Thursday night line-up began as early as the 1982 fall slogan, "America's Best Night of Television on Television."

On November 3, 1994, NBC's Thursday night lineup features the "blackout Thursday", where three of four sitcoms on primetime had a storyline involving a power outage.[3] Starting with Mad About You episode "Pandora's Box", where Paul Buchman accidentally causes the blackout while trying to steal cable; continuing with Friends episode "The One with the Blackout", where Chandler is trapped in an ATM vestibule with Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre; then a Seinfeld non-blackout episode "The Gymnast"; and ending with Madman of the People episode "Birthday in the Big House".

Decline

From a promo for "Comedy Night Done Right" in October 2007. The image features [From Left] Earl Hickey (of My Name Is Earl), Michael Scott (of The Office), John Dorian (of Scrubs) and Liz Lemon (of 30 Rock).

By the early 2000s, the "Must See TV" slogan had fallen by the wayside in NBC's promotions; more importantly, NBC had gone from the top-rated network on Thursday nights to second behind CBS, eventually third behind ABC and ultimately a very distant fourth behind Fox as well. Some of the reasons for NBC's failure in recent years on Thursdays was due to the lack of strong shows to replace staples such as Friends, Frasier and Seinfeld. Another reason was due to the Donald Trump reality series The Apprentice, which broke the traditional "Must See TV" line up containing four comedies and one drama when it debuted in winter 2004. However, most of the NBC lineup still finished in the top 20 weekly shows according to Nielsen Media Research.[4]

Other networks' Thursday programming have also gotten increasingly stronger. CBS was first to break through with the Thursday-night schedule of Survivor, CSI, and later Without a Trace. ABC had success on Thursday nights with its hit reality series, Dancing with the Stars. In fall 2006, Grey's Anatomy was moved to Thursdays to counter CSI; ABC's lineup of Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy has proved successful in the 18-49-year-old demographic.

The "Must See TV" slogan reappeared briefly in early 2006 with the addition of two critically acclaimed and ratings-successful comedies, My Name Is Earl and The Office. This was an attempt to re-establish a four-sitcom block after the rise and fall of The Apprentice, which was moved to Monday nights.

In November 2006, NBC rebranded the Thursday format with a new different slogan, "Comedy Night Done Right", and added Scrubs and 30 Rock to the lineup, forming an entire lineup of comedy series without laugh tracks or the multiple-camera setup typical of past Must See TV comedies.[5]

In January 2011, NBC rebranded the night once again, renaming it "Comedy Night Done Right - All Night", adding a third hour of comedies at 10pm. The three hour comedy block will be disbanded in the fall of 2011, when the night reverts back to two hours of comedies.

NBC Thursday-night lineup history

     Lime indicates the #1 most-watched program of the season.[6]
     Yellow indicates the top-10 most-watched programs of the season.
     Cyan indicates the top-20 most watched programs of the season.
     Magenta indicates the top-30 most watched programs of the season.
     Orange indicates the top-40 most watched programs of the season.
     Silver indicates the top-50 most watched programs of the season.
Season 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
Pre-Must See TV
1980–1981 Fall Games People Play NBC Thursday Night Movie
Winter Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Spring
1981–1982 Fall Harper Valley Lewis & Clark Diff'rent Strokes Gimme a Break Hill Street Blues
Winter Fame
Spring
Must See TV
1982–1983 Fall Fame Cheers Taxi Hill Street Blues
Winter Gimme a Break Cheers
Spring
1983–1984 Fall Gimme a Break Mama's Family We Got It Made Cheers Hill Street Blues
Winter Family Ties Cheers Buffalo Bill
Spring
1984–1985 Fall The Cosby Show Family Ties Cheers Night Court Hill Street Blues
Winter
Spring
1985–1986 Fall The Cosby Show Family Ties Cheers Night Court Hill Street Blues
Winter
Spring
1986–1987 Fall The Cosby Show Family Ties Cheers Night Court Hill Street Blues
Winter L.A. Law
Spring Nothing in Common
1987–1988 Fall The Cosby Show A Different World Cheers Night Court L.A. Law
Winter
Spring Day by Day and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
1988–1989 Fall The Cosby Show A Different World Cheers Dear John L.A. Law
Winter
Spring
1989–1990 Fall The Cosby Show A Different World Cheers Dear John L.A. Law
Winter Grand
Spring Wings
1990–1991 Fall The Cosby Show A Different World Cheers Grand L.A. Law
Winter Wings
Spring Seinfeld
1991–1992 Fall The Cosby Show A Different World Cheers Wings L.A. Law
Winter
Spring
1992–1993 Fall A Different World Rhythm & Blues Cheers Wings L.A. Law
Winter Out All Night A Different World
Spring Cheers Wings Seinfeld
1993–1994 Fall Mad About You Wings Seinfeld Frasier L.A. Law
Winter Homicide: Life on the Street
Spring L.A. Law
1994–1995 Fall Mad About You Friends Seinfeld Madman of the People ER
Winter
Spring Hope & Gloria Friends
1995–1996 Fall Friends The Single Guy Seinfeld Caroline in the City ER
Winter
Spring Boston Common
1996–1997 Fall Friends The Single Guy Seinfeld Suddenly Susan ER
Winter Suddenly Susan The Naked Truth
Spring Fired Up
1997–1998 Fall Friends Union Square Seinfeld Veronica's Closet ER
Winter Just Shoot Me
Spring
1998–1999 Fall Friends Jesse Frasier Veronica's Closet ER
Winter
Spring Will & Grace
1999–2000 Fall Friends Jesse Frasier Stark Raving Mad ER
Winter
Spring Daddio Battery Park
2000–2001 Fall Friends Cursed/The Weber Show Will & Grace Just Shoot Me ER
Winter
Spring
2001–2002 Fall Friends Inside Schwartz Will & Grace Just Shoot Me ER
Winter Leap of Faith
Spring Friends
2002–2003 Fall Friends Scrubs Will & Grace Good Morning, Miami ER
Winter
Spring
2003–2004 Fall Friends Scrubs and Friends Will & Grace Coupling and Scrubs ER
Winter Will & Grace The Apprentice
Spring Friends Will & Grace Scrubs
2004–2005 Fall Joey Will & Grace The Apprentice ER
Winter
Spring
2005–2006 Fall Joey Will & Grace The Apprentice ER
Winter Will & Grace Four Kings My Name Is Earl The Office
Spring My Name Is Earl
Comedy Night Done Right
2006–2007 Fall My Name Is Earl The Office Deal or No Deal ER
Winter[7] Scrubs 30 Rock
Spring[8] Scrubs and 30 Rock Andy Barker, P.I. and Scrubs
2007–2008 Fall[9] My Name Is Earl 30 Rock The Office Scrubs ER
Winter1[10] My Name Is Earl and The Office repeats or Deal or No Deal Celebrity Apprentice Lipstick Jungle
Spring[11] My Name Is Earl 30 Rock and Scrubs The Office Scrubs and 30 Rock ER
2008–2009 Fall My Name Is Earl Kath & Kim The Office SNL Weekend Update Thursday and 30 Rock ER
Winter 30 Rock
Spring Parks and Recreation Southland
2009–2010 Fall SNL Weekend Update Thursday and Community Parks and Recreation The Office Community and 30 Rock The Jay Leno Show
Winter Community 30 Rock
Spring The Marriage Ref
2010–2011 Fall Community 30 Rock The Office Outsourced The Apprentice
Winter Perfect Couples Parks and Recreation 30 Rock Outsourced
Spring The Paul Reiser Show
The Office (R)
2011–2012 Fall Community Parks and Recreation The Office Whitney Prime Suspect

^1 Because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, shows that would regularly air were replaced with repeats and unscripted television.

References

  1. ^ Schneider, Michael (May 13, 2006). "Peacock pulls back on 'Must See' revival". Variety. http://www.variety.com/ac2006_article/VR1117945200?nav=ecomedy. 
  2. ^ Lamonica, Paul (October 16, 2006). "NBC's Heroic Return". CNN/Money. http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/16/news/companies/tv/index.htm. 
  3. ^ http://www.poobala.com/blackout.html
  4. ^ Crawford, Krysten (May 18, 2005). "Thursday TV: prized and in play". CNN/Money. http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/18/news/fortune500/tv_thursday/index.htm. 
  5. ^ Gilbert, Matthew (January 28, 2007). "For sitcoms today, quality trumps quantity". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2007/01/28/for_sitcoms_today_quality_trumps_quantity/. 
  6. ^ "Die Season ist vorbei: Amerikas heißeste Liste". quotenmeter.de. 2010-07-05. http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=43034&p3=. Retrieved 2010-09-02. 
  7. ^ "'Scrubs' Returns as NBC Remakes Thursdays". Zap2It. 2006-10-25. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-nbcthursdaylineupscrubsreturns,0,5301098.story?coll=zap-tv-mainheadline. 
  8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2007-03-13). "NBC switches "30 Rock," "Scrubs"". Yahoo!. http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/urn:newsml:tv.reuters.com:20070313:nbc_dc__ER:1. 
  9. ^ "NBC Orders Extra 'Office,' 'Earl'". Zap2It.com. 2007-05-14. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-nbcbonusofficeearl,0,3690939.story?coll=zap-news-headlines. 
  10. ^ "NBC Slots 'Medium,' Firms Up Schedule". Zap2It.com. 2007-12-07. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-nbcschedule-mediumpremieredate,0,2251811.story. 
  11. ^ "'30 Rock,' 'Scrubs' Swap Timeslots". Zap2It.com. 2008–5-22. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-scrubs30rockswitchtimeslots,0,1881559.story. 

External links

v · d · eNBC's "Must See TV / Comedy Night Done Right"
1980s debuts
1990s debuts
2000s debuts
2010s debuts
Love Bites · The Marriage Ref · Outsourced · The Paul Reiser Show · Perfect Couples · Prime Suspect · Whitney
v · d · eCurrent NBC Must See TV/Comedy Night Done Right lineup

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • must-see — /must see /, n. Informal. something, as a remarkable sight or entertainment, that should be seen or attended: The new play is a must see. * * * …   Universalium

  • must-see — must′ see′ n. inf cvb inf something, as a remarkable sight or entertainment, that should be seen or attended • Etymology: 1945–50, amer …   From formal English to slang

  • must-see — ˈ ̷ ̷ ˈ ̷ ̷ noun ( s) : something (as a film) that must or should be seen • must see adjective * * * /must see /, n. Informal. something, as a remarkable sight or entertainment, that should be seen or attended: The new play is a must see. * * *… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Must See TV — Скриншот с названием специальной программы 2002 года в честь двадцатилетия компании. Необходимо увидеть ТВ (англ. Must See TV)  рекламный лозунг, используемый телеканалом …   Википедия

  • must-see — noun Date: 1946 something (as a film) that must or should be seen • must see adjective …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • must-see — /ˈmʌst si/ (say must see) adjective 1. of or relating to a place, entertainment, event, etc., which is considered to be essential viewing. –noun 2. such a place, event, entertainment, etc …  

  • must-see — highly recommended film, movie that everyone should see …   English contemporary dictionary

  • must-see — 1. adjective unmissable 2. noun an unmissable film or television programme …   Wiktionary

  • must-see TV — noun A television programme generally recognised as unmissable …   Wiktionary

  • 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die — infobox Book | name = 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die title orig = translator = image caption = This cover has a still from Psycho author = various ( general editor: ) Steven Jay Schneider illustrator = cover artist = country = Australia… …   Wikipedia

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