On week nights television felt the ratings drop all over the place on standard network shows. On weekends people looked for more variety in entertainment out side of television which symbolized an escape from the work week. Television was tied to the 9 to 5 culture of America. Weekends were escape hatches.
However there have been break out shows since the late nineties when the paradigm shifted away from the big Saturday tv night. But those shows are on during the week. Most notably, Thursday night. That’s when the networks put on their biggest hit-seeking efforts. This started after NBC struck gold with THE COSBY SHOW, FAMILY TIES, CHEERS, and LA LAW. ABC had carved out a money-making niche with TGIF with FAMILY MATTERS, PERFECT STRANGERS, and FULL HOUSE. But NBC stood strong with MIAMI VICE, a kind of residue from their Thursday night dominance.
At this point Saturday night is the television graveyard. It is littered with the bodies of repeats, cheesy tabloid shows, and canceled shows that must “burn off” their remaining episodes. The only true remaining winner is ironically, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. There are efforts underway to bring some new late night competition in this fall. Will Saturday night ever return to it’s former glory? Keep your eyes on the life-support monitor.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SATURDAY NIGHT (Part 1)
For television there was a time that Saturday night was a big thing. There were great shows like Carol Burnett, The NBC Saturday Night Movies, The Love Boat, Mission Impossible, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show…
Saturday night had some of the best shows. Even though people would go out to parties and dinners and drive-ins, television was at the time a viable night’s entertainment. Because it was the weekend, every demographic watched from 7:30 (in the ‘60’s and 70’s Saturday prime time started at 7:30; on Sundays it started at 7:00)to 11:00 so the commercials (tv’s real revue stream)targeted almost every member of the family. You had bubble bath commercials for the kids, beauty products for women, and cars for men. Curiously not a lot of products were geared toward teenagers. They were most likely out partying even though it was the hip thing not to get to a party before ten or eleven. No matter, advertisers could still do well on other nights with teenagers when they were trying to avoid studying.
So what changed for the Saturday night big bonanza? Technology. And technology breeds choices. Gone are the days of the monopoly of ABC, NBC, and CBS. The first crack in the dominance was the Fox network and then the floodgates burst open with an excess of 500 plus channels to fit every major and minor niche. And HBO and SHOWTIME. And the internet. Cell phones. Texting. And after 1975, the blockbuster movie later re-christened in the ‘90’s as the “Event” movie.
Saturday night had some of the best shows. Even though people would go out to parties and dinners and drive-ins, television was at the time a viable night’s entertainment. Because it was the weekend, every demographic watched from 7:30 (in the ‘60’s and 70’s Saturday prime time started at 7:30; on Sundays it started at 7:00)to 11:00 so the commercials (tv’s real revue stream)targeted almost every member of the family. You had bubble bath commercials for the kids, beauty products for women, and cars for men. Curiously not a lot of products were geared toward teenagers. They were most likely out partying even though it was the hip thing not to get to a party before ten or eleven. No matter, advertisers could still do well on other nights with teenagers when they were trying to avoid studying.
So what changed for the Saturday night big bonanza? Technology. And technology breeds choices. Gone are the days of the monopoly of ABC, NBC, and CBS. The first crack in the dominance was the Fox network and then the floodgates burst open with an excess of 500 plus channels to fit every major and minor niche. And HBO and SHOWTIME. And the internet. Cell phones. Texting. And after 1975, the blockbuster movie later re-christened in the ‘90’s as the “Event” movie.
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