All in the Family? Not at NBC

In January 1999, NBCs new entertainment chief, Scott Sassa, declared that parents want to watch [TV] with their kids, and that his network should have some shows featuring traditional families. Last week, Sassa reversed himself completely. NBC has no plans to launch any family series, he announced, because they dont appeal to his webs upscale audience.

What kind of chance did Sassa give family programming over those three years? Well, in 2000 NBC aired Daddio, a pleasant sitcom centered on a stay-at-home father, and then there waswell, lets seeactually, Daddio has pretty much been the extent of the Peacocks family-friendly series efforts between early 99 and early 02. In the same period, plenty of raunchy NBC programs have come and soon gone, but Sassa apparently hasnt drawn any larger lessons from the failure of the forgettable Cold Feet, or The Weber Show, or Inside Schwartz.

Maybe Sassa thinks those series failed because they werent raunchy enough. He told a recent gathering of television critics that while he doesnt want to, in Associated Press reporter David Bauders paraphrase, shockpeople with adult-oriented themes and dialogue, he also is obligated to respond to HBOs success with shows like the Emmy-winning Sex and the City. (Why is almost-anything-goes HBO the cable trendsetter? Why dont the broadcast networks ever feel obligated to respond to the success of family-oriented Nickelodeon?)

Sassas statements of late ought to surprise no one who follows the television business. NBC has long styled itself as the smart, hip network in other words, the network that best reflects the cultural elitism of Hollywood itself. In that context, to shun wholesome programming and the supposedly downscale types who gravitate towards it is perfectly logical.

Among Sassas reasons for disdaining family shows is his claim that its hard to find acting and writing talent for them. This is ludicrous. Hollywood is filled with talented pro-family actors, writers, producers, and directors many with Emmys on their mantels but NBC just doesnt want them.

It reminds me of a conversation I had with two NBC vice presidents a few years ago. I asked them why their network wouldnt air any family-friendly series. With a straight face, one of those veeps answered that ever since the death of Michael Landon, NBC had found it impossible to do one. Somehow, I was to believe, only Landon could make it work.

Apparently virtually no talent is required for non-family-oriented NBC programs. Take a scene from a fall episode of Will & Grace. Jack, a thirtyish gay man, puts on an apron. After Grace says aloud whats printed on the part of the apron thats in front of Jacks crotch Kiss the Cook Jack exclaims, What? Cook? Thats an o? That doesnt make any sense. Who goes on a date hoping someone will kiss their cook?

In far happier news, ABCs new entertainment president is positioning herself as the anti-Sassa on the family-show issue. The kind of programs you could watch with several generations by your side, Susan Lyne said last week, are a historic strength at this network, and also a great strength at our parent company [Disney], so we should be embracing it.

Once upon a time, of course, ABC boasted many such shows, notably Home Improvement, Full House, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Sadly, the networks commitment to the family audience then dwindled to the extent that in 2000 it scuttled its TGIF program block, a Friday staple for more than a decade.

Im not completely optimistic about where ABC is headed under Lyne she offered the often-coarse Roseanne as an example of a family series but in general, I think she would agree with Steve Sternberg, an analyst with an ad-buying company, who remarked to USA Today, Family-friendly programmingis a good ideaIf you have kids, there aint much on network TV [that] you can watch without being embarrassed.

Though the jurys still out where ABC is concerned, the verdict on NBC is in. The Peacock has abandoned families, so families should abandon the Peacock. If you oppose Scott Sassas approach to prime time, stop watching his network. If enough viewers tune out, NBC will get the message that the family audience matters.