I discovered this afternoon NBC canceled The Book of Daniel. I’m disappointed, but not in the least surprised. The show, saddled with a lousy Friday nights at 10 p.m. timeslot, had been getting lousy ratings ever since it debuted. The conservative American Family Association had been blasting the show since before it debuted (despite not actually having seen an episode of the show, mind you), calling on people to boycott it, and stations not to air it. The desired effect was acheived. Seven NBC affiliates across the country opted not to air the show, which I thought was just ludicrous censorship. Let people have a chance to decide for themselves if they want to see a show. Advertisers, scared of people boycotting their products, pulled out of the show, and, apparently, nobody signed up to fill their spots. Four episodes of the show aired (the first two actually aired back-to-back in the form of a 2-hour movie), and the last two I watched on tape, as I had been busy when the shows initially were on. So I had time to note the “advertising” that was shown during commercial breaks. There was usually one advertisement for a nationally-sponsored product, and the rest were either commercials for Universal movies (Universal is a member of the NBC family) or extended commercials for other NBC shows. There were a handful of local spots, such as Bob’s ads, as there are in any hour of prime-time network TV programming. But the national advertisers are how NBC makes money, and these guys were staying away. Good job, AFA. Maybe if they had actually watched the show they’d have seen there really wasn’t much offensive there.
And there really wasn’t. The show was about an Episcopal priest, Daniel Webster, and his family. And his family was somewhat dysfunctional, at least when you compare it to what society teaches us is a “functional” family. Daniel had two sons–one was an adopted Asian and the other was gay–and a teenage daughter. They all lived at home with him and his wife. His sister-in-law was having an affair with his bookkeeper’s (female) secretary. His bookkeeper, by the way, absconded in the pilot episode with around $3 million that had been targeted to build a new church school. Daniel wasn’t perfect, as evidenced by the fact he was a little overdependent on prescription painkillers, but he was a devoted husband and very loving father who honestly believed in his calling. He regularly talked to Jesus for advice. This show didn’t poke fun at Christians, despite the claims of the conservative groups out there. It was irreverent at times; The Simpsons can be irreverent at times too. But the show also had a good moral message, preaching, among other things, tolerance and acceptance. The family, dysfunctional though it may have been, was generally loving and very supportive. The three kids sniped at each other, but all were there for each other. Heck, the family even made a point of getting together each week for Sunday dinner. So there was actually a good moral center to the show, without it being all preachy like 7th Heaven.
Was the show perfect? No. Some of the writing could be a little predictable in spots. But the episodes were all very enjoyable, and the cast was top-notch. The show deserved a better chance at success. And it could’ve had that chance had it aired somewhere other than Friday nights at 10 p.m. That’s not the time period to launch edgy fare like The Book of Daniel (and that’s not a knock on the show; it was edgy. Not edgy bad. Just edgy). Its ratings started low and remained low. Had there at least been some sponsors for the show, NBC probably would’ve stuck with it until it ended its run (there were four episodes left to go). But NBC was probably losing money each week, so they pulled it. Airing in its place this week will be a repeat of Law & Order. I’m sure NBC will have no trouble finding advertisers for that one.
Some news today that damn well surprised me was the announcement that, starting this fall, UPN and WB will cease to exist as we know them. Instead, the two networks will merge into one. The new network will be called UPWNB. Well, not really. It will be called CW (which is a pretty dumb name for a network; it sounds like it should be a brokerage firm or something). The “new” network will offer up 30 hours worth of programming weekly: two hours a night Monday through Friday, three hours on Sunday nights, and five hours of programming Saturday mornings. The network will also offer shows weekday afternoons and early Sunday evenings, similar to what WB does now.
The news just about stunned me. I knew both networks had been struggling, basically ever since their inception. I always figured, though, UPN (particularly since it was owned by CBS anyway) would be the one to fade off into the night. You could fold Veronica Mars onto CBS, dump America’s Next Top Model on VH-1 (also owned by CBS), and I’m sure you could find someone who’d pick up wrestling. I didn’t really see WB needing to fold at all. Yes, its ratings were low, but its shows had loyal fans and possessed a lot of buzz: Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Charmed, 7th Heaven, even slightly lesser-known fare like Everwood and One Tree Hill. Even Reba has become something of a hit. I didn’t see WB as needing to partner up with UPN to ensure its survival. They partnered up anyway, though.
What does all this ultimately mean? Well, last time I checked, both UPN and WB scheduled a full week of shows. The week isn’t getting twice as long (as that would suck), so that means that several shows that might previously have seen the 2006-07 season are probably headed for the chopping block. Rest assured, I don’t think Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls (in fact, the head of CBS is reportedly already crowing about what a great pair these two shows would be), Smallville or Reba are going anywhere. WWE Smackdown and America’s Next Top Model, which stupefyingly are UPN’s highest-rated shows, are also staying put. But Charmed has been around awhile, and Everwood’s and One Tree Hill’s ratings are dipping somewhat this season, so all three of those might be in trouble. Just about all of UPN’s comedies may head south, with the exception of hits like Eve and Everybody Hates Chris (the latter of which is also a critical fave). Even if some shows don’t make the new CW schedule, they may not be gone completely. Like I said, UPN is owned by CBS, which, in addition to owning, duh, CBS, also owns cable channels like Spike TV and Showtime. WB, meanwhile, owns stuff like TNT and TBS. So these shows may find a home yet.
Oh, and in case any Connecticut residents are wondering: The Tribune Company is also involved in the deal, agreeing to air CW on some of the stations it owns. This means the new network will air locally on Channel 20, which is now the WB affiliate. What does this mean for WCTX, “UPN 9″? Who knows. I just hope they keep on with their repeats of Taxi and Cheers.
Tags: NBC, The Book of Daniel, The CW, UPN, WB
