I can't see traditional programming going away in the near future. After all, where do TBS, TV Land, TNT and all those guys get their off-network reruns?
I'm not sure if this is as big a deal as the article is making it out to be. So what has NBC done? Taken the hours of game and reality shows they already had and put them into one time slot. Frankly it looks short-sighted to me. At the present time their Thursday night has Deal or No Deal in the 9:00 slot. I ask you: if they reverse the situation and put DOND in front of My Name Is Earl and The Office, will their ratings be the same or better? Doubt it. So what's the point of limiting your 8:00 hour to only one kind of TV show?
The only one I can see is that after 9:00, you can be less "family-friendly"...and that's what racy sitcoms and gruesome crime shows are. Game shows are harmless, and reality TV shows are full of bleeps, but they can fill the 9:00 with people whose brains have been scooped out of their skulls (Heroes) and it's considered fair game. So, if NBC is afraid of the FCC for violating the "family hour", this may be a response.
I'm really hoping the whole reality fad will just finally tank. Those shows have no staying power. Aside from being abysmally stupid to begin with, they have weak rerun/DVD potential. Game shows are another thing. DOND is quite addictive, and NBC is on the record as saying they will not run that show into the ground the way ABC did with its constant stripping (Mon.-Fri.) of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? But even then, they are risking overdoing it with their new show, 1 vs. 100.
Anyway, don't panic about it. Frankly I'm still more pissed about how they've done away with opening themes on shows, how they mutilate the closing credits, and how they advertise in the lower third during some shows, than I am with NBC's schedule changes.
