As the 2010 Winter Olympics end and viewing habits return to normal, some of you may be sad to see the Games go bye-bye; however, we’re sure many are thankful that TV will be going to back to its regular scheduled programs.
And, aside from the usual shows are debuts of new fare. With the Olympics out of the way, the competition for attentive audiences gets back to an even playing field, and some networks are ready to bring out the big guns and get back into the ratings game (ahem, NBC, we’re looking at you).
While most of the networks are merely returning with new episodes, the Peacock will be introducing you to some new shows as well as re-introducing you to some former favourites. Not only is Jay Leno back at The Tonight Show and Jerry Seinfeld is coming home to the network that made him famous (in his new show The Marriage Ref), but NBC is also premièring the ensemble drama Parenthood, based on the 1989 movie, which stars Peter Krause, Lauren Graham and Craig T. Nelson.
But, while NBC is hoping they are sure things, they could also be huge flops for the network. NBC wants to continue its ratings momentum from the Olympics, but with the other networks no longer airing repeats, it might not make a lick of difference. Plus, viewers might find it hard to forgive the network who was behind the whole Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien debacle.
And that Leno/Conan incident reminded us TVGuiders about other series that have met their demise after just a few months, or weeks, on-air. Some totally deserved it (The Chevy Chase Show, anyone?), but others (think Kitchen Confidential or Back to You) were just unfortunate victims of poor viewership and/or bad writing. Will Parenthood or The Marriage Ref have what it takes to keep up with the other networks, or are they going to be duds straight away? Guess we'll find out soon enough.
*Please note: For the purposes of this gallery, a TV flop is considered to be a talk show or series that lasted less than one season on-air.
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*Please note: For the purposes of this gallery, a TV flop is considered to be a talk show or series that lasted less than one season on-air.
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