I remember reading somewhere that this was the same network that passed on Desperate Housewives and Lost a few years back. Programs that would eventually get ABC out of their defecit with Millionaire.
I think that the problem with NBC is that they want a hit and they want it NOW! They feel that if the audiences aren't responding to it in 2-3 weeks, it's toast. Sometimes it takes a while for an audience to warm up to a show and the powers that be just don't seem to have the patients. It's now all about the bottom line over what's good for your viewers. I can't imagine Zucker running NBC back in the days when Cheers and Hill Street Blues were new, critically acclaimed yet low-rated programs. The Peacock would've been the next Dumont ions ago.
It's times like this that I appreciate even more the genius of Tartikoff's scheduling vision.
