I agree with your basic premise: All of the freshman NBC were terrible. Even Parks and Recreation doesn't really deserve a spot in the lineup, but there's not really anything to take its place. But, really, what new shows really have been successful this year?

I tend to root for NBC because I find that most of the shows I look forward to seeing are on it. And frankly, I'd take the network that has 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Life, and so on over, say, CBS, which fills its schedule with reality shows and CSI spinoffs, or Fox, which is way too quick to cancel shows.

I agree with that take, insofar as this network TV season being horrible. I can't think of a freshman show I've watched for more than 3 episodes this season and felt like I wanted to see next year. Fine, I watched every episode of Parks and Recreation so far, but it's only due to how it's sandwiched between two shows I follow.

CBS might have had a hit or two this season, but I have not watched a single episode of those. Dollhouse on Fox looks promising, but it took so long for the show's premise to pay off that I am surprised by the fact that Fox did not cancel it before airing all the episodes it had commissioned. Serials in general have been experiencing a slow agonizing death, and sitcoms have gone a step backward. Less of them are peppered with an irritating laugh track, but there seems to be a trend to returning into the safe confines of family-based sitcoms from the heartland. Nothing wrong with it, but it was milked to death in the late 80s and early 90s, and 90% of it wasn't good back then.

I love the Office and 30 Rock, but with the advent of cable channels rebroadcasting them at will (little known fact: Time Warner is experimenting with a Network TV in-demand feature which is for now free of charge to its subscribers), and Hulu having them available within days, I find less and less of a reason to watch NBC. Quel dommage!

The article is right about one thing: putting Leno on Primetime and thus creating a five day nighttime talkshow smells like giving up and cutting costs. It didn't work when ABC did it, either. I don't have a problem with the concept per se, but I feel that it will just be "The Tonight Show" before the news, and Leno is probably the least funny of all current talk show hosts on the nightly schedule.

Not unfair to NBC at all - their shows suck. All of them. I enjoy The Office and 30 Rock, but even they pale in comparison to previous NBC comedies. Parks & Recreation is a godawful, unfunny copy of the Office. Zero originality. NBC has been adding "Law & Orders" and game shows year after year, while their original programming gets weaker and weaker. The other networks aren't much better - Fox always has the most original ideas, but really cable is the place for good dramas and sitcoms these days.

Last week I watched good episodes of Breaking Bad, Rescue Me, and Head Case. Everything on NBC looks like it was made by children with boring schoolteachers as censors by comparison.

I've got to agree with the first post. NBC may put on more terrible shows than any other major network, but I definitely watch more NBC shows than any other network as well. The Office, 30 Rock, and especially Chuck are among my favorite shows and I still watch Heroes and My Name is Earl out of force of habit. That's a lot more than I can say for ABC (haven't watched anything since Pushing Daisies was cancelled) and CBS (nothing).

Why is anyone even watching network TV anymore? The best shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox are about half as good as the original shows on cable. HBO raised the bar way beyond the networks years ago, and the cable networks have followed suit. There isn't anything on the networks that even remotely compares with the likes of Rescue Me, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, In Plain Sight, or Burn Notice.