Programming a network is a balancing act. No one knows that better than NBC boss Jeff Zucker.
“I’m the guy who put on ‘Fear Factor,’ ” Zucker said. “But I’m also the guy who put on ‘American Dreams’ and the guy who put on ‘Boomtown.’ “
If Zucker should be debited for his share of TV trash, he should also get credit for promoting serious drama.
But recently, NBC’s account books have fallen seriously out of balance. Zucker has introduced a swarm of rancid programs that actually make “Fear Factor” look tasteful, from the smarmy sitcom “Coupling” to the outright pimpery of “Who Wants To Marry My Mom.” Meanwhile, “Boomtown,” an innovative cop drama that sometimes told its stories from end to beginning, was canceled years ago.
And now “American Dreams” may be about to join it in the TV trash bin. Over the past couple of weeks, NBC first chopped the show’s season from 19 episodes to 17 and then rescheduled it from Sunday night to Wednesday, where it will be up against ABC’s ratings powerhouse “Lost” starting this week.
“We’re a show on the bubble,” says “Dreams” creator Jonathan Prince. “If you like ‘American Dreams,’ this is the time to say so. This is the time when it would help.”
“American Dreams” is the story of a pair of middle-class families (one white, one black) in 1960s Philadelphia, with an ensemble cast, thoughtful writing staff and rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack.
But “American Dreams” goes well beyond the conventional measures. With its unstinting look at the 1960s, it’s one of just a handful of shows in the history of television that helps us understand who we are and where we came from, how we became the America of today.
As good as “American Dreams” is, NBC isn’t running a charity ward. But there are good business reasons to keep the show too.
It’s true the “American Dreams” weekly audience is an unspectacular 7.6 million–and in the crucial 18-to-49 age group, an even less spectacular 3.3 million. (Compare that to the same numbers for the show’s new head-to-head competitor “Lost,” with its 16.3 million total viewers and 7.8 million among 18- to 49-year-olds.)
But it’s also true that few shows on TV deliver as much bang for the buck to advertisers looking for upscale, educated viewers. “American Dreams” is in TV’s top 20 in terms of its percentage of college-educated viewers, and a startling No. 9 in percentage of viewers aged 25 to 54 who make more than $110,000 a year.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
