The Top 10 History of NBC

Well, here we go again.  This time, I'll be discussing the Top 10 history of the National Broadcasting Company.

NBC has had success, failure, major success, and then major failure.  In the 1950-51 season, it had the highest-rated show with "Texaco Star Theater," which averaged an incredible 61.6 rating! (this was before they changed the rating systems).  Throughout the 1950s, NBC was mostly second in the networks, even after ABC become a full-fledged major network.  It would not have a #1 show until the 1961-62 season, with the western "Wagon Train."  Another popular western during the 1960s on the peacock network was "Bonanza," which was in fact, one of the first full-color shows on television, and also ranked #1 from 1964-65 to 1966-67.  During the late 1960s, NBC hit #1 again with "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," which was the #1 show for two consecutive seasons (1968-69 and 1969-70).  The network continued its success in the early 1970s with such hits as "The Flip Wilson Show" (the first variety show hosted by an African-American), "Ironside", "Adam-12", "Sanford and Son", "The NBC Mystery Movie", and "Chico and the Man".

However, by 1975, NBC started to slump, mainly due to the rise of ABC.  The 1978-79 season marked the first (but certainly not the last) time in the network's history that NBC failed to have a show in the top 10.  In fact, the low point in NBC came in the 1981-82 season, when it failed to have a show even in the top 20!

Luckily, NBC found a top 10 hit in "The A-Team" in the 1982-83 season, and was NBC's most popular show the following season as well.  In 1984-85, two situation comedies, the debuting "Cosby Show" and the third-season show "Family Ties" broke into the Top 10, and in the following season, these shows would rank #1 and #2 respectively (with "The Cosby Show" ultimately ranking or sharing #1 for five consecutive seasons).  In the 1985-86 season, "Cheers," which had struggled in its first two years, and hit the top 20 in the previous season, became a top 10 show, along with the debuting "Golden Girls," and "Miami Vice."  Perhaps the most successful point for NBC during this period came in the 1986-87 season, when all four of its Must-See TV sitcoms ranking in the top 10:  "The Cosby Show", "Family Ties", "Cheers", and "Night Court".  Cosby, Family Ties, and Cheers ranked #1, #2, and #3, respectively, and Cosby & Family Ties had ratings of 34.9 and 32.7, respectively!  No other show has come even CLOSE to getting those ratings, primarily due to the increasing competition from newer networks and cable television.

NBC's success continued throughout the late 1980s with such hits as "A Different World" (originally a spin-off of "The Cosby Show"), "ALF", and "Empty Nest", but by the early 90s, the network was no longer in the top spot, with "Cheers" being the only Top 10 NBC show during the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons, the latter season being Cheers' last on the air.  However...

NBC would bounce back in the mid-1990s with such shows as "Seinfield" (which took over Cheers' timeslot on Thursday nights, and was the #1 show during its final season, 1997-98), "Frasier" (a spin-off/sequel of "Cheers"), "ER", "Friends" (which was a top 10 hit during all ten seasons on the air), "Caroline in the City", "The Single Guy", "Suddenly Susan", "The Naked Truth", "Fired Up", "Veronica's Closet", "Union Square", and "Jesse".  However, most of these shows wouldn't last as long as the Must-See sitcoms of the 1980s, and "Union Square," in fact, was canceled after only 13 episodes because the audience from "Friends" didn't hold over to Square.

In the early 2000s, NBC had top 10 hits like "Law & Order", "The West Wing", "Will & Grace", "Leap of Faith" (which was canceled after only SIX episodes despite tying at #9 with "Will & Grace" in 2001-02), and "The Apprentice", but after "Friends" ended its run in the 2003-2004 season, NBC as not had even ONE show in Top 10.

Despite having such hot sports events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl, NBC overall has been going downhill since then.  Some of its shows even ranked lower than The CW's shows (and that's a MINOR network, mind you).  In fact, former NBC Universal President/CEO Jeff Zucker once said that he believed NBC could no longer be #1.

In conclusion, I believe we should find Brandon Tartikoff's remains and clone him.  Either that, or find someone like him, because we need another man like him to turn the peacock network around.