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Monday, February 25, 2013 - 7A

A 'Charmed'
first love

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bout a week ago, some had to wait a whole yearto see
of my favorite TV crit- chapter two of Phoebe's bout assa
. ics started tweeting mermaid.
heir firsts: the shows that A part of me likes to believe
their love for television. that, deep down, I knew that the
t other show was complete crap, that
ons, the burgeoning critic within
d've was wincing at the incontinuity,
d in, hilariously overwroughtcdialogue
at and transparent acting (thoughtI
ne of will defend Holly Marie Combs
ould to my grave).
nd But I'm fooling myself. I loved
e the KAYLA that damn show blindly and
itary UPADHYAYA unconditionally - as first loves
n of tend to go - from the super-
part charged camp, to the atrocious
lub. visual effects, to the smoldering
this time, I kept my half-demon Cole, to Phoebe's
to myself. Because these belly shirts. I plastered my door
had glamorous firsts. with pictures of Combs, Alyssa
ad "Buffy" and "The Milano and Shannen Doherty
" and "NYPD Blue" and (never, ever Rose McGowan) and
on's Creek" and "Alias" experienced online fandom for
hows I consider to be the first time, joiningthe WB
the greats for their own message boards where I was
s, but ones I didn't dis- known as "PiprLorelaiClark" (sic,
intil late in my TV-lover I know, sic!). I even named my cat
pment. Piper and bought a Book of Shad-
irst was a little messier. ows. My parents really should
it was one hot mess of a have seen the early warning signs
he very first TV show I of my obsessive personality.
ved was the WB's super- Even though I tend to stay
I drama, "Charmed." quiet about my sordid history
summer before I started with "Charmed," I still have
h grade, my mom hired plenty of residual opinions (Bar-
rom our neighborhood bas was the best demon, Prue >
Mallory to watch my Paige forever, please don't ever
Alex, and I during the talk to me about season eight
'as 11, Alex was eight, so and/or Kaley Cuoco because I'll
n't like calling her our become engulfed in rage). By
:ter. We thought of her as now, I've seen every episode four
f a super-awesome older or more times. I can still recite
eho made the best egg some of the spells. I know it's a
andwiches and told the bad show, I promise I do. But it
ories. Everything Mallo- had its moments, and I have a
and said was pretty much long history of loving anything
ly deemed the best. in which ladies kick serious ass.
And aren't first loves supposed to
be kind of damaged?
'NTverBefore you revoke all of my
remaining critic cred, hear me
derestimate out. "Charmed" might have been
a disaster of a show. The time
le Pow er of I tried - and failed with gran-
deur - to convince myfriend
Three. LaToya that it was better than
"Buffy" mightbe one ofmylife's
most embarrassing and regret-
ted moments (keep in mind that
morning, my sister and I'd never actually seen "Buffy"
d downstairs and found yet). But "Charmed" taught me
y waiting for us with the how to love TV. Sure, I watch
on on. We asked her what "Breaking Bad" and "Homeland"
s watching. and "Louie" and a staggering
've never seen slew of other shows to which
ed'?" she asked. "You "Charmed," even on its best day,
ill love this." could never hold a candle.
1 remember the episode. But I also am genuinely upset
one where the sisters that I'm behind on "Pretty
0 years into the future to Little Liars" right now; and I
oebe from being burned watched every single episode of
take. Alex and I were the "Charlie's Angels" reboot;
und. and this summer, I marathoned
then on, we made a daily "H20: Just Add Water," an
f watching "Charmed" Australian program about teen
ornings with Mallory. mermaids.
were the days when TNT "Charmed" taught me that a
d the show four times show doesn't have to be a work
twice in the morning, of art for me to love it. Along
n the afternoon. And the with giving me a never-ceasing
g installments were on a crush on Julian McMahon and
nt timeline from the after- a love for pairing casual, over-
nes, which was confusing, sized sweaters with leather
lly when mornings were pants, "Charmed" made my
ge and afternoons were love for TV unpretentious (I'll
ue. But we religiously admit, I can be a snob at times,
d in this fragmented way but I also take pride in the fact
tths, even when summer that not many critics love the
nd Mallory left. CW as loudly as I do).
;e were also pre-Tivo days, So, thank you, Mallory, for
was quite inconvenient letting Alex and I watch a
dedicated to a television show that our parents would've
tacks ofVHS tapes piled deemed inappropriate for an
to the TV, with episode 8- and 11-year-old. Without you,
rawled across labels in my my first could have been some-

handwriting, along with thing far worse ... just imagine
gs like "CHARMED: DO how my TV tastes might have
APE OVER." Marathons turned out if you'd been watch-
particularly difficult ing "7th Heaven" when we came
al challenge when it came downstairs that morning.

NBC
Did Andy just find out that Will Ferrell iscoming back?
Dst of the Peacock's rule

Th
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e once powerful "Deception" premiered low
in January and has since gone
etwork suffers even lower, hitting just 3.2 mil-
lion viewers and a 1.2 rating
clining ratings in the 18-49 demographic (by
comparison, "Hawaii Five-O"
By ALEC STERN averaged 9.6 million viewers
Daily Arts Writer and a 2.1 rating on the same
night). "1600 Penn" has also
er ruling the 1990s and drawn similarly dismal num-
2000s with some of TV's bers and "Do No Harm" posted
iconic series including the lowest in-season drama
eld," "Friends" and "ER," premiere on record for a Big
has struggled through- Four network (0.9 rating).
he last 10 years. Ques- Established shows haven't
le scheduling decisions fared any better. "Law and
n inability to launch new Order: SVU" and "The Biggest
has made NBC the butt Loser" now post series-low
ry joke about broadcast numbers, while "The Office" is
sion. High-profile flops crawling to the finish line. To
as "Joey," "Studio 60 on put the nail in the coffin, high-
inset Strip" and "The Jay profile musical drama "Smash"
Show" were key factors in premiered to a more than
.fall from grace. 70-percent decline in viewer-
C's fortune began to ship from the 2012 series open-
e in the spring of 2011 er and a 40-percent decline
"The Voice" became a from its season-one finale.
se hit. Fast-forward to With "The Voice" and "Revo-
ll of 2012 and NBC had lution" back next month, Mon-
y emerged from its long days and Tuesdays are sure to
toried fourth-place posi- get a boost, but what's NBC to
It wasn't third or even do long-term? The decision to
d, but No. 1, fueled by the run "The Voice" twice a year
all cycle of "The Voice" will limit its lifespan, and
TV's biggest program, "Revolution" is far from being
ay Night Football." "The a bona fide hit. As great as "The
also helped the ratings Voice" has been for NBC, it
vo new shows, "Revolu- has no history of being able to
and "Go On." launch self-sustainable shows,
pite the strong fall sea- as evidenced by "Smash" and
IBC was preparing for a "Go On," both of which plum-
cold winter. With the meted without "The Voice"
ll season over and "The lead-in. If "Revolution" isn't
and "Revolution" on viable on its own, it won't help
, ratings were bound NBC's situation in the long run.
me back down to Earth. Months-long hiatuses have
nobody could have pre- also hurt highly serialized
, however, was just how dramas in the past, as we have
IC would fall. seen with the now-cancelled
ry new show tanked. "FlashForward," "V" and "The

Event."
NBC isn't the only broadcast
network struggling - ratings
are down across the board.
When the No. 1 drama on tele-
vision is AMC's "The Walking
Dead" and no broadcast dramas
are featured in the Outstanding
Drama Series category at the
Emmys, it's clear that the tele-
vision landscape has changed.
One change we may see is the
broadcast networks adopting a
cable-style model. Whereas a
full season on broadcast typi-
cally consists of 22-24 episodes
running nonconsecutively,
cable series produce fewer
episodes per season (typi-
cally 10-13), and run without
preemption. Not only would
this model lower costs, but
also increase quality and
make it easier to attract big-
ger names to broadcast. The
networks have already started
this process: NBC's upcoming
"Hannibal" will be limited to
13 episodes per season, while
Kevin Bacon's deal to star in
FOX's "The Following" is con-
tingent on a maximum of 15
episodes per year. This will
encourage viewers to stay com-
mitted to programs and limit
the risk of having to pull shows
mid-season.
NBC must also invest in com-
edy development. After this
season, the Peacock will basi-
cally have to start from scratch.
"The Office" will conclude
its nine-year run in May, "30
Rock" has already completed
its final season and every other
comedy is at high risk of can-
cellation: "Guys With Kids,"
"Whitney," "Go On," "The New
Normal," "1600 Penn," "Up All
Night" and "Community." By

May, it's conceivable NBC will
have only one sitcom left stand-
ing: "Parks and Recreation."
NBC has already committed
to 22 episodes of Michael J. Fox's
new untitled comedy. Other than
that, NBC execs have empha-
sized their interest in endors-
ing "broad" comedies - think
"Modern Family" versus "Don't
Trust the B---- in Apt. 23." The
former has wider appeal, while
the latter limited its viewership
to a more niche audience. This is
a well-intentioned plan, as long
as NBC doesn't confuse broad
with dumb (looking atyou, "Ani-
mal Practice").
This would likely result in
an increase in multi-camera
comedies on the schedule next
year; the notion that this is a
dying format just hasn't proven
to be true. CBS's multi-camera
roster, including "The Big Bang
Theory," "How I Met Your
Mother" and "2 Broke Girls,"
has shown that as far as ratings
are concerned, the format is far
from outdated.
With nothing to lose, NBC
should embrace the rapidly
changing television landscape.
Ten years ago, the thought
of cable series outperform-
ing the Big Four networks
was unimaginable - now,
this occurs on a nightly basis.
And viewing platforms have
changed; along with broadcast,
one can watch original series
on cable, premium cable or on
streaming services like Netflix.
Broadcast's reign is coming to a
close and from the way it looks,
NBC will be the first to fall.
The Peacock needs to get in
front of the curve while it can,
or else, much like "Revolution,"
the lights will go out.

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outage struck right at the
A Witch's Tail: Part 1," we

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