As mentioned the Black Donnelly's had nothing to do with race, and really very little to do with the Black Irish (a term that basically refers to Irish people with dark hair and darker than average skin tones; one legend has it that the "black Irish" are descended from sailors from the Spanish Armada who were shipwrecked off the Irish coast). Series creator Paul Haggis is from London Ontario which is near the small town of Lucan where a family named Donnelly were involved in a feud with their neighbours that culminated in the murder of four members of the family. That's where the show's title came from.

With the exception of Kevinc's belief that "The Office" is crap (best show on tv), I have to agree with him on this one. Networks will only work hard for the shows that they own, just look at "Scrubs". It is owned by ABC yet is shown on NBC and to have survived as long as it did is nothing short of a miracle (the same could be said for allowing "The Office" to make it to season 2).

If they want to do well in the ratings, sadly, they will have to shift their comedy night to Wednesday nights. Also, if CBS is stupid enough to cancell "HIMYM" then pick it up and make it a part of the network's comedy night. If Alec Baldwin wants to leave "30 Rock" like news reports say then I'd be more than happy to take "HIMYM" -- which did receive better ratings by the way -- and slide it in there.

When one of the network's most popular/highest rated show is a game of essentially "Yes or No" featuring a bald jackass I have to wonder why the network is suprised by their results.

Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Porchland-Only stupid people use namecalling to get their point across. Sorry but the Office just isn't funny.

The reason for NBCs decline is the way its run. Like a business and not an entertainment division. 30 Rock was given a second season, even though its ratings were lower than other shows which were canceled because NBC OWNS the show.

Anyone remember Seinfeld? The first couple of seasons were total crap, but NBC kept it on the air, and it became one of the all time greats.

All Networks want instant gratification, and the ratings system is a joke, and has been a joke for decades.

Um, Kel... the 6 highest rated shows last week were AI night 1, AI night 2, House, Grey's Anatomy, DWTS night 1, and DWTS night 2. At my office, random 20-50 somethings, those are the shows talked about most.

Ratings are BS. Why are the highest rated shows the ones that no one talks about? And I'm not talking about on the internet, either.

NBC had a nice family drama a few years ago - Providence. One of the first things Zucker did when he took over was to cancel it yet it always won its timeslot on a Friday night no less. Incidently, that was the start of NBC's decline Nothing else worked on Friday night after that and they used to win the entire night.

Heroes is the only show I watch on NBC anymore after years of it being the dominate network that I watched. CBS is now my dominate network.

Aaron: The title Black Donnely's had nothing to do with skin color. I believe it was a reference from Irish Literature. Someone will probably correct me though.

Aaron--the name "Black Donnellys" was a play on the phrase "black Irish." Look it up on Wikipedia, but basically it was a term used to denote people who were even lower on the totem pole than regular Irish immigrants -- dark-haired Irish immigrants. yes, it's most likely racist in origin, which is why I was surprised when network standards let it through.

I must admit to not watching any show on NBC besides Heroes and Scrubs. I really don't care much for anything else they have to offer.

Heroes because it is just plain good.
Scrubs because it is just plain funny.

I'll sample just about any show on any network to see if I'll like it and what the buzz is about. But that is usually as far as it goes. On commercial tv, I may watch 2 hours(MAYBE 3 every so often) tops a week and an hour and half of that is on NBC. When those shows are in reruns, I'm watching a DVD, something on Dish or doing something else alltogether.

@Anthnoy
As an aside, being African American (more user friendly term: Black American), I made a point NOT to watch the Black Donellys.

From the ads they plastered all over my favorite tv show (Heroes) at every commercial break, I didn't see one black person in it. Didn't quite get the connection between the title and a dysfunctional, ultra violent family of brothers as "Must See TV".

The only real decent show NBC has is Vegas and where is that??? It ended over a month ago - now that's just pathetic!