What Reilly's departure says about NBC's fall schedule

I love "Studio 60." A failure with audiences it may be, but I consider it far from boring. Just wanted to say that. It's a lot more honorable to fail with good shows than succeed wth dreck, in my opinion. Both "Studio 60" and "Kidnapped" were well-reviewed, and if Reilly didn't come up with a national Bingo show or a knowledge quiz pitting adults against fifth graders, I for one am not going to beat him up over it.

Am I the only one who actually really likes NBC's fall schedule? They're easily my favorite network at the moment, with shows like Heroes, The Office, 30 Rock, and Scrubs. There were also a few new ones that looked appealing to me.

I'm just afraid they won't continue to choose quality over ratings with a new president. Would 30 Rock, Scrubs, or Friday Night Lights be back next fall if it weren't for Kevin Reilly?

What I have considerable difficulty figuring out is why NBC gave Reilly a contract renewal - three years I believe - in March only to fire him in May? Of course I'm not a big business executive type like Jeff Zucker.

Walt, my take was sort of the same as yours.

NBC knew it had problems by the end of February sweeps and had probably decided by that time that Reilly would gone unless NBC made some sort of miraculous recovery by the end of the season. NBC needed stability during the development season and at least the appearance of stability during the upfront presentation.

Because of the end of sweeps and the upfronts, the TV "year" begins and ends in May. This was probably the best time to make a change.

Whether NBC SHOULD have made a change is another matter entirely. I'm not sure Reilly left NBC in better shape than he found it, but the schedule didn't give him much to work with during the time he was there. NBC was already out of the game on Thursday night, the winter Olympics not being in North America (which is bad for ratings) was not his fault, and "Studio 60" should have worked.

"Heroes" should get as good or better ratings next year, "Bionic Woman" looks like a potential sleeper hit, and the Thursday comedies should make some gains with "The Office" getting a cushier time slot. ABC looks strong, but CBS and FOX both look vulnerable going into the fall. If I had to guess which network would make the biggest gains next season, I would still say NBC.

If the firing happened before the upfronts, you might say that his firing would have tainted the advertisers view. Firing him months back would have been a prelude to disaster, so I can see the logic in firing him after the sales pitches fell flat.

Let's see, Joey? Studio 60? I'm not sure but is this the first FRIENDS-less season for NBC in a few years?

Luckily for NBC all the other networks seem to have crap for programing too!