Thursday night TV lineup – Clacking the dream

Finally, we come full circle back to the night that started it all. In February of 2009, I thought it might be fun to imagine the ultimate in NBC Thursday night programming, which gradually snowballed into 31 installments clacking the dream week’s lineup. So it’s only fitting to end the series by scheduling my dream Thursday night.

For those of you playing along at home, see how I got here by taking a look at my NBC, FOX, CBS, and ABC dream Thursday nights, and choose your own.

8:00-8:30 Gifts are all well and good, but in the long run they don’t hold up against real competition. Sorry Debbie, but Magnum, P.I. has got to go. So too FlashForward … I liked it, but I think it failed its own ambitions when its fate came into question on ABC. I stood by it beyond the point where many fans started to call it out, but at the end of the day it was a disappointment.

Which opens this hour slot into two half-hour ones. To start the night, will it be Friends, or Martin?

I could go through the motions, but why? Martin was smile-worthy, but Friends is at the top of the ladder (with a handful of other shows yet to come up for discussion). A solid way to start off the night.

8:30-9:00 Will it be Family Ties, or Happy Hour? Yet another no-brainer here, as Family Ties was not only a classic, but it also holds up under the scrutiny of today. And having the opportunity to return Michael J. Fox to our televisions on a weekly basis? Priceless.

9:00-10:00 This decision is going to haunt me, but it has to be made. First of all, see you Simon and Simon; this isn’t the gift that keeps on giving.

New York Undercover is a show that stands on its own in the history of cop shows, but it just doesn’t have the muscle to face what else I have up for residence at this hour. Like what? Try Lost, or a mess of top-notch sitcoms.

When I first set about doing this, I didn’t really have any long-range plan in mind. Which is how I ended up choosing a 52 week schedule of The Office, Frasier, and Seinfeld at 9:00, spread out over the various television seasons. Little was I prepared to make that ultimate of decisions — which one would win the final battle?

But since then I had the chance to rectify my mistake. I’d already slotted Seinfeld for a second time at 9:30, and I made sure to deposit The Office on my Tuesdays. So will it be Lost in this hour, or the combination of Frasier and Seinfeld?

I loved Lost. I’m one of those viewers who didn’t delve into the show much beyond what we were given from week to week, but I gave myself wholeheartedly to the mystery. That ridiculously miserable finale aside, the show was tremendous, and I’m grateful for all the years of greatness it gave us.

Seinfeld is by far my favorite sitcom of all time, and I’ve seen each and every episode more times than I can count. And Frasier? I wasn’t much of an enthusiast when it was on the air, but since then I’ve bought the series on DVD, and I’ve come to enjoy it almost as much as I do favorites like Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond. It’s not for everyone, but I find it to be a brilliant show.

So what do I do here? Normally my love for Seinfeld would negate the survival chances of anything, but Lost? I’d hate to lose it. (By the way, it never would have stood a chance against The West Wing on my Wednesdays). I’m prepared to admit that I needed Frasier to make this call … with the prospect of an hour of Frasier and Seinfeld stacked against it, I have to wave goodbye to Lost. It sucks, but I’ve got to go with my heart.

10:00-11:00 LA Law was my choice on NBC Thursday nights, where the alternative was a whole lot of ER. But it never did for me what shows like Boston Legal and Eli Stone have.

Six Degrees offered a strong ensemble, glimpses of Michael K. Williams, and a story that at moments was overwhelmingly absorbing. But it was also the strong player on a network, night, and time that didn’t put up that much of a fight.

Eleventh Hour, on the other hand, was a show that still lingers firmly in my memory. Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton were a great team, and while it could have been seen as a desperate ploy, adding Omar Benson Miller was a brilliant move that inexplicably failed to save the show from cancellation. Well, here in my fantasy world, Eleventh Hour gets one more chance at entertaining us. Welcome back!

And that’s all there is to it. If it were up to me, I’d be watching the following lineup in perpetuity on Thursday nights: Friends, Family Ties, Frasier, Seinfeld, and Eleventh Hour. What a way to end the week. How about you? What does your dream Thursday night lineup look like?

And thanks to everyone for playing along for all this time. Even if your final scorecard looks nothing like mine, I hope the strolls down memory lane were fun!

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 11, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT