Last night I found out about the hit TV show that never aired: “Nobody’s Watching.” This show was created by Bill Lawrence (of Scrubs & Spin City fame) and 2 of the writers from Family Guy. The show was originally made for NBC but after seeing the pilot, NBC passed. Then the show was shopped at WB who after hearing some concerning screening feedback decided to pass on it too. The show died. That is, until a few weeks ago when someone posted the show on YouTube.com. Then it became a hit with over 350,00 views. Now studios are once again looking at it to see if they shouldn’t pick it up for their lineup this coming year.
The show is stellar. It is about 2 friends who are flown from Ohio to Hollywood to star in a fictional reality show about these two guys making their own sitcom. Imagine Scrubs mixed with the Office mixed with something like “Making the Band” or “Project Green Light.” Throughout the show you see these two goofing off essentially and making fun of other TV shows. Complete with a Friends set and Gunthar! You really should watch this show. It deserves to be on TV for not only being incredibly original, but also incredibly high quality.
However, this has created some interest in me in another way. Why couldn’t YouTube.com or something like it, make their own TV network? One of the problems with TV these days is that they don’t let a show build its audience the way it needs to. An audience needs to be built slowly over time, but TV Networks more and more require that a show be an instant hit in order to keep it on. Gone are the days where Seinfeld, Radio News or Caroline in the City would ever get a chance more than 3 episodes. And all three of these were quality shows even if you didn’t care for them.
So why doesn’t YouTube start their own network? What they could do is have people submit shows (even professional studios) these shows would then be aired on the website. Just a single episode will do. If the show is downloaded by say 250,000 people a second episode is created for the website. And if this second episode reaches 300,000 AND the first episode reaches 500,000 then the show gets picked up for the network. In addition the network could have a variety of other shows showcasing the various youtube.com submissions. Maybe a show containing original cartoon shorts, or a show that rounds up the most popular of the week, etc., taking true advantage of what they have built. Then after every TV season is finished they could re-air the shows on their site with a small ad in the beginning to hel pay for costs. No more reruns… just YouTube.
Now granted I realize the idea of YouTube is to get away from networks entirely and start a true IPTV experience. But lets face it, the majority of Americans are still without the broadband needed and even fewer know about IPTV. This is just a way to transition the idea I think and it may work!