CBS' black eye

[Woodmonkey]

CBS' black eye

Last week's death of comedian Harvey Korman was a reminder of the bygone era when Americans actually stayed home on Saturday night to watch television, usually with their dials tuned to CBS.

Korman was the second banana on The Carol Burnett Show, which was preceded in the CBS Saturday night lineup 35 years ago by All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show. Each program was a comedy classic in its own right; together, they were a ratings juggernaut.

A lot has changed on TV since then, and not necessarily for the better. The explosion of entertainment options has turned Saturday night into a wasteland for the networks, and this weekend the one that used to own the night sank to a new bottom.

CBS became the first old-line network to broadcast the emerging "sport" of mixed martial arts in prime time. MMA combines punches, kicks and grappling in an activity that Sen. John McCain once compared to "human cockfighting." McCain has since backed away from that description, but he might have had it right the first time.

One death has been reported in U.S. MMA promotions, that of Houston's Sam Vasquez last year. Saturday night's five-bout card was headlined by a former street fighter known as Kimbo Slice, who attracted attention with Internet video clips sponsored by a pornography company. One of Saturday's fights was stopped after a scary eye poke. CBS Chairman Sumner Redstone said recently that he doesn't like the sport and doesn't consider it "socially responsible."

Apparently, however, business is business, and the network has agreed to air four CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights .

To be sure, Saturday is now the lowest rated night on network TV. People go out or spread themselves among cable offerings, movie rentals, video games and Internet activities. Amid this fragmentation, networks are left desperate to find an audience. An upbeat CBS spokesman told us Sunday that MMA attracted 4.3 million viewers during its first two hours, with ratings among males ages 18-34 up 271%.

That draws in certain advertisers, but lots of things that might attract young men don't belong on broadcast TV, particularly on what used to be called the "Tiffany network." If Harvey Korman and CBS founder William Paley saw what aired in Saturday's Carol Burnett Show time slot, they wouldn't be laughing.

The Source

[Snowden]

MMA strikes me as manslaughter waiting in the wings. It shouldn't be a sport, it just feeds more violence to the very people who don't need it. It's unbelievably cruel.

[Woodmonkey]

Some people really like it though, but it's more violent than boxing.

[ollie]

And people ask me why I disconnected my cable and antenna years ago. Our TV is a mini movie theatre now, nothing more.

ollie

[Woodmonkey]

I concentrate on the History Channel and decoraring shows (which I enjoy) and also Fox News. There's no good comedy on TV these days.