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No More "Super-Size" Comedies For NBC

Zap2it.com, Thursday, May 31, 2007 10:15 AM

NBC will no longer "super-size" its comedies, dropping a practice that extended the network's half-hour shows by five to 10 minutes with extra footage and an extra commercial break. "It was a good idea when we started it," says Vince Manze, the network's head of scheduling. "It was very novel. But it's just not a good idea to have shows starting at 9:23 p.m. We're going to do our best to not have to do it next year."

The scheduling of longer episodes was tough to put in the listings, and if one started off its scheduled time, it would also screw up DVRs programmed to record them. First done by then-NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker, who extended episodes of "Friends" during the 2000-01 season, it was established at least, in part, to keep people from flipping over to "Survivor" on CBS. But NBC will stick to a plan to produce five hour-long installments of "The Office" next season.

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