SALON

Monday, Aug 13, 2012 4:30 PM UTC

NBC halts Olympics for promotional monkeyshines

By

Topics: From the Wires

NEW YORK (AP) — Viewers were incensed Sunday night when NBC cut away from the Olympics’ conclusion to air a sitcom featuring a monkey.

During 16 days from London, the sprawl of Olympics coverage was seemingly indomitable, running roughshod through the NBC schedule. Yet Sunday’s package of highlights from the closing ceremony deferred meekly to the preview of a new NBC comedy, “Animal Practice,” which then was followed by a half-hour of local news.

When taped Olympics coverage came to a grinding halt at 11 p.m. Eastern time, viewers were advised that the festivities would resume in one hour.

Accordingly, at midnight Ryan Seacrest greeted viewers who had chosen to stick it out.

“Welcome to the London closing party,” he chirped. “Now it’s time for the big finale.”

That would be a medley pounded out by The Who. Songs included such favorites as “Baba O’Riley” and “My Generation,” but not, as put-upon viewers might have noted, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”: After all the build-up, The Who were on hand for just eight minutes.

Olympics host Bob Costas then delivered a rhapsodic postscript before declaring a wrap for NBC’s Olympics coverage at 12:35 a.m. For this, viewers had waited an extra hour on a work night.

And by then, many of them might have been wondering why the ceremony package couldn’t have aired intact, ending conveniently at 11:08 p.m. and only slightly delaying NBC’s monkey business.

Agitated viewers with a long memory were likening Sunday’s Who-Airs-When fiasco to NBC’s “Heidi” moment nearly four decades earlier.

That was the faceoff between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets on Nov. 17, 1968, when Oakland scored two touchdowns in the game’s final minute to overwhelm New York’s 32-29 lead. But viewers in the East didn’t see the impossible comeback, because NBC broke away from the game with the Jets still ahead to air its TV film “Heidi” at the scheduled 7 p.m. start time.

There was no Twitter then, but there was Sunday night — and it lit up with complaints.

“No better way to turn people off a new show than to preempt the who & other rock legends for it,” tweeted Nate Barlow.

And Nina L. Diamond voiced her ire in even stronger terms: “I think NBC has managed to become even less popular than Congress.”

___

Online:

www.nbcolympics.com

Frazier Moore

More Frazier Moore.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations