His Satanic Majesty, the Impish, Desolate One. (image via cnn)
Lots going on at NBC of late. Personnel changes, desperation. It comes as no surprise that the network has never quite recovered from the loss of "Friends," or, for that matter, the astronomical sums of money they paid out of their asses for that last season (And the disasterous "Joey," which but the kibosh on the profitable NBC "Must-See-Thursday" Franchise; Brandon Tartikoff, BTW, is spinning in his grave).
Since then, the Peacock net has been looking to "Reality" programming (i.e. People making fools of themselves), which is cheap and buzzy and has high returns. If you want high-quality teevee, look to cable -- most notably antihero-friendly "FX."
Enter: Mike Darnell, Satan to teevee purists like The Corsair (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment). He is the physical embodiment of the United States of Amnesia's Lowest Common Denominator virus. And, alas, NBC wants him. Like Paris Hilton needs her Valtrex. From Variety:
"Fox's dark prince of reality TV could be bolting to another company, possibly NBC Universal.
Mike Darnell, the net's longtime head of alternative programming, has been talking to Ben Silverman about coming to the Peacock in order to launch his own company, three people familiar with the situation said. The conversations come as Darnell and his reps are also talking to Fox about renewing his deal at the network, which expires shortly.
"Darnell has become closely associated with the Fox brand, thanks to a string of audacious audience grabbers from 'When Animals Attack' and 'Temptation Island' to more recent hits such as 'Hell's Kitchen' and 'Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?' He's also overseen the development of TV's biggest overall smash, 'American Idol.'"
We're still stuck on "When Animals Attack," but you might remember him from the trailer trash-tastic "Who Wants to marry a Millionire." Expect another "man-Verus-Beast" fiasco. We guess on the nets it is all about the ratings.
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