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NBC celebrates 75 years of broadcasting (Part II of II: the Brandon Tartikoff era)

© Steve Hatton

(Editor's note: If you're looking for Part I, try http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1048... )

A few more milestones occurred at NBC in the 50's and 60's. The arrival of 'The Today Show' changed the face of morning television in 1952. A little later came the arrival of Jack Paar and The Tonight Show in 1954, the first successful late night talk show. The very first telecast of the Academy Awards was on NBC in 1953 with Bob Hope as the host. That same year, NBC introduced color television and in 1955, they broadcasted the very first World Series in color. But the popular phrase "In Living Color," coined by the network, wouldn't come to be until 1959, with the arrival of 'Bonanza.' In 1962, Johnny Carson would replace Jack Paar on 'The Tonight Show.' 1964 would mark the NBC debut of 'Flipper,' 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,' and the first ever made for TV movie.

But by the late 70's, things weren't going well for the network. "Proud As A Peacock" may have been their slogan for the 1979/80 season, but the enthusiasm didn't match the reality of its last place ranking. The slogan would later be dubbed "Loud As A Peacock" by critics. In 1981, Thursday Night 'Must See TV' meant: 'Fame,' 'Different Strokes,' 'Gimme A Break,' and 'Hill Street Blues.'

As part of desperate effort to attract viewers, NBC began to spend a lot of money on promotion and advertising. For the 1982/83 season, they came up with the slick "Just Watch Us Now" campaign, which some argue marked the beginning of the turn around. The subsequent "Be There" jingle for the fall of 1983 is also often credited. But if that were true, then the turn around (which didn't really occur till the mid-eighties) was a slow painful process, as ratings improvements for those seasons were minimal at best. The bottom line, the network was getting desperate and a slogan like "Just Watch Us Now" seemed to only reinforce that air of desperation.

An NBC Thursday Night in the fall of 1982 consisted of 'Fame,' followed by the brand new 'Cheers,' 'Taxi,' and 'Hill Street Blues.' The arrival of Taxi from ABC to NBC was promoted with the announcement "same time, better station."

Credit for reviving NBC really belongs mostly to Brandon Tartikoff. He became president of NBC's Entertainment division in 1980, where he came to be the most powerful and well-liked television executive. In 1984, Tartikoff happened to catch Bill Cosby doing a monologue on The Tonight Show and he immediately became convinced that Cosby's family-related humor would make a perfect TV sitcom. 'The Cosby Show' was born and the family

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