7 Reasons Why NBC Sucks

It's Sunday morning and I was getting ready for the news programs that I usually watch and I realized that I don't enjoy these shows as much as I used. One reason for this is new host at Meet the Press, after the death of Tim Russert. It started me thinking about the changes I have made in my viewing habits and their cause. At one time I probably spent more time watching the NBC than I spent watching all the other networks combined. They were the nuts. They WERE. Now they are just NUTS. What kind of idiots are running this network?
1) Tim Russert was a special man. I loved to watch him on Meet the Press. He just generated a sense of sincerity. He was real. When he died, there was a perceptible sense of loss that was shared by many. David Gregory always struck me as someone more interested in personal aggrandizement than in representing his network. I remember him as the White House correspondent. I didn't like him then and don't like him now.
2) I always thought that Jay Leno was really funny, but somehow when he took over the night show he didn't immediately click with me. Part of the problem were the stories that I read about how he outmaneuvered David Letterman to get the show and also I think maybe it was his handshaking routine at the beginning of every show. Seemed kind of phony. I got over it after a while, and started to enjoys the show. At the very least, I always watched his monologue. He's a great comedian. I preferred David Letterman's interviewing skills. His were always a bit edgier than those of anyone else. But here in the DR, for some reason, most cable companies don't carry CBS so Letterman is not an option.
In fear of losing the talent (?) of Conan O'brien the network forced Leno out as the host of The Tonight Show. Sorry, maybe I am too old. I don't think Conan O'brien is that funny. His humor is too forced for my taste His humor seems more to do with doing funny things than saying funny things. If I want a lot of physical humor I can watch the Three Stooges. Good thing that the network kept Leno by giving him a prime time show. When Conan bombs as the new Tonight Show host, Leno will be there ready and waiting.
3) Jimmy Fallon so far has shown nothing. I don't think he is strong enough comically. I can't tell you who should have replaced Leno, but I can tell you who shouldn't have.
4) NBC has become the network of dramatic commercial (drammercial) moments. I think it started with Deal or No Deal. As the contestant was coming to a particularly crucial moment, be it opening a case or receiving a offer from "The Banker", Howie Mandel would stall and then say, " and we'll do that right after this message". The audience would moan. It worked for a while. Then it became kind of obvious as to when it was going to happen and it started to become annoying, not so much because you had to wait another couple of minutes to find out what was going to happen, but rather, because it was obvious that someone thought that a "bit" that had been milked to death was still clever. Now that Deal is on twice a day that phony dramatic pause happens ten time as often as before. Now, that dramatic commercial break has spread to other programs. Biggest Loser uses this annoying ploy at for at least 4 or 5 commercials per show. No team challenge ever ends without pounding music followed by a cutaway. Even more annoying is that when the show comes back they show at least the last 30 seconds that they showed before they cut away for their drammercial. Once the weigh in starts, the drammercials take over the show and continue until I get to the point where I don't care. That's a shame because I like the show a lot. This year they have great, caring contestants. A couple of times I have shut it off and called my daughter later on to find out the results.
5) You may have to have seen the movie to understand this next issue, but someone must have really loved The Truman Show and been inspired by it. Truman's "wife" constantly promotes products, by seeming to talk to Truman, but really addressing the viewing audience. He doesn't catch on. I did. This happens on every episode of Biggest Loser. It's so obvious. There is always a heart to heart talk between either the tattooed monkey or his female counterpart and some of the contestants. Does the network count this as one of the commercials in the show or is this a freebee thrown in to sweeten the pot for the advertisers? There should be some sort of disclaimer. Just as obvious is the commercial value of the projects on Celebrity Apprentice. Almost all are there to promote a product. I'd rather watch The Truman Show.
6) Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee. (Kotb)? Does that have something to do with (the New) K ids O n T he B lock?) Smarmy and smarmy plus. If you don't know the word, look it up. It really defines these two.
7) Finally, as a resident of the DR, I am not allowed to watch NBC programs on the web. I can watch CBS, ABC, and TBS, to name a few, but NBC's programming for some reason is not available to me. I get a message that says, "we're sorry but the clip you have selected isn't available from your location". Every other network let's me watch except NBC, but NBC is convincing me by their programming that there really isn't much to watch there anymore.