Entertainment

Bring In The <I>Friends</I>

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 16, 2001 / 2:17 PM EST / CBS

NBC is hoping it'll be able to sneak past the mega-ratings threat of Survivor: the Australian Outback with a little help from its friends.

The paid ones, that is: the stars of Friends, one of the peacock network's most popular shows and, according to NBC, television's highest-rated comedy.

Friends will reportedly be expanded by ten minutes, for four weeks, beginning on February 1.

That's according to USA Today, which says NBC is making the expensive move in an attempt to keep viewers from tuning in to the new edition of Survivor, which hits the airwaves on CBS on January 28, right after the Superbowl.

Paying the highly-compensated cast of Friends a little extra to make the longer shows isn't the only expense NBC's new entertainment president, Jeff Zucker, is taking on in order to get ready for the ratings war.

Survivor: The Australian Outback

Visit The Official Web Site
For a look at the sequel to the enormously popular Survivor TV show, visit the official CBS Web site.

Ratings heavyweight Jason Alexander, of Seinfeld fame, and Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon are also being brought in for special guest appearances during the Survivor ratings dueling period.

Sarandon's been on the show before, in the role of a soap opera diva, back in 1994, the show's first season.

Saturday Night Live is also being beefed up, with new sketches being added, to be performed live on at least two shows.

Of course CBS has plenty of its own easy-on-the-eye weapons in the war for viewers' attention and ultimately, advertising dollars.

There are more than a few members of the new cast of Survivor who appear to have that "watchability" quotient TV bosses always hope to find.

CBS programmers have also been busy putting together their part of the network strategy.

CBS' most popular new drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, is being shifted to follow directly after Survivor.

The plan is to create ratings headaches for the NBC sitcoms Will & Grace and Just Shoot Me.

NBC has had a less than stellar season, with four of its seven new series landing flat on their faces as instant flops.

NBC has also been behind in television's hottest trend, the development of s-called "reality" shows.

Entertainment President Garth Ancier was fired in December, and his successor, Zucker, told reporters last week that he'll seek more variety in NBC's programming.

Zucker at the same time said "We need to find some comedies that work" beyond established shows like Friends.

In 1998, faced with escalating costs to keep hits like ER and Mad About You on its schedule, NBC eliminated about 250 jobs.

Last week, NBC sent out a memo to its employees with more bad news.

The memo from network president Bob Wright said NBC "must go beyond belt-tightening" and reduce its work force by as many as 600 jobs.

The cuts, which involve about five to ten percent NBC's employees, will come in every division including entertainment and news.

Some of the cuts will be through attrition.