NBC Renews Notre Dame Contract For 8 More Years, Cancels 'Bionic Woman'

Despite sagging ratings, the departure of many beloved characters, and a marked downward trend in its plotlines over the last few seasons, NBC announced today that they are renewing the Notre Dame Show through 2015. I'm not going to sit here and defend the worthiness of last year's 3-9 Notre Dame team over television behemoths like "My Dad is Better than Your Dad", "Clash of the Choirs", and "Quarterlife" that didn't make it off the NBC chopping block, but hey, that's business for you.

A disturbing sidenote for Irish fans is that the contract stipulates that between 2011 and 2015, NBC will carry eight Irish home games a year. As a result, the Irish will have to play 7 games in Notre Dame stadium plus one more quote-unquote "neutral site game" a year against a body bag team willing to take a payout to play what financially works out to be a Notre Dame home game. Any hope that this cheeseball scheduling would disappear with the launching of Athletic Director Kevin White has been dashed, as it is now a contractual necessity.

At the end of the deal, Notre Dame will have been on NBC for 25 years, longer than "Seinfeld" and "Cheers" combined.

Bionic Woman'

LONDON - MAY 18: (UK TABLOID NEWSPAPERS OUT) Actresses Mischa Barton (L) and Michelle Ryan arrive at the Britain's Best 2008 awards at London Television Studios on May 18, 2008 in London, England. The award ceremony honours outstanding Britons in categories including business, art, television, music, film, sport and fashion. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

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LONDON - MAY 18: (UK TABLOID NEWSPAPERS OUT) Actress Michelle Ryan arrives at the Britain's Best 2008 awards at London Television Studios on May 18, 2008 in London, England. The award ceremony honours outstanding Britons in categories including business, art, television, music, film, sport and fashion. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

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LONDON - MAY 12: Actress Michelle Ryan attends the World Premiere of 'Sex And The City' held at the Odeon Leicester Square on May 12, 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

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MILAN, ITALY - MAY 11: Actress Michelle Ryan attends the press conference for "Bionic Woman" during the 2008 Telefilm Festival at Cinema Apollo May 11, 2008 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

6-19-2008 @ 6:29PM

Ed Garrity said...

NBC must feel its worth it, as do I.

6-19-2008 @ 6:52PM

rcott1019 said...

What in the world made those morons at NBC think that more people would want to watch a second rate team like Notre Dame instead of that fox playing the bionic woman role? Give me a break. No wonder the networks are losing their shirts to the cable channels.

6-20-2008 @ 1:59AM

NotAFlannelMouthed Irishman said...

You got to be kidding. That means only four games on the road. What respecting schools will sign up for this arranagement on the unusual home and away basis?

There is no magic to play in South Bend unless your school is playing it's first Division One game after being in Division Two for years.

They-ND-will then scream they are a BCS quality because of a good record as the result of playing against patsies.

Whether it be politics or sports, NBCers are prostitues.

6-19-2008 @ 7:57PM

Butt Lovin Bear 401 said...

I thought that the new Bionic Woman had potential. Well maybe some network with more common sense will pick it up

NBCSucks said...

Big mistake! Who the hell watches Notre Dame anymore, except Regis Philbin?

6-19-2008 @ 8:07PM

Geprge said...

NBC should learn from the old adage: When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you need to do is stop digging. No wonder they're just a shell of waht they once were.

6-19-2008 @ 9:04PM

Bob said...

NBC's myopic programming executives failed to realize the folly of dumping the Bionic Woman. Notre Dame's ridiculously overhyped football squad could use her.

6-19-2008 @ 9:14PM

Josh H. said...

A totally GREAT move by NBC. ND won't be down forever, and the only reason they are now is because they haven't yet figured out how to match top graduation rates with winning. Face it--most football players can't qualify for admission-even with ND's lower ones for the athletes (like the same system used at Stanford, Duke, etc.).

The typical ND-hater is someone who isn't smart enought to qualify for admission into the school in the first place. And, they simply just don't GET IT. Thing is--the administrations of schools like USC and Michigan DO get it, and they also know why ND can pull this NBC deal off. THINK ABOUT IT!!!

6-19-2008 @ 10:24PM

cjoejoe1979 said...

lmao notre dame aint worth the money to air they just as well put bionic woman on there

6-19-2008 @ 9:45PM

Chris said...

What the hell is Notre Dame other than a school and a church? At least I know what the Bionic woman is!!!

6-19-2008 @ 9:57PM

College football fan said...

College football is a grand season but Notra Dame Football is not GRAND SEASON!! Who put them in the number one spot and why. When was the last time they played for the National Title, I ask you? Ask a SEC Team or Big Ten Team or Mid-American team or Pac Ten team. They will tell you they don't care about ND. NBC is making a big mistake but what do I know. We will see as the new season starts and ND falls behing, again!!

sandy wilson said...

I guess that only goes to show hoe much clout Notre Dame alumni and the Catholic church have.

6-19-2008 @ 10:59PM

Doug said...

No doubt the head of NBC Sports is a ND grad. I can't see a reason for broadcasting only one team instead of the best forcasted match ups of the week. Put a big L on NBC's forehead. I know I won't be watching!

6-19-2008 @ 11:49PM

NBC would get better ratings if they just aired "Rudy" in lieu of each week's ND game.

6-20-2008 @ 12:13AM

vito said...

DA!!!! get all sports off NBC starting with the Olympics then golf etc. start paying writers to write good programing. no I'm not a writer or related to one.

6-20-2008 @ 12:47AM

George B Vieto said...

NBC is an acronym for Nothing But Clowns. Reruns of The Three Stooges would be better.

6-20-2008 @ 3:50AM

Brent said...

You little bastards. I'm a Penn State fan but have no problem watch an ND game. They are the ultimate college team. Why the hell do you have a problem with ND anyway? Nevermind, I know the answer. Your knuckles still scrape against the concrete. ND is the ultimate college team no matter what sport and they are one HELL of a school. If you wanna watch Bionic Woman over college football, you are retarded. You have no skill level to tell the difference between the two.

6-20-2008 @ 4:51AM

Basecat said...

8 Home games?? Enuff said. What a joke.

6-20-2008 @ 5:02AM

Edward Gildner said...

I know that it will not happen, but I wish in my heart of hearts that somebody would wake up at NBC and realize that stupidity is not necessary on TV and get rid of Howie Mandel and that stupid Deal or No Deal