At last week's Emmys, Julia Louis-Dreyfus jokingly announced that this was the "last official year" for broadcast TV.
The line got lots of chuckles among the industryites gathered in the Nokia Theater. But the networks might be getting the last laugh this fall.
While it's still very early to be making any iron-clad assumptions about the new season, after a couple of years of doom and gloom, things seem to be looking up for broadcasters. Several new shows are off to promising starts, while a number of returning shows are demonstrating surprising strength.
"Despite Julia's prognostications, I think broadcast TV has a few more years left in it," said Preston Beckman, Fox's longtime scheduling guru. "Overall, and not just for Fox, it's been an encouraging start to what's going to be a very long season.
"Every year you think, 'This is it. It's over,'" Beckman joked. "But I think for all kinds of reasons, there's a lot to feel good about."
Indeed, on Thursday, ABC managed to draw the best numbers in two years for an 8 p.m. premiere with its launch of "FlashForward." The strong bow came a night after the network defied doomsday predictions for new comedies "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town," both of which roared out of the gate and put to rest the idea that viewers aren't willing to sample new sitcoms.
Over at CBS, just about everything else the network is doing is working in a big way. Fox is on track to have its best fall in years (and maybe ever).
Even the little CW, which had the first cancellation of the year in "The Beautiful Life: TBL," has reason to smile. Newcomer "The Vampire Diaries" is building audience and buzz and appears headed for Hitsville.
"People are always anxious to to write off network TV," said Kelly Kahl, senior executive VP at CBS. "It's nice to disprove that. "
Things are a bit tougher for NBC. After a solid bow, comedy hope "Community" took a tumble in week two, and the network ranked third or fourth in most time slots last week. But Jay Leno has met or exceeded expectations at 10 p.m., and while it's too soon to judge the show's ultimate level of success, so far, there's been no cratering -- and that's a good thing.
Another hopeful sign for the networks: Media buzz has been great for this year's crop of newcomers. While plenty of shows have been trashed, critics are getting behind several freshman in a big way.
"Every network can look to at least one show they've premiered and feel like they've added to their arsenal," Beckman said. "Three weeks from now, we may be writing some obits, but my gut is that there are a couple of shows that could be hanging around."
Keeping in mind that one week of numbers do not a season make -- if so, "The Fugitive" might still be on CBS -- here's an early look at how each network is faring.
