CNBC is dumping the Dennis Miller Show, which was an attempt at a combination humor/talk show by the once-hot Saturday Night Live and cable network comic.
CNBC is canceling “Dennis Miller” in an attempt to revive the network’s struggling primetime, according to Variety.
“Dennis Miller” will be replaced with a second airing of “Mad Money With Jim Cramer” at 9 p.m. ET.
That show will be MUCH funnier. MORE:
The network will also replace “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” with a new business show at 7 p.m. that will debut in the third quarter.
Both moves are part of a repositioning of CNBC’s primetime back to the network’s focus on financial news and away from failed attempts at entertainment, according to the report.
CNBC President Mark Hoffman said the changes are meant to give the West Coast more opportunities to see the network’s signature shows during business hours.
This seems to be part of a general housecleaning of poorly-rated entertainment shows on CNBC since the struggling network also recently axed highly-touted flop shows hosted by John McEnroe and Tina Brown.
Why was Miller canceled? A tiny reason may have been the fact his ratings have been down 59 percent from his rating last year.
Why? A good comedy/satire/talk show requires good MATERIAL. Miller is a talented comedian — although those who feel forsaken by his turn the right would not agree anymore. But the bottom line is that his show suffered from poor writing, blase content and the fact that Miller jumped the shark several years ago. This can happen to any comedian, particularly one engaged in political humor who becomes old hat. Miller was no longer the young, cutting edge comedian but a middle-aged guy who seemed somewhat impressed with his own wit. You say this isn’t true? Then why didn’t he draw tons of viewers from the right. He was just not a must-see anymore. His act — on TV, at least — became old.
Jim Cramer’s positive pronouncements on the state of the economy will definitely get more laughs.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.