PASADENA, Calif. — Sometimes bad sitcoms happen to good people. Not that they're willing to admit it.
Case in point — Steven Weber, a genuinely nice man who stars in "The Weber Show," a lame little half-hour if ever there was one. Not that it's the show's fault for being bad. Nah, it's the critics' fault for hating it.
"As a fatalist, I can only answer that by saying that I think the show, despite an onslaught of unfair reviews, is good, funny and is more than holding its own in the ratings," Weber said. "And will be on the air next season."
Indeed, it might. But that has more to do with the difficulty NBC has had developing sitcoms for the past several years. ("Three Sisters" might turn into a hit, but the newest genuine sitcom success on the network's schedule is "Just Shoot Me," now in its fifth season.)
And it's not as if critics are the only ones who had a problem with the show. As originally conceived, it was a show about a successful guy (Weber) who was cursed by a gypsy. (Thus the titled "Cursed," under which it made its debut in the fall.) NBC executives quickly became disenchanted with the show, ordered it to be reworked, replaced its creators and executive producers with a new team and reshot the pilot before it aired.
The whole "cursed" angle was played down and has since been eliminated, and the sitcom was retitled "The Weber Show" in the midst of its first season. Now, it's basically a cookie-cutter NBC show about a bunch of friends.
And, despite Weber's assertion to the contrary, the show's ratings are far from good. Yes, it's usually in the top 20 — but that's not a good thing when the show that precedes it on the schedule, "Friends," is in the top 3. "Weber" loses about a quarter of the "Friends" audience most weeks, and is the lowest-rated show on NBC's Thursday schedule.
But that's the critics' fault, apparently.
"I hate to say this in front of you guys, but I remember we sat here (six months ago) — it was called 'Cursed,' aptly enough — and it felt like the show was given an unfair shake," Weber said while promoting an upcoming Showtime movie "Club Land," which he wrote, executive produced and stars in.
Actually, I remember that day in July 2000 as well. I remember walking behind Weber down a hotel hallway hearing him talk about how he was sure he was going to get "killed" in the press conference. I remember that one of the first things out of his mouth during the press conference was the sarcastic comment, "This is going over really well, isn't it?"
Not to be argumentive, but it sure seemed a lot like Weber knew that critics weren't going to like the show before any of us had reviewed it. Which has to make you wonder how the brickbats tossed his way could be "unfair."
And, while NBC has stuck with the show, the network obviously doesn't have a great deal of confidence in "Weber." Faced with the prospect of "Survivor" airing on CBS on Thursdays at 7 p.m., the network has yanked "Weber" off its schedule for the February sweeps.
"I think it's either shrewd or frustrating that they're taking us off as a way of dealing with the show 'Survivor,' " Weber said. "And if we got crushed in 'Survivor's' wake, I'm sure that the press would be as generous as they were before. And be very constructive about it.
"Anything is going to get crushed (by 'Survivor'), in my opinion. So, look, it's either shrewd or cowardly that they're taking us off the air."
It can't be easy to work as hard on something as Weber is working on his sitcom and read the negative reviews. And most of us don't write reviews to make people's lives difficult, but we have to call 'em as we see 'em.
"I mean, I tell you, this whole year with this . . . show has been such an experience for me," Weber said. "And somebody said there's two things you should never see — how they make sausage and how they make a television show.
"I know I sound like bitter actor boy, but I think it's going to go on. There's worse crap on the air now that passes as hit TV, so I'm confused, really. If you leave it on long enough it will acquire a following, and who knows? It'll evolve. And if it doesn't, then the hell with it."
And even if it doesn't, we probably won't have seen the last of Weber on series TV.
"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. And I'll quietly fold myself into some medical drama," he said.
NBC FINALIZES THURSDAY PLANS: The Peacock network has announced how exactly it will compete with "Survivor" on Thursdays between 7 and 8 p.m. during the February sweeps, which begin next week.
As previously announced, the network will air a 40-minute episode of "Friends" each week. And, as previously announced, it will be followed by special 20-minute editions of "Saturday Night Live" on Feb. 1 and 8. Then on Feb. 15, look for a 20-minute special — hosted by Conan O'Brien — that features outtakes from "classic" episodes of "Friends" as well as interviews with the show's stars.
And then its 40-minute-sitcom-o-rama on Feb. 22. A 40-minute episode of "Friends" at 7 p.m. will be followed by a 40-minute episode of "Will &Grace" at 7:40 p.m., which will be followed by a 40-minute episode of "Just Shoot Me" at 8:20 p.m.
Do you get the feeling that NBC is concerned about the competition from "Survivor"?
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com