I understand your point, but I don't know if we can really say that NBC wasted money. They definitely got a return because the '91 DS got decent ratings - especially for a Friday. It was quite often NBC's highest rated show of the night, and it had great demos. Ratings/demos weren't really the problem. The problem was that there was a regime change at NBC and Brandon Tartikoff, DS' biggest supporter at the network, left and was replaced by Warren Littlefield, who didn't support the show. (I mean, we're talking about a man who canceled a show in the Nielsen Top 10 because he didn't like it.
) Littlefield came to see the error of his ways - but by that time it was too late because DC, with good reason, didn't want to hear anything Littlefield had to say...