Is There Hope In Friday Night Television’s ‘Time Slot Of Death’?

Call it the resurrection of the time slot of death.

For years, Friday nights have carried a grisly reputation — where shows on broadcast networks are sent to die. But a certain kind of cable show has recently performed well — even really well — on Friday nights.

Gold Rush, on the Discovery Channel, has been the No. 1 show across all channels on Friday nights. It draws almost 5 million viewers — not amazing numbers by American Idol standards, but considerably better than such weeknight cable hits as Mad Men or American Horror Story. Savvy cable programmers can work Friday night’s weakness to their own advantage.