In 2005, NBC shocked the television industry by doing the unthinkable: airing primetime dramas without a single commercial break. The West Wing and Law & Order: Criminal Intent played like uninterrupted films, backed by one sponsor footing the entire bill. Critics called it daring. Advertisers called it reckless. Viewers weren’t sure what to make of it.This episode of Between the Cut dives into NBC’s forgotten gamble — the nights when network TV went commercial-free. We explore why the experiment failed, how audiences reacted, and why this bold move foreshadowed the rise of Netflix, Hulu, and ad-free streaming services years later.If you’ve ever binged a show without ads, this is the story of the first time television tried to make it happen.

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