Re: Reilly didn't have NBC's support, money for pilots
- From: WQ <wq@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 29 May 2007 11:40:04 -0700
On May 29, 1:54 pm, "Steven L." <sdlit...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
WQ wrote:
David wrote:
from mediaweek
Analysis: Is Reilly a Scapegoat for NBC's Failures?
Yep, that's what I said. NBC's problems started long ago, and Reilly
wasn't the one who caused them.
And according to sources familiar with the NBC development process,
Reilly was told he could do only half the number of pilots of the
other Big Four broadcast networks for the 2007-08 season. While Reilly
tried to put on a positive face during the upfront by saying that the
goal was not to put too many new shows on the schedule that would be
lost in the fall premiere shuffle, it was clear that NBC does not have
enough new shows on its schedule to seriously give it a shot at
turning its viewer declines around.
--- Exactly what I think. NBC needed to get 8-10 new shows on to try
to score at least 2 new moderate hits out of them. Look at ABC, 8 new
shows and half of them will easily win their time slots for sure.
I agree with you. When you're in last place, dare to be bold, what have
you got to lose.
I distinctly remember that in one fall season in the 1960s, NBC actually
premiered *two dozen* shows in an extreme makeover of their whole
broadcast schedule.
--- Well, maybe not "two dozen," but certainly 15 or so. The latter
50s and first half of the 60s, from fall '57 to fall '66 actually, was
a particularly heady time for new fall shows debuting on the
networks. It was practically the norm that 10 to 15 new shows on each
network bow in just about every fall. Maybe the NBC case you're
referring to is that of ABC in '63, when it totally ripped up its
lineup and reinvented itself by adding 15 new shows spanning 13 1/2
hours of prime time, with a half-hour shared between Sid Caeser and
Edie Adams and an extra half-hour added on Saturdays with Jerry Lewis
running till 11:30. Only 3 shows remained unaffected by the
scheduling moves, Combat, Donna Reed and the summer holdover ABC News
Reports. And out of that season of 15 new fall shows ABC got The
Fugitive, The Outer Limits, The Patty Duke Show, Burke's Law, The
Farmer's Daughter and The Jimmy Dean Show as its successes. The
success of Outer Limits, in particular [the show unfortunately crashed
when it was moved to Saturdays the next fall], along with CBS's My
Favorite Martian, helped launch the first real wave of fantasy and sci-
fi themed sitcoms and dramas the following year on both those networks
with ABC's Bewitched scoring as a huge hit and helping that network
reach a virtual 3-way tie for season average ratings: ABC 19.2, CBS
19.6, NBC 19.5 - the first ever in history up to that point for all 3
networks to reach that close an identical score. And that 19.2 for ABC
in '64 was up from 16.9 in '63 and 15.6 in '62, when it felt it had
nowhere else to go but up. To put the ratings in perspective, today's
ratings can be viewed as being about 40% of then, so 15.2 would be
about a 6.0 now.
So, it's not only how many new hits a network can get out of putting
on 10, 12 or 15 new shows, it's also what new trends might be
generated from the successes that emerge from those 10-15 new shows.
That whole mid-60s period especially was a particularly interesting
one in that so many trends came into play all at once as a result of
that one show or two that kickstarted things: Outer Limits begat all
the new wave sci-fi shows, My Favorite Martian begat all the fantasy
sitcoms, Beverly Hillbillies begat the rural sitcoms, Combat begat the
military stuff, McHale's Navy begat the military sitcoms, Man from
U.N.C.L.E. begat all the spy shows, even westerns begat themselves
again just as they were fading into obscurity. And then just as all
those began to peak and subside, Smothers Brothers, Carol Burnett and
Laugh-in begat the variety mania of the late 60s, along with
irregularly scheduled made-for-TV movies evolving into their own
weekly showcase on ABC's Movie of the Week. No other decade did so
much begatting, and I miss all that begatting.
I'm sure that Brandon Tartikoff did not have a
committee telling him how to program NBC in its heyday.
--- Who knows how Silverman will handle the job, but a fresh face of
some kind is needed at the helm. Reilly might've been hampered in his
job for whatever reasons, but if Silverman is given the kind of
autonomy that McPherson has, then NBC has a better chance of climbing
out of the cellar.
I'm sure they had to promise autonomy (or at least a greatly expanded
authority) to Silverman, because otherwise why would he (or anyone else)
take over a job from someone else who is clearly being scapegoated?
I've been in that position myself: "Hey Steve, we got this great job
opening. But four other candidates already turned down the position.
Would you like it?" "NO!!!"
--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email: sdlit...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.
.
- References:
- Prev by Date: Re: On The Lot - question about last episode
- Next by Date: Re: "CBS Monday" Sigh, what could have been...
- Previous by thread: Re: Reilly didn't have NBC's support, money for pilots
- Next by thread: Funniest scene of the year
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
