UPDATED: Nikki Finke on Moonlight
- From: Rob Jensen <ShutUpRob@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 02:32:35 -0500
Finke has gone further into detail, the typos in the article are
hers', so it's clear that she's writing fast -- a lot is happening
because it's Upfronts week and I suspect that she may even like this
particular show a little. -- Rob
Primetime Pilot Panic: 'Moonlight' Not On CBS Fall Schedule But Not
Dead; Show Lobbying For Back 13-Episode Order
www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com and article permalink:
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/primetime-pilot-panic-moonlight-not-on-cbs-fall-schedule-but-not-dead-show-lobbying-for-back-13-ep-order/
The news just came in to me from my sources.... "They're fighting for
a back 13 at mid-season, but Moonlight is definitely not on the fall
schedule. But it's not dead, either. Insiders tell me the sticking
point is money: that CBS wants Warner Bros to "step up" more
financially. But WBTV is saying back to CBS that the network has to
step up as well, even though CBS doesn't own the show. Here's what I
can tell you about the behind-the-scenes:
Moonlight has been fraught with problems (see below). But CBS' Nina
Tassler told the producers that she was "very happy" with the
direction of the series. The show pitched her the stories for all next
season, "and Nina loved them". And then CBS gave the show its list of
what the network wanted. But CBS made clear that the renewal of the
show was "all going to be dependent on making the last four shows of
this season ratings-wise. Well, those ratings were only fair. They
didn't win the night, but they won their demos. On the other hand,
Friday's ratings are always low. But the real story is, as usualy in
Hollywood, all about the money. Even though comparatively Moonlight is
being done on the cheap (especially when put up against another WBTV
show, Pushing Daisies on ABC, which is a notoriously expensive
production), and was picked up in the beginning by CBS for a
relatively low licensing fee, CBS now wants Warner Bros to pick up
more of the tab. There was a specific conversation between the two Big
Media outfits about this on Wednesday of last week. "We need you to
step up," CBS reportedly told WB. To which WB responded to CBS, "You
step up, and we'll step up." Interestingly, I hear that CBS just
ordered to series the pilots The Mentalist and 11th hour which both
have higher licensing fees than Moonlight. But the producers knew all
along that their series was "on the bubble," so to speak. And iun
response to communication pushing the network to pick up Moonlight, I
understand rthat CBS responded to the effect, "Where's WB? Why won't
they step up?"
Meanwhile, there have been other problems. Coming back from the
writers strike, the executive producer and showrunner Chip Johanssen
was cut loose, despite being a close friend of Tassler?s. Also, series
creator Ron Koslow was shown the door after the picket signs went
down. That left no official showrunners in place to guide the episodes
produced after the strike ended. Husband and wife writers / producers
Harry Werksman and Gabrielle Stanton were informally given the reins,
and they supervised the most recent four shows ending the season. The
question is whether they are up to the task. I hear the Moonlight
producers offered to change showrnners to get a CBS renewal. Already,
the fallout has led one of the few surviving players, staff writer and
producer Jill Blotevogel, to be unceremoniously dumped before any
renewal is announced. There's a rumor which I havenm't confirmed that,
if CBS does renew, it may bring the showrunners from the
expected-to-be-cancelled Shark to come in and retool Moonlight.
Posted by Nikki Finke on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 02:21PM
--
LORELAI: I am so done with plans. I am never, ever making one again.
It never works. I spend the day obsessing over why it didn't work
and what I could've done differently. I'm analyzing all my shortcomings
when all I really need to be doing is vowing to never, ever make a plan
ever again, which I'm doing now, having once again been the innocent
victim of my own stupid plans. God, I need some coffee.
.
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