That was one damn good show. Should have had a much longer run.Freaks and Geeks
Southland is great! Was dropped by NBC and picked up by TNT a few years ago. The move to a pay network made the show better.
I thought it was CBS that dropped it, but I didn't IMDb it. Turns out it was NBC. The given reason was because, "It was too dark for Network television." I do remember that. I think the real reason is because - as Adam Carolla would say - network execs are chickens**t and don't want to take a chance if a show is not an immediate success.Southland is great! Was dropped by NBC and picked up by TNT a few years ago. The move to a pay network made the show better.
Interesting observation. My son produces TV shows that are on boutique networks like History, H2, Nat Geo, Military Channel, TWC. (Pretty interesting shows, actually). I've learned a lot about the interplay between the networks and the producers. It can make a very big difference with what network a producer deals with in both content and presentation. Some try to micromanage and others give the producer a lot more freedom, so long as the sponsors are happy.
That's really what it comes down to doesn't it? Advertising dollars. Hienz looks at the overnights and sees a dip and threatens to pull their ads. So the execs, without even watching, also see a dip and pull the plug on a perfectly good show, without regard to content or time slot (I.e. Friday Night Lights).
That is not to say that I think TV Execs are not wholly cut-off-nose-to-spite-face vindictive in their own right. I was listening to the Jay Mohr a podcast last week with Chris Titus (He had a sitcom a few years back). He was explaining how his show was doing well, it was not Friends, but it was not Suddenly Susan either and one of the execs suggested that a main character have an affair. Titus thought it was not in the character's nature and went against the show's theme. So he fought against it. As the story goes, they went back and forth and it got heated to the point, up to the point of Titus yelling, "I'm not doing it." To which the exec simply replied, "Okay." At that point, all lead in advertising for Titus slowed to a strickle and they moved the show's time slot to opposite West Wing, the most popular drama on TV at the time and thereby killing Titus...
One of my son"s more interesting experiences, actually a good one, was a series he did for the History Channel about the exploits of the carrier Enterprise in WW 2. It was sponsored, naturally, by Enterpruse Rent A Car. It turns out that the car company's founder had named it after the carrier which he had served in for a brief time. He was apparently quite vigilant in screwing episodes. Fortunately, he pretty much liked what he was seeing.
I think I saw that series. I am a regular viewer of the History Channel, and now History2, and I am a junkie for most things WW2. I have no idea why, I just am. I'm glad your son is having success in that business. I was in entertainment for a very brief time (albeit in the non-production end). It's an unforgiving industry.
One of my son"s more interesting experiences, actually a good one, was a series he did for the History Channel about the exploits of the carrier Enterprise in WW 2. It was sponsored, naturally, by Enterpruse Rent A Car. It turns out that the car company's founder had named it after the carrier which he had served in for a brief time. He was apparently quite vigilant in screwing episodes. Fortunately, he pretty much liked what he was seeing.
I have to proofread better. He didn't screw episodes, he screened them.
After Reading what HFD writes on the football board, it gets quite a bit easier to sift out when other posters make lesser typos and realize what is trying to be said.