Did George Bush Save Sarah Connor?
October 29, 2008 by brian
Stick with me here. The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd has an excellent article about the impact the economy has had on TV this year. He theorizes that Sarah Connor probably would have been terminated in an ordinary year. But when a show is dropped from the schedule its advertisers have the option of getting their money back. That would force the network to have to resell the timeslot. In current financial straits, not many network execs want to take that chance.
Hibberd says the same applies to the surprising pickup of Knight Rider at NBC. NBC Universal announced it’s having to trim $500 million from its budget. So keeping a show already on the air is more attractive than the cost of producing and promoting a new one. And let’s face it, folks, the car is probably the highest paid actor on that show.
Another problem is the industry is still catching up after the writer’s strike, according to Hibberd. There simply isn’t the number of other pilot options floating around that there would ordinarily be.
Last but certainly not least is good old-fashioned network hubris. A network likes to be able to announce that at least one of its fall shows was a hit. It likes to do that even using what good ol’ George Bush might call “fuzzy math.” Sarah Connor is not a runaway hit. In fact, it hit a season low in ratings the week after the pickup was announced. Being on the verge of cancellation will do that to your show. But it’s critically acclaimed and generally acknowledged as a good show that hasn’t found an audience yet.
Knight Rider bottomed out after the pickup too, but is there a more advertising driven show on the air? It’s a very thinly veiled for commercial for the new Ford Mustang. The American auto industry is in a slump too and chances like Knight Rider don’t come along everyday. With Chevy getting a huge publicity buzz from its cars being in Transformers, Ford needed to play serious catchup. They’ll likely support Rider as long as NBC’s willing to run with it.
I think you meant to say that Congressional Democrats saved Sarah Connor. LOL First thing they ever did I approved of!
Congressional Democrats doesn’t quite fit, Carebear. And for comedic purposes it’s generally best to blame the President anyway.