I have often talked on my blog and Twitter feed about the
importance of “showmanship” in programming a network. I’ve lamented about the
lack of showmanship in so much of what goes on the air today. Showmanship doesn’t
necessarily require spending large amounts of money. On the contrary.
Showmanship in the TV biz should be about how you make something out of
nothing. How do you take what you already have and turn it into an “event”. Making
it more than it is.
If I had any success scheduling two networks for over twenty
years I can attribute much of it to showmanship. The one that I am most proud
of was delaying the premiere of 24 until January, starting with a four hour “event”
leading out of an NFL playoff game on Sunday, and running it non-stop for the
rest of the season. Not only did the ratings go up after two seasons of
declines but, in the second season of this shift, 24 won the Emmy for best
drama and Kiefer Sutherland won the best actor Emmy.
At NBC we had a pretty mediocre series from Wes Craven
called “Nightmare Café”. We had no idea how to promote it so I said “Let’s not.
Let’s do it as a sneak preview.” So, we promoted a sneak preview on a mid-week
night at 10PM showing all sorts of weird shit from the series but never told the
viewers what it was. We did get an audience to sample it but, sadly, they didn’t
come back.
I loved figuring out ways to make something out of nothing
with the theatricals that we purchased. I letterboxed “Sound of Music” one year
(at NBC we had the movie tied up forever) and we did a sing-along once. I had
the cast do interstitials for another run. We had written off two “Star Wars”
movies and I played them one weekend promoting them as the “15th
Anniversary Celebration of Star Wars”. They were two of the highest rated
movies of the year in their third or fourth runs on NBC and they cost us
nothing.
Of course, not all these attempts at showmanship worked but
I always (and still) believe that it is the most important characteristic of a
good television programmer.
This morning I realized that fifteen years ago FOX aired the
first of what was to become a holiday tradition. December 20, 2003, we aired the
first COPS Christmas Special “HO HO HO” which featured three segments on
prostitutes. I’m not saying I’m proud of this but here’s the story:
For most of its first fifteen years on FOX COPS featured a
city per episode. Around the time I arrived the format changed to more themed
episodes. COPS was always bequeathed to the newest network current executive
because, well no one wanted to handle it. As a result, my sidekick in
scheduling MJ LaVaccare and I would offer a lot of input to the current exec on
themes for the episodes.
In 2003 we had a young current exec who latched on to me for
advice and guidance. Of course, he was assigned COPS and as we were mapping out
the 2003-4 season of the show, I believe its 16th, I had an
epiphany. I asked MJ if we had ever done a Christmas themed episode of COPS. To
the best of his knowledge (which was encyclopedic) we had not. “What if he did
an all prostitution episode titled Ho Ho Ho”? MJ always had higher moral
standards than me (if I had any at all when it came to TV) but reluctantly
agreed that it was worth the shot.
I called up the young current exec and told him that I was about
to do him the biggest favor of his young career. “At the next Current Meeting
(held in our boss Gail Berman’s office) you are going to announce that we are
doing a COPS Christmas special called Ho
Ho Ho”. I didn’t have to go any further. He knew where I was going with this. The
kid flipped out begging me not to make him do it. I explained that he will get
kudos for this which I didn’t need at that point in my career.
I talked him down and, at the next current meeting, he nervously
pitched this episode…not with a lot of enthusiasm I may add. As I expected he
got applause for the pitch. This was FOX. The home of Mike Darnell and “When
Animals Attack” so, of course we do things like this.
As the meeting ended, while my “student” was getting atta
boys and high fives. Gail pulled me aside. “That was you” she said. I just
smiled.
Showmanship. We need more of it in the TV business and we
need more creative executives who are willing to go for it and make something
out of nothing.
Happy Holidays
Ho Ho Ho
