Dear Les Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Corporation,
You and I don’t know one another. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting you, the man who saw the brilliance behind a young comedian from Queens, allowing him to create the wildly hilarious and eternally enjoyable Everybody Loves Raymond. Kudos to you on your eye for quality television.
Which brings me to the point of my letter. I have to share the most ridiculous of stories with you: I was reading Entertainment Weekly yesterday (last week’s; I am as behind on magazines as I am on television these days), and I came across the craziest blurb I’ve ever seen. Namely, that CBS executives had recently warned the producers of both Without a Trace and Cold Case that they are facing possible cancellation. Can you believe it? The short paragraph went on to suggest that the two procedurals don’t “have the type of ratings that justify the massive overhead.”
Now, I don’t watch Without a Trace (I’m a Law & Order: SVU man, myself), but I’m a huge fan of Cold Case. You know, that of an average twelve million weekly viewers, regularly in the top twenty weekly shows. That Cold Case. Well, needless to say I couldn’t stop laughing. I mean, how does a reputable news source like Entertainment Weekly print something as out of touch with reality as that? I was giggling like my son when we scrub his feet in the bath and he loses control. Plus, I bet the rumor angered some people, who may or may not have egged your house (if that happened, I have an alibi for whenever it was).
So, how crazy? Certainly I’ve heard wilder stuff, but can you believe this one? It boggles the mind, exceeds the realm of possibilities. Because, that would mean that in a time when new shows disappear faster than a number ten seed in the NCAA tournament, you’re considering cutting two standard-bearers of the Eye. Who in their right mind would even think of that as a joke? So, I figured that I’d share this with you, because I know that in these tough times, we could all use a good laugh.
Anyway, great talking with you. Hit me back with something you found funny; maybe we can become pen pals!
Sincerely Yours,
Me, your new buddy, and one of the thirteen million people who helped make Cold Case number thirteen on the top twenty list last week.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 22, 2009 @ 17:00 EST5EDT
It’s a TV show, a TV show can get 50 million viewers a week, but if it cost a billion dollars an episode, it will be cancelled. This is TV land, it’s always about money.
However I suggest instead of canceling shows CBS just ask for a government bailout.
*POST AUTHOR*
But it’s really more a function of cost vs. ad revenue. And a show that consistently ranks in the top 20 will bring in more money per 30 second spot. Although revenue’s down across the board, where do you think the dollars are larger: a new show with no consistent audience or an established one? And, where do you imagine costs are higher: a new show where 3/4 of the future permanent sets have yet to be built, or a show that, after five years, has most everything in place?
Not to mention that an actor in year five of a contract is making only incrementally more each year, starting at the industry standard from five years ago. As opposed to an actor on a new show today, who is making today’s money. So, it would be hard to argue higher cast costs for the older shows not called Two and a Half Men. Plus, CBS has already announced that they’ve frozen salaries on all dramas.
So yes, it’s all about money … so why is CBS upset that they have an additional two shows that consistently make money?
People CBS has a ton of shows that rate very highly and need to cancel a few shows so they can make new shows. These shows are making less money than most it seems and will need to go so CBS can try to make new hit shows.
I’m not saying it’s smart, I think it’s incredibly stupid, but I can almost see their point behind it.
If CBS were smart they would sign the show on for 13-15 episode seasons. That way they can try new shows, when most of those fail they can have older hits as replacements. Plus would be a lot cheaper too.
Plus CBS has the oldest demo in TV, they probably want to lower that number because everyone knows no one over 35 ever buys anything. lol
*POST AUTHOR*
Fair point. If they expand to the multi-season year, they can air three shows of 13-15 episodes in each timeslot each year. Experiments would cost less, and expenses would be buffered by old faithfuls.
But how do we convey that message to CBS?
Send them nuts? lol
I really wish a lot of networks would do 13-15 episodes a season, would work a lot better. Even 11-12 episodes a “season”, then if the show is a hit they can do 11 new episodes in the fall and 11 more in the spring to make a full “season”.
I don’t know why U.S. broadcasters don’t follow the British mode for series production. Most of those run anywhere from six to thirteen episodes a year, and some of them aren’t even on the air year to year. Forcing people to crank out 22 to 26 episodes a year just burns them out. The cable channels all produce 13 episode seasons of their shows, so why the major networks don’t is beyond me. It just seems to make sense (except, of course, if your show is called “24”). The 16 episode seasons don’t seem to be hurting “Lost.”
*POST AUTHOR*
I have a lot of family who live in a country where Star World is a major source of their American television, and I know from them that watching shows like that is extremely frustrating. They get half a season of Boston Legal, for instance, and then it’s gone for 12-18 months. Who remembers what’s what at that point?
I’d feel the same with cable shows, or Lost, except that they air the previous season in its entirety before airing new episodes. So, in the end, I’m watching a lot of these shows twice just to know what’s going on. When a show runs September to May, there’s a lot less distance from season to season.
If they are going to cancel CC, then why don’t they give them 10 shows next year to wrap up the show. I hate it when things are left unfinished.