TheLastKryptonian
08-22-2008, 11:12 AM
http://www.tvguide.com/Ask-Matt/080822
We all know The CW treats Smallville and Supernatural like sh*t and promote all their young women targeted shows (Gossip Girl, American Next Top Model, One Tree Hill, 90210).
I found this article pretty interesting. On one hand I want 90210 to succeed so The CW (and Smallville) lives the entire year, but on the other hand I want the show to fail so Dawn Ostroff can be fired but then Smallville might be canceled halfway through and may or may not find a new network. :(
I find it pathetic that The CW and Dawn Ostroff's future rests on one show.
Anyways I thought you should all be aware too.
Here's the section from the article
Question: There have been a few reports recently that the fates of the CW's entertainment president Dawn Ostroff and the network itself rest on the success or failure of the new 90210. How can an entire network live or die because of one show? I know that the CW hasn't had the success it hoped for after the WB/UPN merger, but it seems almost insane to think that the CW will put all of its chips on 90210 and basically neglect shows like Smallville and Supernatural (two of the few WB holdovers). The lack of promotion for the Thursday-night tag team has been dismaying, especially given that with a little promotion, the shows could see a rebound in performance (especially Smallville, which seems to be heading in a new, invigorated, mythos-heavy direction after the exit of Miles Millar and Al Gough). Is the CW really expecting 90210 to save the network, while it's likely Smallville, Supernatural and America's Next Top Model could outperform it (which already, essentially, happened last year with the much-promoted ratings failure Gossip Girl)? And if 90210 isn't the savior Ostroff hopes it will be and the CW folds in December, what will be the fates of shows like Smallville, Supernatural and other standards like One Tree Hill and America's Next Top Model? Any chance these programs will find homes on other networks? As a fan of old-school WB who spent her college years watching Buffy, Angel, Dawson's Creek and the lot, it is disheartening to think that the last of the great WB shows will meet an unfinished ending because Dawn Ostroff hung all of her hopes on a "spin-off" of a show that isn't even relevant to the demographic the CW is trying to woo. — Becca C.
Matt Roush: I'm as skeptical as you are that the CW's survival hinges on a single show, even one being as heavily hyped as the 90210 remake. The fact that it's somehow expected to be an instant smash, something the original 90210 most definitely was not, says a lot about the state of the industry and the media covering the industry. (I feel the same way about Fringe, which is expected because of its creators' pedigree and the Fox marketing muscle to open huge, despite being closer in spirit to The X-Files, which took years to build, than an overnight phenom like Lost.) I tend to analyze shows more than entire networks, so really don't feel qualified to speculate on how long the CW experiment is likely to continue, given the amount of money already invested in it by its parent companies (who issued a letter of support earlier this week to the network and its affiliates). But I will say that the image the network is almost single-mindedly trying to project is more in line with 90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and America's Next Top Model than the fantasy duo of Smallville and Supernatural, and I don't see that changing, no matter how loud the fans howl. This is a network whose sweet spot is the young female demo, and while there's no reason this audience wouldn't enjoy the Thursday combo, which nicely fills a niche on one of TV's toughest nights, it's not where the lion's share of marketing is going to go. In the bigger picture, should 90210 not take off for whatever reason — and critical buzz is likely to have little to do with it — that will be a severe blow to the CW, no question. But a fatal one? I'm not so sure. Should the CW fold tent at some point — and I can't imagine it happening by year's end, regardless of what happens — will some of the orphaned veteran shows find their way to a third network? Depends on the show and the deal, but I wouldn't count on it. This may be one of those rare cases where cable would have to come to the rescue, and not every show would be likely to get that bid.
We all know The CW treats Smallville and Supernatural like sh*t and promote all their young women targeted shows (Gossip Girl, American Next Top Model, One Tree Hill, 90210).
I found this article pretty interesting. On one hand I want 90210 to succeed so The CW (and Smallville) lives the entire year, but on the other hand I want the show to fail so Dawn Ostroff can be fired but then Smallville might be canceled halfway through and may or may not find a new network. :(
I find it pathetic that The CW and Dawn Ostroff's future rests on one show.
Anyways I thought you should all be aware too.
Here's the section from the article
Question: There have been a few reports recently that the fates of the CW's entertainment president Dawn Ostroff and the network itself rest on the success or failure of the new 90210. How can an entire network live or die because of one show? I know that the CW hasn't had the success it hoped for after the WB/UPN merger, but it seems almost insane to think that the CW will put all of its chips on 90210 and basically neglect shows like Smallville and Supernatural (two of the few WB holdovers). The lack of promotion for the Thursday-night tag team has been dismaying, especially given that with a little promotion, the shows could see a rebound in performance (especially Smallville, which seems to be heading in a new, invigorated, mythos-heavy direction after the exit of Miles Millar and Al Gough). Is the CW really expecting 90210 to save the network, while it's likely Smallville, Supernatural and America's Next Top Model could outperform it (which already, essentially, happened last year with the much-promoted ratings failure Gossip Girl)? And if 90210 isn't the savior Ostroff hopes it will be and the CW folds in December, what will be the fates of shows like Smallville, Supernatural and other standards like One Tree Hill and America's Next Top Model? Any chance these programs will find homes on other networks? As a fan of old-school WB who spent her college years watching Buffy, Angel, Dawson's Creek and the lot, it is disheartening to think that the last of the great WB shows will meet an unfinished ending because Dawn Ostroff hung all of her hopes on a "spin-off" of a show that isn't even relevant to the demographic the CW is trying to woo. — Becca C.
Matt Roush: I'm as skeptical as you are that the CW's survival hinges on a single show, even one being as heavily hyped as the 90210 remake. The fact that it's somehow expected to be an instant smash, something the original 90210 most definitely was not, says a lot about the state of the industry and the media covering the industry. (I feel the same way about Fringe, which is expected because of its creators' pedigree and the Fox marketing muscle to open huge, despite being closer in spirit to The X-Files, which took years to build, than an overnight phenom like Lost.) I tend to analyze shows more than entire networks, so really don't feel qualified to speculate on how long the CW experiment is likely to continue, given the amount of money already invested in it by its parent companies (who issued a letter of support earlier this week to the network and its affiliates). But I will say that the image the network is almost single-mindedly trying to project is more in line with 90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and America's Next Top Model than the fantasy duo of Smallville and Supernatural, and I don't see that changing, no matter how loud the fans howl. This is a network whose sweet spot is the young female demo, and while there's no reason this audience wouldn't enjoy the Thursday combo, which nicely fills a niche on one of TV's toughest nights, it's not where the lion's share of marketing is going to go. In the bigger picture, should 90210 not take off for whatever reason — and critical buzz is likely to have little to do with it — that will be a severe blow to the CW, no question. But a fatal one? I'm not so sure. Should the CW fold tent at some point — and I can't imagine it happening by year's end, regardless of what happens — will some of the orphaned veteran shows find their way to a third network? Depends on the show and the deal, but I wouldn't count on it. This may be one of those rare cases where cable would have to come to the rescue, and not every show would be likely to get that bid.