With each passing day I’m more grateful to be a writer. Most of my spare time is spent in coffee shops all across the city, in total solitude, using my imagination on paper. I mentioned before that I once had dreams of writing for television, even acting, but as I learn more about the behind the scenes politics that I see playing out with the TV networks and producers, I have no problem staying right where I am, at present, writing this at a neighborhood Whole Foods Cafe.
Years ago, when I had those big, unrealistic dreams about writing for a big hit TV show, I wasn’t aware of what was really going on in the industry. I was so naive I wasn’t even thinking about making money, only expressing myself creatively. But as I grew and got more serious about my craft, I started researching and learning more about the inner workings of the TV industry.
After reading several books about the business of TV, I learned that it was basically about eyeballs and big bucks. You already know so I won’t bore you with statistics. Simply, more eyeballs on a TV show, means more money in a lot of pockets. A.C. Nielsen (Nielsen Ratings) was the pioneer behind measuring the number of eyeballs on any given program, but now I can only imagine how that has changed with cable networks and other subscription based TV, like Netflix, Hulu and the plethora of digital programming. In other words, they know what we’re watching like never before. Gone are the days of over 80 million viewers on a single TV drama, such as Dallas’ famed “Who Shot Jr?” Phenomenon. Now, with delayed viewing, a TV show can survive with 5-6 million viewers which is considered a hit these days.
The TV show Empire in its first season had over 15 million viewers. That is phenomenal by today’s standards. More on Empire shortly.
Though I’m very happy being a writer of short fiction, I still have a desire to write a TV script, maybe adapt one of my short stories into a teleplay (do they still call them that?), but at this age I’m weary of politics. As great as TV is, and I do believe it’s great, unfortunately, it’s still a reflection of our society. The network executives and producers, not all of them, harbor the same prejudices of anyone else. Is there a job application in the TV industry that lists like regular job applications do, to hire regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity? Did I leave any protected class out?
Now back to eyeballs. The number of eyeballs solely dictates which TV shows will survive and which ones won’t, and though I understand it, it leaves no room for creative expression. However, there has been exceptions, like the low rated cop drama, Homicide: Life on the Street. It ran for seven seasons on NBC. In my opinion it was the best cop show ever made and has the accolades to back it up. From what I’ve read over the years, Homicide had a top network executive in its corner and he fought to keep the show on the air. Other TV shows weren’t so lucky and fell prey to the politics of low ratings. Some of my favorites were: NBC’s Boomtown and Dracula, Fox’s The Exorcist and recently cancelled, The Passage. Cancelled not long ago, after one season was Fox’s Pitch. Pitch was an excellent show, way ahead of its time. It centered on the first female, African American, major league baseball player that was integrated onto the all male San Diego Padres. I can’t express to you how great that show was. Why do network executives order these shows to production if they can’t give them a better chance? I know, I know, eyeballs.
I’m a huge fan of One Chicago: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med. I’m sure politics played in their favor to keep them on the air. For once, TV politics worked in the favor of the fans. In its first season, Chicago Fire could’ve easily been cancelled as its ratings were low. Had it not been for the clout of Law and Order franchise producer Dick Wolf, I’m certain it would be gone, without any successful spinoffs. Because of Dick Wolf’s legacy with NBC, Chicago Fire, much like TV shows of the past, was given a chance to find an audience. Chicago Fire is now in its 8th season.
Now back to Empire, one of the most watched TV shows to date, an out of the gate ratings powerhouse and gold mine for its network Fox. It was recently announced that Empire is ending after the upcoming sixth season. Though its ratings have declined over the years, it’s still one of Fox’s top rated shows in the coveted 18-49 key demographic. This is where the best dollars for advertising comes in. Unfortunately, Empire’s cancellation is not a surprise, given the worldwide, mostly negative attention of the Jussie Smollett legal circus. This is politics 101 playing out here. Lee Daniels’ sister series Star was abruptly cancelled without any discussion of anymore airings to wrap up its shocking season finale. Empire is given one more season to tie up its storylines, without Jussie Smollett. The Fox network had to tread carefully; it couldn’t announce for certain that the actor was fired, in fear of a political backlash, nor could it abruptly cancel Empire for exactly the same reason. The eyeballs on Empire are mostly African American. No sudden moves can be made here. This is quite interesting, a great soap opera in its own right. What will happen next? Has Jussie’s alleged hate crime hoax caused a domino effect like collapse on all involved? His cast mates came to his defense, sending a letter to the network and Empire’s producers asking them to bring Jussie back. Has Lee Daniels’ own Empire fallen at Fox? Has he now been black-balled? Lee Daniels himself once said Oscar winning actress Mo’Nique was black-balled because of her refusal to reform to the politics of Hollywood.
Speaking of, the politics surrounding Mo’Nique and her connection to Lee Daniels, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey and Steve Harvey, what was behind the decision to cancel Steve Harvey’s successful talk show at NBC? Why is he no longer the host of Little Big Shots and being replaced by Melissa McCarthy? At some point I guess We’ll find out. In the mean time I’ll keep writing my short stories. I’m working on another “Girl’s Night” right now. Hopefully it’ll be released soon. Please cut me some slack. After all, I am the writer, producer, actor, director, everything else and the network.
The End
