Re: Bonnie Hammer is SFC's savior?!?
Jason Maxwell
news:051220052212022661%sky....@moonbase.alpha...
> > And at Sci Fi, Ms. Hammer has high hopes for "The Dresden Files," a
> > series scheduled for this summer about a private detective who happens
> > to be a wizard.
>
> Can anyone say "Harry Potter ripoff"?
>
Actually not at all. They are based on the Dresden Files books by Jim
Butcher. It's a much different tone than Harry Potter, and there's more
humor. They are definitely written towards an adult audience looking for a
lighter SF/F series. Looking at the timing (The first book was published 18
months after HP1) it might have been inspired by some if the ideas in HP
though. I'd recommend the books and I have high hopes for the series,
though knowing that Bonnie Hammer is involved concerns me.
Dresden File Series:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/series/-/83652/paperback/ref=pd_serl_books/103-0932288-5980603
Jason
Ken from Chicago
"Straker" <sky....@moonbase.alpha> wrote in message
news:051220052212022661%sky....@moonbase.alpha...
> Googlegroups says he stopped posting altogether in September) using
> selected quotes from:
>
> The Queen of Sci Fi Gets Ready to Rumble
> By KATE AURTHUR
> New York Times, December 4
>
>> As one of the most successful programmers in cable television,
>> Ms. Hammer tends to get a bit worked up about these things.
>
> Most successful? Shoot me now.
>
>> She first joined USA Network in 1989, coming from Lifetime,
>> where she had programmed documentaries.
>
> Um. Lifetime had documentaries?
>
>> In Ms. Hammer's six-year reign at Sci Fi, the channel's audience has
>> doubled. More important for its finances, Sci Fi is ranked in cable's
>> top 10 among adults 25 to 54 and 18 to 49, the demographics its
>> advertisers seek.
>
> Make it stop! Make it stop!!!
>
>> Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal Television Group,
>> said of Ms. Hammer, "That has been her recipe: these big event
>> series, combined with an incredibly strong Friday night lineup,"
>
> Let's be honest here. You say "big event series," I say craptaculars.
Some of them have been quite good. Plus as much as scapers hate how she
treated FARSCAPE at the end of the series, she was instrumental reportedly
in getting the series on the channel in the first place. So I guess it's a
is it better to love and lost versus never having loved at all a series
dilemma.
>> The USA channel had changed hands so many times it had lost
>> any clear identity. And in the process, it had lost ratings. "Zucker,
>> and Wright, and Gaspin, asked me what I wanted to do," Ms.
>> Hammer said. "First of all, I wanted to give it a brand. Nobody
>> knows what USA is. And the other thing was to bring back the
>> W.W.E. to its rightful home."
>>
>> Yes, World Wrestling Entertainment. During her previous stint at
>> USA, Ms. Hammer had worked closely with the World Wrestling
>> Federation, as it was then called, and its larger-than-life chairman,
>> Vince McMahon. The scrappy executive and the booming promoter
>> made an odd pair. But, Mr. McMahon said, Ms. Hammer didn't let
>> that stop her. "She thought, 'It's probably fun, let me get into it.' "
>>
>> "When she first got the account," Mr. McMahon recalled, "she said,
>> 'Well, Vince, where are the relationship stories?' The what? 'And this
>> story arc needs to be longer.' The what? 'The story arc, Vince.' She
>> defines things for us that open our eyes."
>
> Oh, this explains a lot. Not only involved with the WWE, but helped
> create that joke of a monstrosity that is modern "wrestling."
It's as athletic a ballet--and just as scripted, altho with some
improvisation. Once you let go of the idea of it as a "sport" but as a
"show" or a "performance" ("soap opera" for men?) then it makes more sense.
Then again, I prefer science fiction over wrestling fiction.
>> SINCE "WWE Monday Night Raw" made its debut at the start of
>> October, USA has been the No. 1 cable entertainment channel in
>> prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research. The median age
>> of the channel's viewership also dropped five years compared with
>> the previous month.
>
> And the median IQ of USA's viewership dropped like a rock compared with
> the previous month. The old saying is true: "No one ever went broke
> underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
Only if they all thought it was a sport and not a show (not to be confused
with "The Big Show").
>> After more than a year of research, Ms. Hammer and her team came
>> up with a campaign called "Characters Welcome," which was set loose
>> in July. Its promotional spots are a catch-all, intended to fit every USA
>> attraction, from "Monk's" Tony Shalhoub, to W.W.E.'s blown-up
>> wrestlers, to the tennis stars of the United States Open.
Ugh, I could have done without "characters" promo last summer.
>> Laura Caraccioli-Davis, the senior vice president and director of the
>> media-buying agency Starcom Entertainment, praised the strategy.
>> "It gives you a business platform so it's really easy to translate your
>> mission and your goals to the ad community and to Wall Street," she
>> said, adding that for Ms. Hammer, "it was key to do that branding."
>>
>> But, Ms. Caraccioli-Davis said, "I don't think consumers care about it at
>> all."
>
> You got that right, sister! On since July and it hasn't made an
> impression on me in the five months since.
>
>> What they will care about, Ms. Hammer hopes, are future series for
>> USA, two of which will be light mysteries modeled on "Monk," its
>> biggest hit.
>
> Put a fork in Monk. This kind of copycat programming will overexpose
> the genre and kill it.
Light mysteries have been popular for decades (MURDER, SHE WROTE, HART TO
HART, MCMILLAN AND WIFE, MAGNUM PI, etc.). It need not be "modeled" on MONK
in the sense of an obsessive compulsive detective.
>> "A USA show would be a fun way to escape, would not be depressing,
>> would not be dark," she said.
>
> I see. That explains The Dead Zone. And Kojak. And The 4400. Not to
> mention the overwhelming preponderance of Law & Order reruns in USA's
> primetime schedule.
Well, I like the really "light" LAW & ORDER SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT. Nothing
like a little "light" sado masochistic pedophilia.
>> And at Sci Fi, Ms. Hammer has high hopes for "The Dresden Files," a
>> series scheduled for this summer about a private detective who happens
>> to be a wizard.
>
> Can anyone say "Harry Potter ripoff"?
Oooh, actually The Dresden Files is based on a novel series, set in Chicago,
about a private eye, who's a wizard, and consults with the cops on "special"
cases.
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/
Oh and audio book version is read by James Marsters.
>> The actor Nicolas Cage will serve as executive producer.
>
> Am I still alive? Shoot me again!
>
>> Ideas like those have proven themselves enough times that Ms. Hammer's
>> boss, Mr. Zucker, said his guiding principle is keeping out of her way.
>> "The last thing I need to do is screw her up," he said. "She knows how to
>> do this. My biggest thing to do is just support her, because her vision
>> for
>> both Sci Fi and USA is clear and incredibly strong. We just need more
>> people like Bonnie Hammer around the company."
>
> Sputter. Choke. Gag. Thud.
Note the emphasis on business revenue and not on artistic merit or even
entertainment quality. Confusing the two causes much unnecessary agita for
many a fan--and many a creator in the biz.
-- Ken from Chicago
Paul Vader
>> And at Sci Fi, Ms. Hammer has high hopes for "The Dresden Files," a
>> series scheduled for this summer about a private detective who happens
>> to be a wizard.
>
>Can anyone say "Harry Potter ripoff"?
Why would we say that? It's an established book series, and only a complete
nitwit would claim that Harry Potter has the sole claim on wizards in the
real world. I can think of several other examples too, such as Diane
Duane's outstanding 'young wizards' series, which predates Harry Potter by
some time. If a series was made out of those, would you claim ripoff too?
Lame. *
--
* PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something
like corkscrews.
KoshN
> >> Ideas like those have proven themselves enough times that Ms. Hammer's
> >> boss, Mr. Zucker, said his guiding principle is keeping out of her way.
> >> "The last thing I need to do is screw her up," he said. "She knows how to
> >> do this. My biggest thing to do is just support her, because her vision
> >> for
> >> both Sci Fi and USA is clear and incredibly strong. We just need more
> >> people like Bonnie Hammer around the company."
> >
> > Sputter. Choke. Gag. Thud.
>
> Note the emphasis on business revenue and not on artistic merit or even
> entertainment quality.
Right, there is often a complete disconnect between business revenue
and artistic merit/entertainment quality.
> Confusing the two causes much unnecessary agita for
> many a fan--and many a creator in the biz.
For the TV viewer, the key is to not give a crap about anything that's
on TV. Watch what's there that's any good on a given day, and if it's
not there next week, watch something else that's good that day, or
nothing at all. Unless you have a Nielsen box, you aren't going to
influence any network people.
KoshN
KoshN
> I will now do my Mac Breck impression (whatever happened to Mac?)
> Googlegroups says he stopped posting altogether in September) using
> selected quotes from:
I'm posting via Google Groups as KoshN since Sept. 27, 2005. Can't get
into Usenet anymore with Outlook Express, and haven't bothered to try
to fix it, mainly because I just don't care, and have no desire to
reinstall OE, or whatever else I'd have to do. With an email addy of
macthevorlon, I thought it was kind of obvious that I was still
posting. Guess not.
> The Queen of Sci Fi Gets Ready to Rumble
> By KATE AURTHUR
> New York Times, December 4
[....]
> And the median IQ of USA's viewership dropped like a rock compared with
> the previous month. The old saying is true: "No one ever went broke....
...overestimating people's appetite for trash."
> > What they will care about, Ms. Hammer hopes, are future series for
> > USA, two of which will be light mysteries modeled on "Monk," its
> > biggest hit.
>
> Put a fork in Monk.
Hey, speak for yourself.
> > Ideas like those have proven themselves enough times that Ms. Hammer's
> > boss, Mr. Zucker, said his guiding principle is keeping out of her way.
> > "The last thing I need to do is screw her up," he said. "She knows how to
> > do this. My biggest thing to do is just support her, because her vision for
> > both Sci Fi and USA is clear and incredibly strong. We just need more
> > people like Bonnie Hammer around the company."
>
> Sputter. Choke. Gag. Thud.
Naah, just made me a little nauseous.
KoshN
Bozo the Evil Klown
Straker wrote:
> I will now do my Mac Breck impression (whatever happened to Mac?
> selected quotes from:
>
Jolene Blalock still hasn't recovered from the awful scripts of the
first two seasons...
> By KATE AURTHUR
> New York Times, December 4
>
> > As one of the most successful programmers in cable television,
> > Ms. Hammer tends to get a bit worked up about these things.
>
> Most successful? Shoot me now.
>
The TV business defines "success" totally in terms of ratings points.
Popular shit is more valuable than gold with a niche audience.
> > She first joined USA Network in 1989, coming from Lifetime,
> > where she had programmed documentaries.
>
> Um. Lifetime had documentaries?
>
Considering their movies are invariably about horrible things happening
to women, I shudder to think what their documentaries are like.
> > In Ms. Hammer's six-year reign at Sci Fi, the channel's audience has
> > doubled. More important for its finances, Sci Fi is ranked in cable's
> > top 10 among adults 25 to 54 and 18 to 49, the demographics its
> > advertisers seek.
>
> Make it stop! Make it stop!!!
>
It's not all Hammer; cable audiences in general have been climbing as
broadcast networks waste timeslots on cheapjack game shows that they
mislabel as "reality" shows.
> > Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal Television Group,
> > said of Ms. Hammer, "That has been her recipe: these big event
> > series, combined with an incredibly strong Friday night lineup,"
>
> Let's be honest here. You say "big event series," I say craptaculars.
>
To be honest, SciFi's Friday lineup does indeed not suck.
> > The USA channel had changed hands so many times it had lost
> > any clear identity. And in the process, it had lost ratings. "Zucker,
> > and Wright, and Gaspin, asked me what I wanted to do," Ms.
> > Hammer said. "First of all, I wanted to give it a brand. Nobody
> > knows what USA is. And the other thing was to bring back the
> > W.W.E. to its rightful home."
> >
This is one of the more pervasive forms of stupidity in the cable
business. Every cable net wants a "brand," an "identity." Then once
they get it they immediately start worrying and carping about being
pigeonholed in the brand THEY MADE THE EFFORT TO DEVELOP FOR
THEMSELVES, and start programming outside of their "brand." For a
pertinent example look at Hammer's efforst to erase SciFi's reputation
as a network for sci fi.
> > Yes, World Wrestling Entertainment. During her previous stint at
> > USA, Ms. Hammer had worked closely with the World Wrestling
> > Federation, as it was then called, and its larger-than-life chairman,
> > Vince McMahon. The scrappy executive and the booming promoter
> > made an odd pair. But, Mr. McMahon said, Ms. Hammer didn't let
> > that stop her. "She thought, 'It's probably fun, let me get into it.' "
> >
So in a year or three they'll put funny latex foreheads on the
wrasslers and show it on SciFi.
> > "When she first got the account," Mr. McMahon recalled, "she said,
> > 'Well, Vince, where are the relationship stories?' The what? 'And this
> > story arc needs to be longer.' The what? 'The story arc, Vince.' She
> > defines things for us that open our eyes."
>
> Oh, this explains a lot. Not only involved with the WWE, but helped
> create that joke of a monstrosity that is modern "wrestling."
>
To be fair, wrasslin' has been a joke well before Hammer's involvement.
> > SINCE "WWE Monday Night Raw" made its debut at the start of
> > October, USA has been the No. 1 cable entertainment channel in
> > prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research. The median age
> > of the channel's viewership also dropped five years compared with
> > the previous month.
>
> And the median IQ of USA's viewership dropped like a rock compared with
> the previous month. The old saying is true: "No one ever went broke
> underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
>
Again, the TV biz values younger viewers in their 20s. They assume
that folks as old as I am have developed inflexible brand loyalties, so
advertisers pay more for younger audiences.
> > After more than a year of research, Ms. Hammer and her team came
> > up with a campaign called "Characters Welcome," which was set loose
> > in July. Its promotional spots are a catch-all, intended to fit every USA
> > attraction, from "Monk's" Tony Shalhoub, to W.W.E.'s blown-up
> > wrestlers, to the tennis stars of the United States Open.
> >
Those spots took a fucking ***YEAR*** of research??????????????????
How many more decades before they figure out that they have to turn the
doorknob to open Hammer's office??
> > Laura Caraccioli-Davis, the senior vice president and director of the
> > media-buying agency Starcom Entertainment, praised the strategy.
> > "It gives you a business platform so it's really easy to translate your
> > mission and your goals to the ad community and to Wall Street," she
> > said, adding that for Ms. Hammer, "it was key to do that branding."
> >
> > But, Ms. Caraccioli-Davis said, "I don't think consumers care about it at all."
>
> You got that right, sister! On since July and it hasn't made an
> impression on me in the five months since.
>
Finally a glimmering of intelligent life on Madison Avenue: We develop
loyalties to certain *shows,* not to certain products advertised
therein.
> > What they will care about, Ms. Hammer hopes, are future series for
> > USA, two of which will be light mysteries modeled on "Monk," its
> > biggest hit.
>
> Put a fork in Monk. This kind of copycat programming will overexpose
> the genre and kill it.
>
Imitation is the sincerest form of Hollywood.
> > "A USA show would be a fun way to escape, would not be depressing,
> > would not be dark," she said.
>
> I see. That explains The Dead Zone. And Kojak. And The 4400. Not to
> mention the overwhelming preponderance of Law & Order reruns in USA's
> primetime schedule.
>
Happy happy joy joy. "The following program may not be suitable for
audience members with diabetes..."
> > And at Sci Fi, Ms. Hammer has high hopes for "The Dresden Files," a
> > series scheduled for this summer about a private detective who happens
> > to be a wizard.
>
> Can anyone say "Harry Potter ripoff"?
>
Yeah- then again, "Potter" was just "Encyclopedia Brown" with magic
powers thrown into the mix.
> > The actor Nicolas Cage will serve as executive producer.
>
> Am I still alive? Shoot me again!
>
There is a tradition of actors as executive producers- usually actors
who *appear on the show*, to give them a taste of the residuals. In
this case I expect they got Cage to pony up some serious development
money; the exec producer credit then gives him a share of any profits.
> > Ideas like those have proven themselves enough times that Ms. Hammer's
> > boss, Mr. Zucker, said his guiding principle is keeping out of her way.
> > "The last thing I need to do is screw her up," he said. "She knows how to
> > do this. My biggest thing to do is just support her, because her vision for
> > both Sci Fi and USA is clear and incredibly strong. We just need more
> > people like Bonnie Hammer around the company."
>
> Sputter. Choke. Gag. Thud.
If he really wants more people who aren't into sci fi programming, I
hear Brannon Braga's looking for work...
*****
The Joker in the Eeeeeeeeeevil Cabal deck of cards.
"Voyager to alien fleet- Hold your fire! Hold your fire!! I promise
that WASN'T a kamikaze attack; that's the way Chakotay ALWAYS lands his
shuttles!!"
David E. Powell
> Straker wrote:
> > I will now do my Mac Breck impression (whatever happened to Mac?
> > Googlegroups says he stopped posting altogether in September) using
> > selected quotes from:
> >
> > The Queen of Sci Fi Gets Ready to Rumble
>
> Jolene Blalock still hasn't recovered from the awful scripts of the
> first two seasons...
I'd like to help her.
> > By KATE AURTHUR
> > New York Times, December 4
> >
> > > As one of the most successful programmers in cable television,
> > > Ms. Hammer tends to get a bit worked up about these things.
> >
> > Most successful? Shoot me now.
Manticore wasn't bad.
> The TV business defines "success" totally in terms of ratings points.
> Popular shit is more valuable than gold with a niche audience.
Ding... we have a winner.
> > > She first joined USA Network in 1989, coming from Lifetime,
> > > where she had programmed documentaries.
> >
> > Um. Lifetime had documentaries?
>
> Considering their movies are invariably about horrible things happening
> to women, I shudder to think what their documentaries are like.
Ditto to all the above.
> > > In Ms. Hammer's six-year reign at Sci Fi, the channel's audience has
> > > doubled. More important for its finances, Sci Fi is ranked in cable's
> > > top 10 among adults 25 to 54 and 18 to 49, the demographics its
> > > advertisers seek.
> >
> > Make it stop! Make it stop!!!
This after they cancelled MST3K? What?
> It's not all Hammer; cable audiences in general have been climbing as
> broadcast networks waste timeslots on cheapjack game shows that they
> mislabel as "reality" shows.
"Reality" TV ceases to be reality when the people realize there is a
camera there and start playing to it. The only true reality would be
like those people on Star Trek who hide on some planet in a giant duck
blind to film people.
Broadcast TV's best hope is new, character and arc driven shows like
"Lost," "Surface," "Invasion," etc. (And "Threshold, which I love and
am rooting for despite the current struggles they've had over at CBS.)
> > > Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal Television Group,
> > > said of Ms. Hammer, "That has been her recipe: these big event
> > > series, combined with an incredibly strong Friday night lineup,"
> >
> > Let's be honest here. You say "big event series," I say craptaculars.
>
> To be honest, SciFi's Friday lineup does indeed not suck.
Yes, and "Tripping the Rift" is WILD!
> > > The USA channel had changed hands so many times it had lost
> > > any clear identity. And in the process, it had lost ratings. "Zucker,
> > > and Wright, and Gaspin, asked me what I wanted to do," Ms.
> > > Hammer said. "First of all, I wanted to give it a brand. Nobody
> > > knows what USA is. And the other thing was to bring back the
> > > W.W.E. to its rightful home."
>
> This is one of the more pervasive forms of stupidity in the cable
> business. Every cable net wants a "brand," an "identity." Then once
> they get it they immediately start worrying and carping about being
> pigeonholed in the brand THEY MADE THE EFFORT TO DEVELOP FOR
> THEMSELVES,
WWF (Now WWE) started their cable stuff on USA back in the late 1980s,
IIRC.
and start programming outside of their "brand." For a
> pertinent example look at Hammer's efforst to erase SciFi's reputation
> as a network for sci fi.
Not completely, they don't show as many "classic" SF series as they
used to, but they are trying. I agree that more original shows (TV
series) would be nice.
> > > Yes, World Wrestling Entertainment. During her previous stint at
> > > USA, Ms. Hammer had worked closely with the World Wrestling
> > > Federation, as it was then called, and its larger-than-life chairman,
> > > Vince McMahon. The scrappy executive and the booming promoter
> > > made an odd pair. But, Mr. McMahon said, Ms. Hammer didn't let
> > > that stop her. "She thought, 'It's probably fun, let me get into it.' "
Hey, she ran with it....
> So in a year or three they'll put funny latex foreheads on the
> wrasslers and show it on SciFi.
Well, TNT put "Crusade" on after Wrestling.
> > > "When she first got the account," Mr. McMahon recalled, "she said,
> > > 'Well, Vince, where are the relationship stories?' The what? 'And this
> > > story arc needs to be longer.' The what? 'The story arc, Vince.' She
> > > defines things for us that open our eyes."
> >
> > Oh, this explains a lot. Not only involved with the WWE, but helped
> > create that joke of a monstrosity that is modern "wrestling."
Oh, rec.sport.pro-wrestling might have some opionions on that aspect...
(beginning crosspost.)
> To be fair, wrasslin' has been a joke well before Hammer's involvement.
Did Hammer get involved in the late 1980s, say when they Hogan?Savage
MegaPowers angle was done, or later, in about the early or mid 1990s?
> > > SINCE "WWE Monday Night Raw" made its debut at the start of
> > > October, USA has been the No. 1 cable entertainment channel in
> > > prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research. The median age
> > > of the channel's viewership also dropped five years compared with
> > > the previous month.
> >
> > And the median IQ of USA's viewership dropped like a rock compared with
> > the previous month. The old saying is true: "No one ever went broke
> > underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
Actually, there are a couple books by Wrestling Fans which have had
some pretty nice reviews. You would be surprised.
> Again, the TV biz values younger viewers in their 20s. They assume
> that folks as old as I am have developed inflexible brand loyalties, so
> advertisers pay more for younger audiences.
A lot of older folks also are more likely to buy whatever is on sale,
so Mileage may Vary.
> > > After more than a year of research, Ms. Hammer and her team came
> > > up with a campaign called "Characters Welcome," which was set loose
> > > in July. Its promotional spots are a catch-all, intended to fit every USA
> > > attraction, from "Monk's" Tony Shalhoub, to W.W.E.'s blown-up
> > > wrestlers, to the tennis stars of the United States Open.
>
> Those spots took a fucking ***YEAR*** of research??????????????????
In WWE's case, they were very well done. "Characters wanted" is a good
concept, and Monk being unique accents that as well.
> How many more decades before they figure out that they have to turn the
> doorknob to open Hammer's office??
Potential.. for so many jokes....
> > > Laura Caraccioli-Davis, the senior vice president and director of the
> > > media-buying agency Starcom Entertainment, praised the strategy.
> > > "It gives you a business platform so it's really easy to translate your
> > > mission and your goals to the ad community and to Wall Street," she
> > > said, adding that for Ms. Hammer, "it was key to do that branding."
> > >
> > > But, Ms. Caraccioli-Davis said, "I don't think consumers care about it at all."
> >
> > You got that right, sister! On since July and it hasn't made an
> > impression on me in the five months since.
They are looking at raw number data though. If the ratings go up,
they'll take it....
> Finally a glimmering of intelligent life on Madison Avenue: We develop
> loyalties to certain *shows,* not to certain products advertised
> therein.
>
> > > What they will care about, Ms. Hammer hopes, are future series for
> > > USA, two of which will be light mysteries modeled on "Monk," its
> > > biggest hit.
> >
> > Put a fork in Monk. This kind of copycat programming will overexpose
> > the genre and kill it.
What was the first reality TV series in the big boom of the past few
years? Survivor? It is still going despite all the wannabes.
> Imitation is the sincerest form of Hollywood.
>
> > > "A USA show would be a fun way to escape, would not be depressing,
> > > would not be dark," she said.
> >
> > I see. That explains The Dead Zone. And Kojak. And The 4400. Not to
> > mention the overwhelming preponderance of Law & Order reruns in USA's
> > primetime schedule.
Good one!
> Happy happy joy joy. "The following program may not be suitable for
> audience members with diabetes..."
On the other hand, everyother network out there is so overloaded with
gross out sturm and drang, hand wringing BS that maybe some brighter
programming could work.
> > > And at Sci Fi, Ms. Hammer has high hopes for "The Dresden Files," a
> > > series scheduled for this summer about a private detective who happens
> > > to be a wizard.
> >
> > Can anyone say "Harry Potter ripoff"?
>
> Yeah- then again, "Potter" was just "Encyclopedia Brown" with magic
> powers thrown into the mix.
Dresden? I thought it would involve the firebombing, like Vonnegut's
"Slaughterhouse Five."
> > > The actor Nicolas Cage will serve as executive producer.
> >
> > Am I still alive? Shoot me again!
>
> There is a tradition of actors as executive producers- usually actors
> who *appear on the show*, to give them a taste of the residuals. In
> this case I expect they got Cage to pony up some serious development
> money; the exec producer credit then gives him a share of any profits.
>
> > > Ideas like those have proven themselves enough times that Ms. Hammer's
> > > boss, Mr. Zucker, said his guiding principle is keeping out of her way.
> > > "The last thing I need to do is screw her up," he said. "She knows how to
> > > do this. My biggest thing to do is just support her, because her vision for
> > > both Sci Fi and USA is clear and incredibly strong. We just need more
> > > people like Bonnie Hammer around the company."
> >
> > Sputter. Choke. Gag. Thud.
>
> If he really wants more people who aren't into sci fi programming, I
> hear Brannon Braga's looking for work...
Which sucks if true because I like Threshold a lot. Brent Spiner is
doing good stuff there.
David E. Powell
...
KoshN
> Straker wrote:
> > > Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal Television Group,
> > > said of Ms. Hammer, "That has been her recipe: these big event
> > > series, combined with an incredibly strong Friday night lineup,"
> >
> > Let's be honest here. You say "big event series," I say craptaculars.
> >
>
>
> To be honest, SciFi's Friday lineup does indeed not suck.
With BG 2003+ and SG-1 on Fridays, I certainly agree, but what about
the other 86% of the week?
> > > The USA channel had changed hands so many times it had lost
> > > any clear identity. And in the process, it had lost ratings. "Zucker,
> > > and Wright, and Gaspin, asked me what I wanted to do," Ms.
> > > Hammer said. "First of all, I wanted to give it a brand. Nobody
> > > knows what USA is. And the other thing was to bring back the
> > > W.W.E. to its rightful home."
> > >
>
>
> This is one of the more pervasive forms of stupidity in the cable
> business. Every cable net wants a "brand," an "identity." Then once
> they get it they immediately start worrying and carping about being
> pigeonholed in the brand THEY MADE THE EFFORT TO DEVELOP FOR
> THEMSELVES, and start programming outside of their "brand." For a
> pertinent example look at Hammer's efforst to erase SciFi's reputation
> as a network for sci fi.
Heh, can't argue with that.
KoshN
Bozo the Evil Klown
David E. Powell wrote:
> Bozo the Evil Klown wrote:
> > It's not all Hammer; cable audiences in general have been climbing as
> > broadcast networks waste timeslots on cheapjack game shows that they
> > mislabel as "reality" shows.
>
> "Reality" TV ceases to be reality when the people realize there is a
> camera there and start playing to it. The only true reality would be
> like those people on Star Trek who hide on some planet in a giant duck
> blind to film people.
>
Unless you're an actor or a stunt performer, the setups for almost
every 'reality' show is considerably ***NOT*** like the reality for
99.9999999999999999999999372% of the viewing audience.
> Broadcast TV's best hope is new, character and arc driven shows like
> "Lost," "Surface," "Invasion," etc. (And "Threshold, which I love and
> am rooting for despite the current struggles they've had over at CBS.)
>
Ditto that; while I have sometimes posted less than complimentary
comments about Braga, "Threshold" turned out to avoid every pitfall I
had predicted prior to the pilot's showing. I hope someone at CBS can
grok that fucking around the schedule caused the drop in ratings.
ANIM8Rfsk
Powell at David_Po...@msn.com wrote on 12/6/05 1:01 PM:
> Bozo the Evil Klown wrote:
>> Straker wrote:
>>> I will now do my Mac Breck impression (whatever happened to Mac?
>>> Googlegroups says he stopped posting altogether in September) using
>>> selected quotes from:
>>>
He surfaced long enough for me to remove my 'everybody posting from Yahoo'
filter, and then went deep again.
You Can't Stop the Signal
SERENITY on DVD December 20th
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BW7QWW
KoshN
> grok that fucking around the schedule caused the drop in ratings.
ROTFLMAO!
Aren't network executives picked specifically for their INability to
understand stuff like that? Sure seems like it. Remember Wonderfalls?
KoshN
KoshN
> in article 1133899278....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, David E.
> Powell at David_Po...@msn.com wrote on 12/6/05 1:01 PM:
>
> > Bozo the Evil Klown wrote:
> >> Straker wrote:
> >>> I will now do my Mac Breck impression (whatever happened to Mac?
> >>> Googlegroups says he stopped posting altogether in September) using
> >>> selected quotes from:
> >>>
>
> He surfaced long enough for me to remove my 'everybody posting from Yahoo'
> filter, and then went deep again.
I'm right here. (guess he put his filter back in place).
KoshN (a.k.a. Mac Breck)
ANIM8Rfsk
macthe...@yahoo.com wrote on 12/6/05 4:39 PM:
I said went deep, not vanished off the sonar entirely.
:-)
--
Barry Margolin
Straker <sky....@moonbase.alpha> wrote:
> I will now do my Mac Breck impression (whatever happened to Mac?
> Googlegroups says he stopped posting altogether in September) using
> selected quotes from:
>
> The Queen of Sci Fi Gets Ready to Rumble
> By KATE AURTHUR
> New York Times, December 4
>
> > As one of the most successful programmers in cable television,
> > Ms. Hammer tends to get a bit worked up about these things.
>
> Most successful? Shoot me now.
Like it or not, quality and success don't necessarily go hand in hand.
More often than not, they are in direct conflict on American TV (and
movies, too). If you haven't already noticed this, where have you been
for the past 50 years?
--
Barry Margolin, bar...@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
Turk
attracts a different audience than me. I don't really think it is a
sci fi audience, it is some other cluster of viewers dubbed Sci Fi
because they watch things on Sci Fi channel. There's nothing wrong
with them and Hammer deserves credit for finding them. But there
should be a new name to differentiate them.
Turk
KoshN
> in article 1133912353.2...@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, KoshN at
> macthe...@yahoo.com wrote on 12/6/05 4:39 PM:
>
> > ANIM8Rfsk wrote:
> >> in article 1133899278....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, David E.
> >> Powell at David_Po...@msn.com wrote on 12/6/05 1:01 PM:
> >>
> >>> Bozo the Evil Klown wrote:
> >>>> Straker wrote:
> >>>>> I will now do my Mac Breck impression (whatever happened to Mac?
> >>>>> Googlegroups says he stopped posting altogether in September) using
> >>>>> selected quotes from:
> >>>>>
> >>
> >> He surfaced long enough for me to remove my 'everybody posting from Yahoo'
> >> filter, and then went deep again.
> >
> > I'm right here. (guess he put his filter back in place).
> >
> > KoshN (a.k.a. Mac Breck)
> >
> I said went deep, not vanished off the sonar entirely.
>
> :-)
I almost went for a (partial) famous Sheridan to G'Kar quote from "The
Coming of Shadows."
;-)
KoshN
David E. Powell
How about a "Sci Fi Classic" Channel for the older series and shows,
and MST3K?
> Turk
anim8rfsk
Yeah, we need a "Sci Fi Classic" for actual Sci Fi programming, and a
"Disney Classic" for actual Disney programming . . .
Neil Nadelman
<Evilk...@aol.com> wrote:
>Yeah- then again, "Potter" was just "Encyclopedia Brown" with magic
>powers thrown into the mix.
Oh, now come on! At no point in any Harry Potter book do you
get to turn the book upside-down to find out who killed Hermione!
-----------------------------------------------------
Neil Nadelman ar...@navzr-genafyngbe.pbz (ROT13)
-----------------------------------------------------
I have no fears in life,
for I have already survived Theta-G!
Pumbaa
Mac Breck
news:1133898237....@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
[....]
> > > Ideas like those have proven themselves enough times that Ms.
Hammer's
> > > boss, Mr. Zucker, said his guiding principle is keeping out of her
way.
> > > "The last thing I need to do is screw her up," he said. "She knows
how to
> > > do this. My biggest thing to do is just support her, because her
vision for
> > > both Sci Fi and USA is clear and incredibly strong. We just need
more
> > > people like Bonnie Hammer around the company."
> >
> > Sputter. Choke. Gag. Thud.
>
>
> If he really wants more people who aren't into sci fi programming, I
> hear Brannon Braga's looking for work...
Hey Bozo,
Do you have yahoo.com blocked? I'd like to run something by ya.
--
Mac Breck (KoshN)
-------------------------------
"Babylon 5: Crusade" (1999)
Galen: "There is always hope, only because it's the one thing that no
one has figured out how to kill yet."
(Galen's obviously never met Warner Brothers, TNT-Atlanta or Sci-Fi.)
"Brimstone" (1998)
[Stone lights a candle for the dead in a Catholic church]
Gina: Who's that for?
Ezekiel Stone: Me.