A Glimmer of Hope? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Great8 · 03-06-2005, 09:27 PM

This article from the San Jose Mercury News says that NBC has told Jonathan Prince not to strike the sets and to begin negotiating a lease agreement for next season for the studio space. He also says then can cancel in a nanosecond, but at least it's a little hopeful!

`American Dreams' could become only a memory
SIGNS INDICATE NBC SHOW MAY FACE SAME FATE AS EARLIER WELL-MADE FAMILY DRAMAS: CANCELLATION
By Charlie McCollum
Mercury News

Network executives, advocacy groups and ordinary viewers all say often -- and loudly -- that they want more family shows on television.

But here's the funny thing: When good family-focused dramas and comedies actually do surface, they more often than not vanish within months. The closer the show gets to real life, and the more willing it is to deal with substantial issues, the more likely it is to evaporate quickly.

TV's recent history is littered with good shows about the American family (``Once and Again,'' ``Freaks and Geeks'') that died of neglect, either from those who put them on the air and then backed off or from viewers at home who refused to watch. This season, the series considered in danger of cancellation in the spring includes a fistful of family dramas: CBS's ``Joan of Arcadia,'' the WB's ``Jack & Bobby,'' UPN's ``Veronica Mars'' -- and NBC's ``American Dreams.''

Set in the Philadelphia of the 1960s, this good (sometimes very good) show centers around the middle-class Pryor family: father Jack, wife Helen and their four children: Meg, JJ, Will and Patty. Much of the action takes place on ``American Bandstand'' where Meg and her closest friend, Roxanne Bojarski, are among the regular dancers. And the Pryors' lives overlap with those of the Walkers, a black, working class family striving to break out of the tenements.

Over its three years on the air, ``Dreams'' has used its setting in the turbulent decade to explore themes that still resonate today: race, abortion, the conflicts between parents and children, women's roles in society, the culture clashes that America goes through periodically.

While the show occasionally lapses into banality and predictability, it more often has been engaging, thoughtful entertainment with a great sense of its time and place. Its cast -- notably Brittany Snow as Meg, Tom Verica and Gail O'Grady as her parents and Vanessa Lengies as Roxanne -- certainly has evolved into one of the better ensembles on TV.

But this season, ``Dreams'' has been cut down to 18 episodes (most network dramas do 22) with its season ending early, on March 30.

Moreover, it has been yanked out of its 8 p.m. Sunday spot -- where it was getting hammered by CBS's ``Cold Case'' and, in particular, ABC's ``Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.'' The final four episodes will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m., starting this week.

The competition on Wednesdays? ``Lost,'' the ABC juggernaut, and the Fox Wednesday lineup that includes ``The Simple Life'' and something called ``American Idol.'' And the WB's ``Smallville'' draws young women who form an important part of the ``Dreams'' audience.

Ouch.

Jonathan Prince, the series' co-creator, executive producer and full-time salesman, has known for some time that ``Dreams'' has been standing on shaky Nielsen ground with an audience that has slid below 8 million.

``Sunday nights, we came up against this beast called `Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,' '' Prince says. ``It took away tons of viewers from our show when we had been doing pretty well, even against `Cold Case.' This just destroyed us.''

As a result, he says, the show is ``on some sort of strange bubble'' in terms of renewal for a fourth season. ``Our future will be decided by, first, how do we do in March in terms of viewership? And secondly, how is NBC doing in developing new shows for next season?''

In Prince's mind, NBC certainly could do a lot worse than to keep ``American Dreams'' around. He points out, correctly, that the show still draws one of the most affluent, educated audiences in television. And it's a rare show that draws an even mixture of older and younger viewers.

``There simply aren't very many shows you can watch with your kids,'' Prince notes.

And right now, none of the new shows NBC is considering for next season could be considered a family drama, which suggests to Prince that ``they may live or die with us.''

Which may explain why, so far, NBC is hedging its bets.

The network is playing up the Wednesday move as an attempt to put together two top American dramas -- ``Dreams'' and ``The West Wing.'' In addition, says Prince, NBC executives have told him not to strike the sets and to begin lease negotiations for another year at the studio where the show is filmed.

``Every bit of behavior indicates they want us to continue production,'' says Prince. ``Might they still pull the plug? In a heartbeat.''

That, folks, would be too bad.

So, to the executives at NBC: Give ``American Dreams'' the benefit of the doubt. You've got plenty of other holes on your tattered schedule to worry about. Come the fall, you can relaunch ``Dreams'' at 8 p.m. on Fridays where it might flourish in the spot once held by family dramas such as ``Providence.''

And viewers: Give ``Dreams'' a chance this month and tune in. Wednesday's episode, which includes Meg Pryor's graduation from high school in 1966, is particularly good, and ``Lost'' is airing a repeat, as it will for much of March. The only way to really help this show is to prove it still has an audience.

``If you like `American Dreams,' '' says Prince, ``this is the time to say so. This is the time when it would help.''

`American Dreams'

***

Airing: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Chs. 8, 11

Creator: Jonathan Prince

Cast: Tom Verica, Gail O'Grady, Brittany Snow, Vanessa Lengies, Will Estes, Arlen Escarpeta, Rachel Boston, Sarah Ramos, Jonathan Adams, Ethan Dampf
Contact Charlie McCollum at cmccollum@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5245.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/11065451.htm

PrettyinPink55 · 03-06-2005, 10:29 PM

Thanks for posting that, Great8! It did give me a glimmer of hope that the show can and my possibly be saved!!!

Thanks for that!

Storywriter · 03-07-2005, 12:16 AM

I like the comment about American Idol.Something called American Idol.I hope its a insult to American Idol cause I laughed and hard.Please! god let it be an insult to Idol please please!.Mel

PrettyinPink55 · 03-07-2005, 05:20 PM

I have been looking through the "projects in development" for the 2005-2006 season on thefutoncritic.com, and the article is right. NBC has no new incoming family dramas. And I don't think they have any other family dramas besides AD, unless you count The West Wing. So, that could very well be an up point for us! (Yes, I said us!

)

To look through the possible new NBC dramas in development:

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/go...&action=charts

If you read that, would you call "Book of Daniel" a family drama?

The description is kind of iffy to me.

LuV2DreeM · 03-07-2005, 08:31 PM

I don't wish to "poop" on anyone's parade......but I don't know that a network necessarily HAS to have a family oriented show on the air.
Maybe I'm wrong.

I would think if "they" thought they could get higher ratings for a "reality" show, per se, they would air THAT instead of a family show.
It's all about advertising dollars.
And it's also all about putting on the air what will draw viewers WHILE AT THE SAME TIME get passed by the critics/censors.

Like I said.......I could be wrong.

Peace.

Great8 · 03-07-2005, 11:40 PM

You're of course right, Luv2Dream, but in this era which supposedely embraces "family values", it would be a poor PR move to not have any "family" shows on the schedule. NBC, the home of trash like "Fear Factor", might see AD as a loss leader, something they can use to show people that they do value quality.

PrettyinPink55 · 03-07-2005, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Great8

You're of course right, Luv2Dream, but in this era which supposedely embraces "family values", it would be a poor PR move to not have any "family" shows on the schedule. NBC, the home of trash like "Fear Factor", might see AD as a loss leader, something they can use to show people that they do value quality.

Exactly my point, Great8! I couldn't have said it better myself! In light of all that's been going on within the past year or so, a lot of people are concerned about what's on television these days, so it would be wise for networks to target the family audience.

ADfan · 03-08-2005, 01:13 AM

Just to put my two cents in, I think it's ridiculous that a show that contains not only family values of the past, which if you are raising a family of your own should be valued more, but also a history lesson thats entertaining. You would think that only would increase its importance factor to NBC, but like you both said its the doller that counts now a days.

Storywriter · 03-08-2005, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADfan

Just to put my two cents in, I think it's ridiculous that a show that contains not only family values of the past, which if you are raising a family of your own should be valued more, but also a history lesson thats entertaining. You would think that only would increase its importance factor to NBC, but like you both said its the doller that counts now a days.

Networks only care about the money they make promoting fake reality crap not any of the dramas and sitcoms themself.They are money hungry gavonnes.Mel

ADfan · 03-08-2005, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Storywriter

Networks only care about the money they make promoting fake reality crap not any of the dramas and sitcoms themself.They are money hungry gavonnes.Mel

I couldn't agree more, I'm definatly not a reality TV fan, espically when one of them can or may cause my favorite shows to get bumped.

PrettyinPink55 · 03-08-2005, 01:56 AM

I don't see how crap like Fear Factor makes it on the air and quality shows like American Dreams have to struggle to stay alive.... What does this say about American society?

ADfan · 03-08-2005, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrettyinPink55

I don't see how crap like Fear Factor makes it on the air and quality shows like American Dreams have to struggle to stay alive.... What does this say about American society?

Apparently that watching a human being eating animal rectums, bugs and jumping through hoops for 50,000 (or however much they win) is more intersting then a quality family show. Very sad!!!!!!!!!!!!

LuV2DreeM · 03-08-2005, 08:48 AM

In defense of "tv".......there does exist PBS type channels that try to air educational programming.

In defense of NBC, they are in business and have to make money. The actors/actresses of major network shows pull in BIG DOLLARS. My friend was on a show for 3 years and I said "Wow, you must have pulled some big dollars".....and his reply was "I was on cable.....it's not the same".

So we are NBC at AD.......not the WB.
Our actors/actresses make a lot more money than the WB people.
Our network HAS to pull in a lot more viewers than the WB.
Our network HAS to compete for the viewers the other major networks are trying to pull in..........with reality tv.

It's kind of a catch 22. We like our actors/actresses (actually, the parts they play......we don't really know them as people), but since they are on a major network, the "going thing" these days for the major networks seems to be "reality" shows.
Fortunately for me, all my friends DO NOT raise their children on tv. They instill the family values as parents themselves.
I hope America does the same. Nothing teaches like the parents being an example.

Peace.

newsie007 · 03-17-2005, 06:54 PM

Other website chat-rooms and threads about trying to save "American Dreams" have suggested postcards are the best way to contact NBC executives Jeff Zucker and Kevin Reilly... and they may indeed be right.
but most folks may only think they can e-mail NBC's "general" e-mail address... and another thread has suggested those e-mails won't get forwarded to Mr. Zucker and Reilly. That's probably true... HOWEVER...

I used to work for NBC... and their e-mail system works as follows. The person's first name... a period... last name, then @NBC.com.

So it's worth sending your e-mails DIRECT to Mr. Zucker and Mr. Reilly's offices at the following e-mail address.

JEFF ZUCKER e-mail is: Jeff.Zucker@nbc.com
KEVIN REILLY is: Kevin.Reilly@nbc.com

If you want to save American dreams... start sending those e-mails AND letters. i've sent e-mails to these addresses... and they HAVE NOT come back as "undeliverable"... so they are going to an office connected to these NBC executives.
START WRITING NOW!

Storywriter · 03-17-2005, 07:24 PM

Well the one I sent to Kevin was sent back as undelivered but not the one to Jeff.Jeff got hisI'd say.Mel

03-06-2005, 09:27 PM	#1
Great8 Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Feb 07, 2005 Posts: 77	A Glimmer of Hope? This article from the San Jose Mercury News says that NBC has told Jonathan Prince not to strike the sets and to begin negotiating a lease agreement for next season for the studio space. He also says then can cancel in a nanosecond, but at least it's a little hopeful! `American Dreams' could become only a memory SIGNS INDICATE NBC SHOW MAY FACE SAME FATE AS EARLIER WELL-MADE FAMILY DRAMAS: CANCELLATION By Charlie McCollum Mercury News Network executives, advocacy groups and ordinary viewers all say often -- and loudly -- that they want more family shows on television. But here's the funny thing: When good family-focused dramas and comedies actually do surface, they more often than not vanish within months. The closer the show gets to real life, and the more willing it is to deal with substantial issues, the more likely it is to evaporate quickly. TV's recent history is littered with good shows about the American family (``Once and Again,'' ``Freaks and Geeks'') that died of neglect, either from those who put them on the air and then backed off or from viewers at home who refused to watch. This season, the series considered in danger of cancellation in the spring includes a fistful of family dramas: CBS's ``Joan of Arcadia,'' the WB's ``Jack & Bobby,'' UPN's ``Veronica Mars'' -- and NBC's ``American Dreams.'' Set in the Philadelphia of the 1960s, this good (sometimes very good) show centers around the middle-class Pryor family: father Jack, wife Helen and their four children: Meg, JJ, Will and Patty. Much of the action takes place on ``American Bandstand'' where Meg and her closest friend, Roxanne Bojarski, are among the regular dancers. And the Pryors' lives overlap with those of the Walkers, a black, working class family striving to break out of the tenements. Over its three years on the air, ``Dreams'' has used its setting in the turbulent decade to explore themes that still resonate today: race, abortion, the conflicts between parents and children, women's roles in society, the culture clashes that America goes through periodically. While the show occasionally lapses into banality and predictability, it more often has been engaging, thoughtful entertainment with a great sense of its time and place. Its cast -- notably Brittany Snow as Meg, Tom Verica and Gail O'Grady as her parents and Vanessa Lengies as Roxanne -- certainly has evolved into one of the better ensembles on TV. But this season, ``Dreams'' has been cut down to 18 episodes (most network dramas do 22) with its season ending early, on March 30. Moreover, it has been yanked out of its 8 p.m. Sunday spot -- where it was getting hammered by CBS's ``Cold Case'' and, in particular, ABC's ``Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.'' The final four episodes will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m., starting this week. The competition on Wednesdays? ``Lost,'' the ABC juggernaut, and the Fox Wednesday lineup that includes ``The Simple Life'' and something called ``American Idol.'' And the WB's ``Smallville'' draws young women who form an important part of the ``Dreams'' audience. Ouch. Jonathan Prince, the series' co-creator, executive producer and full-time salesman, has known for some time that ``Dreams'' has been standing on shaky Nielsen ground with an audience that has slid below 8 million. ``Sunday nights, we came up against this beast called `Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,' '' Prince says. ``It took away tons of viewers from our show when we had been doing pretty well, even against `Cold Case.' This just destroyed us.'' As a result, he says, the show is ``on some sort of strange bubble'' in terms of renewal for a fourth season. ``Our future will be decided by, first, how do we do in March in terms of viewership? And secondly, how is NBC doing in developing new shows for next season?'' In Prince's mind, NBC certainly could do a lot worse than to keep ``American Dreams'' around. He points out, correctly, that the show still draws one of the most affluent, educated audiences in television. And it's a rare show that draws an even mixture of older and younger viewers. ``There simply aren't very many shows you can watch with your kids,'' Prince notes. And right now, none of the new shows NBC is considering for next season could be considered a family drama, which suggests to Prince that ``they may live or die with us.'' Which may explain why, so far, NBC is hedging its bets. The network is playing up the Wednesday move as an attempt to put together two top American dramas -- ``Dreams'' and ``The West Wing.'' In addition, says Prince, NBC executives have told him not to strike the sets and to begin lease negotiations for another year at the studio where the show is filmed. ``Every bit of behavior indicates they want us to continue production,'' says Prince. ``Might they still pull the plug? In a heartbeat.'' That, folks, would be too bad. So, to the executives at NBC: Give ``American Dreams'' the benefit of the doubt. You've got plenty of other holes on your tattered schedule to worry about. Come the fall, you can relaunch ``Dreams'' at 8 p.m. on Fridays where it might flourish in the spot once held by family dramas such as ``Providence.'' And viewers: Give ``Dreams'' a chance this month and tune in. Wednesday's episode, which includes Meg Pryor's graduation from high school in 1966, is particularly good, and ``Lost'' is airing a repeat, as it will for much of March. The only way to really help this show is to prove it still has an audience. ``If you like `American Dreams,' '' says Prince, ``this is the time to say so. This is the time when it would help.'' `American Dreams' *** Airing: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Chs. 8, 11 Creator: Jonathan Prince Cast: Tom Verica, Gail O'Grady, Brittany Snow, Vanessa Lengies, Will Estes, Arlen Escarpeta, Rachel Boston, Sarah Ramos, Jonathan Adams, Ethan Dampf Contact Charlie McCollum at cmccollum@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5245. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/11065451.htm

03-06-2005, 10:29 PM	#2
PrettyinPink55 Forum Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 24,442	Thanks for posting that, Great8! It did give me a glimmer of hope that the show can and my possibly be saved!!! Thanks for that! __________________ ♥♥♥

03-07-2005, 12:16 AM	#3
Storywriter Senior Member Tcha! You Know What. Join Date: Jan 29, 2004 Location: not given Posts: 1,204	I like the comment about American Idol.Something called American Idol.I hope its a insult to American Idol cause I laughed and hard.Please! god let it be an insult to Idol please please!.Mel Attached Images __________________ The Vampire Diaries,Pretty Little liars, The Mentalist,Victorious, Icarly all good shows Proud Adult Disney channel and Nickelodeon fan in her 30's

03-07-2005, 08:31 PM	#5
LuV2DreeM Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Jan 20, 2004 Posts: 200	I don't wish to "poop" on anyone's parade......but I don't know that a network necessarily HAS to have a family oriented show on the air. Maybe I'm wrong. I would think if "they" thought they could get higher ratings for a "reality" show, per se, they would air THAT instead of a family show. It's all about advertising dollars. And it's also all about putting on the air what will draw viewers WHILE AT THE SAME TIME get passed by the critics/censors. Like I said.......I could be wrong. Peace. __________________ LuV2DreeM

03-17-2005, 06:54 PM	#14
newsie007 Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Mar 17, 2005 Posts: 34	E-mail adresses to save American Dreams Other website chat-rooms and threads about trying to save "American Dreams" have suggested postcards are the best way to contact NBC executives Jeff Zucker and Kevin Reilly... and they may indeed be right. but most folks may only think they can e-mail NBC's "general" e-mail address... and another thread has suggested those e-mails won't get forwarded to Mr. Zucker and Reilly. That's probably true... HOWEVER... I used to work for NBC... and their e-mail system works as follows. The person's first name... a period... last name, then @NBC.com. So it's worth sending your e-mails DIRECT to Mr. Zucker and Mr. Reilly's offices at the following e-mail address. JEFF ZUCKER e-mail is: Jeff.Zucker@nbc.com KEVIN REILLY is: Kevin.Reilly@nbc.com If you want to save American dreams... start sending those e-mails AND letters. i've sent e-mails to these addresses... and they HAVE NOT come back as "undeliverable"... so they are going to an office connected to these NBC executives. START WRITING NOW! Last edited by newsie007 : 03-18-2005 at 02:40 AM.

03-07-2005, 05:20 PM	#4
PrettyinPink55 Forum Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 24,442	I have been looking through the "projects in development" for the 2005-2006 season on thefutoncritic.com, and the article is right. NBC has no new incoming family dramas. And I don't think they have any other family dramas besides AD, unless you count The West Wing. So, that could very well be an up point for us! (Yes, I said us! ) To look through the possible new NBC dramas in development: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/go...&action=charts If you read that, would you call "Book of Daniel" a family drama? The description is kind of iffy to me.

03-07-2005, 11:40 PM	#6
Great8 Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Feb 07, 2005 Posts: 77	You're of course right, Luv2Dream, but in this era which supposedely embraces "family values", it would be a poor PR move to not have any "family" shows on the schedule. NBC, the home of trash like "Fear Factor", might see AD as a loss leader, something they can use to show people that they do value quality.

03-08-2005, 01:13 AM	#8
ADfan Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Jan 31, 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 141	Just to put my two cents in, I think it's ridiculous that a show that contains not only family values of the past, which if you are raising a family of your own should be valued more, but also a history lesson thats entertaining. You would think that only would increase its importance factor to NBC, but like you both said its the doller that counts now a days.

03-08-2005, 01:56 AM	#11
PrettyinPink55 Forum Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 24,442	I don't see how crap like Fear Factor makes it on the air and quality shows like American Dreams have to struggle to stay alive.... What does this say about American society?

03-08-2005, 08:48 AM	#13
LuV2DreeM Frequent Poster Member Join Date: Jan 20, 2004 Posts: 200	In defense of "tv".......there does exist PBS type channels that try to air educational programming. In defense of NBC, they are in business and have to make money. The actors/actresses of major network shows pull in BIG DOLLARS. My friend was on a show for 3 years and I said "Wow, you must have pulled some big dollars".....and his reply was "I was on cable.....it's not the same". So we are NBC at AD.......not the WB. Our actors/actresses make a lot more money than the WB people. Our network HAS to pull in a lot more viewers than the WB. Our network HAS to compete for the viewers the other major networks are trying to pull in..........with reality tv. It's kind of a catch 22. We like our actors/actresses (actually, the parts they play......we don't really know them as people), but since they are on a major network, the "going thing" these days for the major networks seems to be "reality" shows. Fortunately for me, all my friends DO NOT raise their children on tv. They instill the family values as parents themselves. I hope America does the same. Nothing teaches like the parents being an example. Peace.

03-17-2005, 07:24 PM	#15
Storywriter Senior Member Tcha! You Know What. Join Date: Jan 29, 2004 Location: not given Posts: 1,204	Well Well the one I sent to Kevin was sent back as undelivered but not the one to Jeff.Jeff got hisI'd say.Mel

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