Dream On
Marta Kauffman: We were encouraged to do what you couldn’t do on network TV. It wasn’t so much about language and sex as much as the way you could tell a story. For instance, we could do a story where…
In Depth
‘Now what?’
To understand how a show like “Tanner ’88” could ever get off the ground it’s useful to know something particular about Bridget Potter, the HBO executive responsible for the project. During one of our early meetings, Bridget asked me if…
Film directors zoom in on TV
Legendary Hong Kong action filmmaker/director John Woo is the latest marquee name to bring his talents to television. Mr. Woo and Terrance Chang, his production partner in Lion Rock Productions, are hanging their TV shingle at 20th Century Fox Television…
1st & Ten
I was a big football fan and I got to have a team that had all of the stars in the league. The show had wonderful actors and actresses, and it was filmed in a very unique way. Because of…
Ratings
see publication for the following charts:Demographic ratings: broadcast prime time, syndicationNight by night nielsen prime time ratings for the week of Oct. 14-20Ratings for the week of Oct. 14-20
Geographic girds for dual feed
The National Geographic Channel, one of the more impressive cable launches of the past decade, is pruning its signature show and rejiggering its schedule in anticipation of a switch to dual programming feeds and still more growth in 2003.National Geographic,…
Arli$$
[HBO is] out for the best product going. They encourage you and they totally leave you alone creatively. I haven’t seen an HBO executive in five years. I get notes occasionally, but they are always just suggestions. The lack of…
Spotlight on: Trading Spaces
When you see carloads of screaming fans parked outside the house of your television star, you’ve got a hit. When your star is a home designer, you’ve got a bizarre phenomenon.What the screaming is all about is TLC’s “Trading Spaces,”…
Briefly Noted
In an unprecedented show of unity, the 11 publicly reporting cable operators signed off on voluntary guidelines to provide more consistent details of industry operating metrics. The move comes in response to growing concerns and confusion among investors amid accounting-related…
The Hitchhiker
Standard TV was hierarchical at this time. It would have been almost impossible for a young producer like me to gain access to mainstream TV. But the leadership at HBO wanted to create differentiated programming so they reached out to…