I never watched an entire episode of ONE LIFE TO LIVE or ALL MY CHILDREN in my entire life. But after a week of analysis and outcry following the cancellations, I'm angry. And I think this is a Network moment. “I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore.” Here's why:They didn't do their homework.
From the beginning, the argument that there weren't enough viewers to be profitable didn't pass the smell test. After massive community outcry and mobilization, it's just plain as day that there is, in fact, an audience out there. A passionate, educated, diverse, and very loyal audience. Is it possible that Corporate missed this? If so, it might be because they glanced at the broadcast Nielsens and called it a day.
But this is 2011—people watch continuing dramas on the Internet, they record them, they share them on their smart phones, in their dorms, at their parents' or friends' homes... they have ALL MY CHILDREN playing at my barbershop, for goodness sake. My barbershop is not a Nielsen family! If executives in their ivory towers are making rash decisions based on faulty intel, your treasured TV show may be the next to go. Buy what's even more frustrating is that I get the sense it might be possible they're just not all that interested in the numbers—the facts--to begin with. It’s not supposed to work that way.
The elitist cronies are in, the people's favorites are out.
Mario Batali owns restaurants (yes, more than one!) in Manhattan (of all places) that charge thirty dollars for a pork chop. Seriously. Tim Gunn, another Manhattanite, is such a snob it can be hard to take him seriously. He had this to say about Meryl Streep—Meryl Streep! "I would love to have a chat with Meryl Streep about the semiotics of clothes... I think she believes she's too smart for fashion.” What does that even mean?
These two men are successful and, quite possibly, hard workers with kind personalities. But they are displacing classic stories about families dealing with real problems in the real America. It makes me wonder what's next. Will Sesame Street be canceled to make room for a child-rearing themed talk show hosted by Angelina Jolie?
People lost their jobs for no good reason.
What makes me the most mad is the suits' insouciant, almost flippant attitude when it comes to protecting American jobs. Hey guys, haven’t you heard? “It's the economy, stupid,” And such little effort is being made to help keep more people employed. By their own admission, ABC will be putting hundreds of Americans out of work. The new shows will employ far, far fewer support staff and essentially no writers or actors. Batali and Gunn, of course, will make out like robber-barons.
Companies around the world understand that the right way to do business in the USA--in these difficult times of stubbornly high unemployment—is to create jobs. Just today, the Karsan corporation—a Turkish company!--promised to open up a plant in Brooklyn and employ 800 New Yorkers if it wins the bid to manufacture city taxi cabs. Is it possible that ABC parent company Disney, which thinks itself one of the most patriotic of American multinationals, doesn't get it? Or is it possible they just don't care?
This is bigger then ONE LIFE TO LIVE or ALL MY CHILDREN.
I'm not okay with corporate executives bulldozing programs that are beloved by millions of ordinary citizens, just in order to clear the way to expand the media empires of a couple of their friends. That's not how American capitalism is supposed to work, and that's not how Television is supposed to work. We need to take back our TV!
Kevin Mulcahy Jr. is a staff contributor at welovesoaps.tv writing theater reviews and other in-depth features.
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