4 minutes ago, Khan said:

CBS wanted something "hip" and "edgy" to draw the MP crowd, then panicked.

Central Park West was on the wrong network at the wrong time. 1995/96 CBS was trying to be young and cool to compete with NBC and Fox but it was an epic failure. I consider 1995/96 as CBS primetime's 1990s nadir.

I really wish they would've just let Darren Star finish out the season and do whatever he planned on doing with it. Oh, and just moved it up an hour. It actually had the highest rating in its season when they did a random airing on Sunday, away from the Fox dramas and after it went off the air, Party of Five actually started spiking in the ratings so it was obvious they were bleeding each others viewers.

Ah well. Probably should've been on Fox in the first place but then it wouldn't have gotten the same budget.

Edited Saturday at 05:11 PM3 days by te.

32 minutes ago, te. said:

Probably should've been on Fox in the first place but then it wouldn't have gotten the same budget.

I agree.

I felt about CPW the same way I felt about "Friends": don't throw a bunch of young, white people with too much cash and not enough life experience at me and expect me to care. It won't end well for you.

Edited Saturday at 05:50 PM3 days by Khan

11 hours ago, EricMontreal22 said:

I got to host an interview with Melissa Errico for a Sondheim discussion Zoom group I'm a part of each month. It took a bit of work, but she had come here to Victoria for a concert, and I was a big fan and knew how closely she had worked with Sondheim and she had been chummy with me. Anyway, it turned out to be an absolute joy--we chatted for THREE hours when her manager I planned it out for warned that we would only have forty minutes. Of course it was mostly about her Sondheim work and musical theatre in general, but I had to tell her where I first saw her back when I was in Jr High--she said she NEVER gets asked about Central Park West and what a great time she had on it although she absolutely hated how her character was written (she also talked about how it created a life long friendship with John Barrowman who she's done some musical work with, though this wasn't long after people were starting to hammer down on Barrowman for his, umm, well basically enjoyment for flashing people he works with so that did briefly come up.)

That's awesome. Actors have so many stories they are just never asked about so I'm glad you did.

4 hours ago, Khan said:

I felt about CPW the same way I felt about "Friends": don't throw a bunch of young, white people with too much cash and not enough life experience at me and expect me to care. It won't end well for you.

I take it you weren't a fan of Sex and the City either?

5 hours ago, kalbir said:

I take it you weren't a fan of Sex and the City either?

I thought it was okay in the beginning, before Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael Patrick King took control and turned the show into some Cinderella fantasy that didn't jibe at all with the series' original intentions.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

I thought it was okay in the beginning, before Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael Patrick King took control and turned the show into some Cinderella fantasy that didn't jibe at all with the series' original intentions.

I tried to watch Sex and the City but I couldn't get into it at all. That show was very much a product of the late 1990s to mid-2000s and it has not aged well.

I still enjoyed Sex and the City because it is a time capsule of a bygone era.. and people seemed a lot more free and open during that era then the more puritanical 2020s have been. And when I say puritanical, I mean both the right and left are chronic pearl clutchers nowadays.

CBS may have misfired in 1995 with their attempt at attracting younger viewers, but at least the network was willing to try something new unlike the modern day version of CBS that is procedural heavy.

I remember having a friend that disliked soap operas and made fun of them.. but the three shows they watched with devotion were Downton Abbey, Stranger Things, and Game of Thrones. When they told me this, I started laughing and I told him 'Sweetie, you're watching soap operas lol'

5 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

CBS may have misfired in 1995 with their attempt at attracting younger viewers, but at least the network was willing to try something new unlike the modern day version of CBS that is procedural heavy.

True! If I have to watch one more of those damn procedurals, I'm gonna scream, lol!

6 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

CBS may have misfired in 1995 with their attempt at attracting younger viewers, but at least the network was willing to try something new unlike the modern day version of CBS that is procedural heavy.

Yeah, I liked CPW (of course) and then also American Gothic is an underrated mid-90s slice of horror. The Client also looks interesting, but I've never gotten around to watch it. It's just that it was all such a mismatch and a ridiculous turn, especially from a promotion point of view. They probably didn't need to be so aggressive about the "hot, young and sexiness" of CPW. And of course, just schedule it in the 10PM slot away from the Fox dramas to begin with.

It's a tale as old as time: 90210 and MP become the new hotness (tm @kalbir ) and transform FOX from a brash outlier (that you still need 'rabbit ears' to watch in many places) to a major contender; so, CBS, whose shows traditionally have skewed older, poaches the man responsible for both hits, asks him to create one like those for their network, then panics when their older, more conservative viewers balk. SMDH, lol.

Does it EVER occur to these networks that chasing after the newest phenomenon never works? That the last thing viewers want in a 500-channel (plus streaming) universe is more of the same? I mean, if I wanted to watch 90210 and MP - and let's be clear, I didn't - then I would've watched 90210 and MP, not some other network's Designer Impostors version.

When you have a hit show like Darren Star's shows were BITD, the object of the game is not to pump out more like 'em, but to counter-program and give your audiences something they aren't getting anywhere else. That's how you end up with success stories like CBS' Saturday night lineup in the '70's, or NBC's Thursday night lineup in the '80's and '90's.

Edited Sunday at 05:52 PM2 days by Khan

@Khan I don't take credit for coining "new hotness". I first heard it in Men in Black II and I thought it was funny so I starting using it on the boards. Thanks for the mention though

Edited Sunday at 11:11 PM2 days by kalbir

I remember that CBS went all out with promoting CPW.

Research showed there was high awareness from viewers about the show. But when asked if they intended to watch the answer was 'NO'.

Commenting on the new season, CBS -TV President James Warner said the network was "most excited" by the continuing growth of sophomore shows such as Chicago Hope and its Saturday night prime time lineup. Warner said the Wednesday lineup, anchored by Central Park West, "is our biggest disappointment." Asked why the much anticipated program hasn't caught on, even with aggressive promotion, Warner suggested that CPW "was sold to an audience we may have trouble finding on our network." But he said that CBS would stick with it and try to build the younger- skewing audience for which the show was developed

5 hours ago, Khan said:

transform FOX from a brash outlier (that you still need 'rabbit ears' to watch in many places) to a major contender

What made Fox legit was getting NFL broadcasting rights and the affiliate switches in several major media markets.

11 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Asked why the much anticipated program hasn't caught on, even with aggressive promotion, Warner suggested that CPW "was sold to an audience we may have trouble finding on our network."

I'm not sure CBS has ever found that audience. I mean, look at their current programming slate. I doubt many 20-year-olds are making it a point to watch "NCIS" every week, lol.