A good story in today's Journal on the shortage of sitcoms - a fact that puts Charisma's gamble on getting a good half-hour show (and her turndown of hour-length dramas) in perspective for the high-risk gamble that it is. Here's the link, although it works only if you subscribe:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1...ml?mod=COMPANY
Since it may be a good guess that not everyone here subscribes to the WSJ Online, here are key passages:
Quote:
The current drought of hit situation comedies, already a problem at the broadcast networks, is hitting even harder downstream, at the local television stations that depend on comedy reruns.
. . . as networks rely more on reality shows and cancel poorly performing scripted shows like comedies, this model is being threatened. Dick Robertson, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, recently studied comedy production over the past 13 years. Of the 436 comedies launched during that time, only 54 lasted at least four years, the prerequisite for a rerun sale. Of those, only nine, or 2%, became big hits in reruns. "Even Pete Rose wouldn't bet on this," says Mr. Robertson.
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