David Winer pointed to a story in the New York Times about ABC’s extremely poor television ratings. Apparently the plan at ABC is to premier a bunch of new shows, but the horrific content of those new shows exemplifies what is wrong with the network (and television) in the first place. If this wasn’t reported in the Times, I’d have thought this proposed show was a parody or somebody’s idea of a bad joke,
Among the shows that will have what Lloyd Braun, the chairman of ABC Entertainment, calls the ABC footprint are two new comedies. The show “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” will lead off Tuesday night at 8, with the star John Ritter playing a father who has to come to terms with his daughters’ increasingly active social lives.
Yeah, I was just thinking the other day that what the world really needs now is another sitcom featuring John Ritter. Who in their right mind would give the goahead for a John Ritter sitcom? Why not throw Gary Coleman in there as the slightly obnoxious next door neighbor?
Source:
ABC Plans a Return to Its Roots to Reverse a Ratings Decline. Bill Carter and Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times, May 15, 2002.