= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
fubarobfusco comments on Want to be on TV? - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (29)
Television networks are businesses. They want to get large audiences to watch their shows, so that they can sell a lot of ads for a lot of money. They do not make a lot of money by telling stories that appeal to a niche audience; they want to appeal to a mainstream television audience — the audience, specifically, who is now watching something on a different network. (The network's shows don't compete against each other so much as they compete against other networks' shows in the same time slot.)
What kind of stories about "nerds" are likely to appeal to an audience who is right now watching whatever is in the other time slot?
My suspicion is that somebody is thinking of this (and possibly pitched it) as the reality version of "The Big Bang Theory." If that's the case, consider that the BBT's showrunner, Bill Prady, is himself a genuine nerd. Then imagine how bad BBT is and how bad it would be if its showrunner wasn't a nerd. Then turn that into a reality show.
Excepting, of course, that shows compete against each other to be put in prime time slots---which is enough to make or break a show. (Well, enough to break it anyway.)