AThis is a fair question and deserves a candid answer.The show was caught up in many factors that push and pull a series in its first year.First, was the schedule, we were positioned against LOST on our first night, with Martha Stewart as our LEAD IN (the show, prior to ours). We suspected that the Martha crowd would not be the same demographic that would consume E-Ring, and knew that putting a new show, directly opposite the biggest drama on television was going to make life a challenge. I asked about the wisdom of this, as it looked self-defeating from the start.The collective wisdom of NBC exec's was "trust us, we know what we are doing."Well, when that didn't work, the network moved us on the schedule each week, sometimes without even telling the audience, sometimes telling the audience the wrong night. We asked again WTF, how about some advertising, like they do on CBS, where they clearly know how to launch a show?The collective wisdom of NBC exec's was "trust us, we know what we are doing."We had good numbers of total viewers, numbers NBC would kill for this year, but they were not the demographic advertisers want. Simply, older audiences are not valued by Hollywood, because they are not impressionable, they are not impacted by impulse ads; they already have a brand loyalty.Younger people are more desired, because they don't yet have a brand loyalty, and impulse purchase. Television dramas are simply a vector designed to deliver "commercials."Sports, and ultimately the Olympics were the shows undoing. The network would not cross-promote the show, across their other outlets, the promotions department lost confidence in it, because younger people (18-29) did not tune in. We made the argument to hire younger actors, like the show that was originally pitched.We explained that young people had changed their viewing habits with the invention of TIVO, I-pods, and more choice across the spectrum of cable.The collective wisdom of NBC exec's was "trust us, we know what we are doing."So, once the network programming went DARK for the Olympics, our fate was sealed. You see, we were an expensive show, with a high license fee to NBC, and an expensive build for Warner Brothers -- so, as the network went dark, they immediately scrambled to find REALTY replacements for shows deemed vulnerable when programming started back up.To hedge their bet, we continued to produce all episodes (each got better and better), for a total of 22. The is what I would refer to as the golden age of our production, because the network lost interest, and therefore stopped providing us their help, and wisdom, and we were able to make the show I pitched, and they bought, without their notes.Audiences globally have responded to those episodes as being the best.But when it came time to return to air, the ax fell, and DEAL OR NO DEAL (one host, 60 female breast on 30 blond women) destroyed what al Qaeda, and all the global threats could not. The show went dark, with a promise to burn the episodes off over the summer.This never happened, which was a shame for all the wonderful actors on the show.We asked NBC why not burn the work off, let it be seen. We were told the episodes were too good, and the execs were afraid of looking foolish for having canceled the show. We asked about DVD release, same answer.So, the show was sold to a smart network - FX who distributed it overseas, globally, where it has been a success in every market.For the domestic USA audience, my only advice is to ask Warner/NBC to release it on DVD (but I suspect there is also a tax reason they decided to spend millions on programming that was never to be viewed.I made a final argument for a DVD sale when I found pirated copies of the show being sold on the global market. Clearly there was a demand, why not fill it, vice having the intellectual property stolen, without a fight?Silence.So, we, the writers, producers, cast, and crew are thankful for the fans that continue to search for episodes, and continue to blog about the show. We really are speechless as to what the network was really thinking.I guess we should just "trust them, they clearly know what they are doing."KLR
Beverly Hills, CA
