from our friends at Broadcastingcable.com:
Keep hope alive, all you fans of NBC's not-yet-canceled Lipstick Jungle.
Speaking Tuesday with B&C Editor-in-Chief Ben Grossman for a Think Tank session at the 2009 NATPE conference in Las Vegas, NBC Entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman offered another reason to believe the drama, which has been on the bubble for several months, may yet return.
"Lipstick Jungle is so strong and has such a passionate base among a coveted demographic," Silverman said. "That kind of show will have the same approach, and we've already begun that approach, as we've used with Friday Night Lights. [...]
Lipstick Jungle is so strong
In what way?
This sort of chasing the profits rather than the hits is what’s going to continue to keep NBC down. If they can get someone to foot the bill, yeah, the show can be profitable. But they will never be able to regain a foothold in broadcast TV again if they keep shows like Lipstick Jungle and Friday Night Lights around.
trust me, seeing this was an “OH GOD, PLEASE.MAKE.IT.STOP” moment, but alas, this is the business we have chosen.
I don’t recall seeing a “passionate base among a coveted demographic.” Did I miss something? You all had it pegged for cancellation since it came back on the air! And if Friday Night Lights is any indication of what the Direct TV to NBC approach is going to do for shows, it would just be better to kill Lipstick Jungle now and put it out of its misery.
I’m sticking to the theory that Silverman has a crush on Brooke Shields (or perhaps Kim Raver, or…both!). That may be completely untrue, and yet it makes more sense than anything he’s actually saying.
Silverman is an idiot and just cancel the show. No one is watching it and there are no fan base for the show. Just let it go Ben, just let it go
I watched it.
The season finale was definitely a series ender though.
I’m one who hopes the show is NOT CANCELLED! I enjoy Lipstiok Jungle, although I don’t watch it on Friday nights due to my work schedule. DVR takes care of that for me!
I think there is room for this show, and I do believe there are a lot of fans of the show who will feel the same way. Like with anything else, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it! But leave the rest of us alone. You just go find a different show to watch for an hour while the rest of us have our fun!
KEEP THIS SHOW ALIVE PLEASE!!!
@Julia,
If profit does not define a “hit” for a broadcast network, then what does? Ratings alone? By conventional means, it seems Nielsen ratings are the only metric by which to define “hit.” If NBC finds a way around Nielsen ratings while achieving profit goals, then NBC has, for all intesive purposes, redefined what a “hit” is. For that matter, they’ve redefined what a broadcast network needs to be in order to provide quantifiable success (ROI, profit to shareholders, etc…). Broadcast networks may eventually become extinct altogether. NBC could be seen as the first network to fail, or as the one who was ahead of the curve. Only time will tell.
I’m not saying NBC will succeed at this venture, but I do respect Silverman and company’s risky moves on some level.
At Least Friday Night Lights is a critically acclaimed show. Lipstick Jungle is well, ya know… now that you mention it that crush on Brooke Shields might be the reason.
clutz, the NBC brand is dying. Going to great lengths to keep certain individual shows slightly profitable may work in the short term, but it is not a long term solution for NBC. Advertising is still what drives the TV business and advertisers are not going to want to work with NBC if they can get better numbers, and more niche audiences on cable. Which is where shows like Lipstick Jungle stand right now.
My theory is that NBC decision makers just really like their 24 Kim Raver free. Like most everyone else. So they are willing to make sacrifices.
clutz,
I have to cosign what you said about profitablity vs ratings. Afterall networks seek ratings to drive advertising revenue. The goal is to maximize ad revenue in order to maximize profitability. Ratings are the goal, but the means to to achieve the goal.
Julia,
Not sure exactly what you are talking when you detach profitability from advertising. If a show is profitable, that means advertisers are paying to advertise on that show. NO SHOW IS PROFITABLE WITHOUT ADVERTISING! It is the only way a show makes money (at least before syndication and LJ is no where near that)
In my previous post it should read “Ratings are NOT the goal, but the means to achieve the goal.”
(sorry for the typo)
Everybody else at NATPE wants/gets to talk about their hit shows or at least their new shows they hope will be hits. No luck for Silverman. No hits, and Leno at 10 has already been talked to death, so he is reduced to talking about how his loser shows might not be losers.
Oh, and freezing rain = not fun.
lol. lipstick jungle was the bombdigity. and in fact consistantly won many key demographics if you looked closely at the ratings….. and performed much better than friday night lights in fact….. i do believe the show has a place in the fall schedule. a show like this needs to be nurtured and given time to grow. the last few episodes of season 2 were fantastic.
Loved Lipstick Jungle, I personally think that the name itself was/is part of the problem.
Would hate to see this not continue. It never had a chance to grow and a Friday evening time slot pretty much drives the final nail in!
I hope the show stays on the network. It is a really good show and if NBC wants to keep the show on the air, what is it any business of yours (I’m speaking to the people who complain about it as I’m sure you don’t even watch it)
I think NBC like the idea of viewers who watch the show have a higher annual income so I think that is a good enough reason to keep the show on the air.
Mike G. says:
January 27th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I don’t recall seeing a “passionate base among a coveted demographic.” Did I miss something? You all had it pegged for cancellation since it came back on the air! And if Friday Night Lights is any indication of what the Direct TV to NBC approach is going to do for shows, it would just be better to kill Lipstick Jungle now and put it out of its misery.
DirectTv actually did an excellent job with FNL. Season 3(like season 1)was one of the best dramas us tv had to present.
It doesn’t hurt a network’s image to have at least one quality show on its schedule (Friday Night Lights)… A show that it could be proud of. Let the Super Bowl ads make up for the advertising loss.
This should bode well for Chuck…I mean how can NBC fathom keeping Lipstick Jungle but not Chuck