Network - Television Programming and Counter-Culture Ambitions
Diana Christensen:
I think we can get a hell of a Movie of the Week out of it, maybe even a series...Look, we've got a bunch of hobgoblin radicals called the Ecumenical Liberation Army who go around taking home movies of themselves robbing banks. Maybe they'll take movies of themselves kidnapping heiresses, hijacking 747's, bombing bridges, assassinating ambassadors. We'd open each week's segment with their authentic footage, hire a couple of writers to write some story behind that footage, and we've got ourselves a series.
George Bosch:
A series about a bunch of, uh, bank-robbing guerrillas?
Barbara Schlesinger: [[Mao Tse-Tung]
What are we gonna call it - the ] Hour?
Diana Christensen: [[Che Guevara; [w:Vietnam War|Vietnam; [w:Watergate scandal|Watergate; She shuts the door]
Why not? They've got Strike Force', Task Force', SWAT'. Why not ] and his own little Mod Squad'. Look, I sent you all a concept analysis report yesterday. Did any of you read it? Well, in a nutshell, it said, The American people are turning sullen. They've been clobbered on all sides by ], ], the inflation, the depression. They've turned off, shot up, and they've screwed themselves limp and nothing helps. So this concept analysis report concludes, The American people want somebody to articulate their rage for them. I've been telling you people since I took this job six months ago that I want angry shows. I don't want conventional programming on this network. I want counter-culture. I want anti-establishment. I don't want to play butch boss with you people. But when I took over this department, it had the worst programming record in television history. This network hasn't one show in the top 20. This network is an industry joke. We better start putting together one winner for next September. I want a show developed, based on the activities of a terrorist group. Joseph Stalin and his Merry Band of Bolsheviks. I want ideas from you people. That is what you're paid for. And, by the way, the next time I send an audience research report around, you'd all better read it or I'll sack the fuckin lot of you, is that clear?
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