Recently there had been some anger over the cancellation of The West Wing retrospective, which was set to air before the final episode tomorrow. Why would such a long-running series decide to can such a staple of dramatic television? According to reports, several of the actors wanted more money, as it wasn’t written in their contracts to do specials such as these. I can see where fans of The West Wing would be upset, but does it make sense to forget the key in all of this? It's the money - always has been, always will be.
Let’s look at BBC’s The Office for instance. Everyone in Britain was talking about it - a relatively low-budget comedy/drama about a group of office employees at a paper company. The rather freestyle format of the show never allowed itself to be caught in the usual sitcom conventions - there were no laugh tracks or obvious jokes.
Most important is that the faces were fresh and tailored to what real office people look like. By about Series two, creator and head writer Ricky Gervais had run out of ideas; so ended The Office, at least in the UK. In America, The NBC Network has its own version of the show now currently in its second season (just renewed for a third), which interestingly enough has Gervais attached behind the scenes. Even though he may have run out of ideas for his own version of the show, he knew he’d probably never have that kind of success again. Why not milk it until it’s dry and keep the checks coming?
Take for instance Seinfeld. The show about nothing succeeded because, like The Office, the characters looked and physically resembled real people. Like real people, they have real (if sometimes bizarre) problems. Somewhere along the line, all of them got worried; they faced the possibility of being typecast in the roles that made them famous. Jerry Seinfeld himself didn’t have to worry as he was pocketing money behind and in front of the camera.
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Article comments
1 - Barry Stoller
When are Dick & Liz gonna make another movie again?
2 - Scott Butki
This came out good.
Thanks for the elaboration on questions I raised.
3 - Scott Butki
So does the West Wing incident - i.e. the cancellation of the retrospective - spell the end to that kind of thing as tv series end?
4 - Matthew Milam
It probably does. As Actors get more familar with how money works in entertainment, they can play that sorta game.
5 - Scott Butki
That is disappointing.