TV and Radio Writer
Tom JichaBack to recent columns
 |
RECENT COLUMNS
TV Q&A: O'Hurley's career dances along Nov 22, 2009 Wipeout TV show contestant with rare condition dies Nov 12, 2009 TV Q&A: Can you tell me more about the judges on 'Dancing With the Stars'? Oct 25, 2009 Q. Can you tell me more about the judges on 'Dancing With the Stars'? Oct 25, 2009 Q. Will we be treated to another season of Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl? Oct 18, 2009  Tom Jicha
|
|
Making a case for money spent on 'Deal or No Deal'
Important: This column was last updated on July 26, 2009. Please call ahead to confirm hours, prices, dates and other information.
Q. How can programs such as Deal or No Deal afford to give away so much money, especially when the costs of the girls, the dresses and the staff are so much? Does the network get any part of the costs of the telephone calls made? -- M.S., e-mail
A. I've addressed this before. Game shows are among the most cost-efficient programs on TV. As far as I know, Deal or No Deal has never given away the million dollars during one of the regular editions (on which there are no extra million-dollar briefcases). Even if it did so every week, it would be cost-effective. An hourlong drama costs up to $4 million to produce. Deal outrates almost all of them on NBC. Having the girls costs next to nothing. It's great exposure for them. Their dresses can be made by the wardrobe department or donated by fashion houses for a mention at the end of the show. And because of its solid ratings, Deal is able to command six figures for a 30-second commercial, with about 20 in a typical episode. It also gets a cut from the text messages. The math works.
Q. Do you think Kid Nation will ever come back? I know there was some negative criticism, but I thought it was a great learning tool for the kids who participated, and maybe even for some who watched. -- P.T., e-mail
A. If I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here could be brought back, there is hope for any canceled reality show. However, Kid Nation brought a lot of grief to CBS, generated by busybodies who made child labor complaints, even though most of what the young people were asked to do are the same things being done in summer camps all over the nation.
Q. I say whoever named Florida "The Sunshine State" had been drinking too much moonshine. Do you agree? -- B.T., Coral Springs
A. No. But anyone who goes to the trouble to write a letter like this, put a stamp on it and mail it probably has.
Q. My husband says there is no way they could build a house in a week on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Do they really do it in a week? -- N.L., Tamarac
A. A representative of the show assures us that from the first knock on the door to "Move that bus!" it is seven days. With all the people the hit ABC series gets involved, they could build the Taj Mahal in a week.
Q. What's up with Channel 10? Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy This Week With George Stephanopoulus are some of the programs that are fed to the station in HD, yet they refuse to broadcast in that format. -- M.L., Tamarac
A. Maybe you've noticed by now, but WPLG-Ch. 10 is fully HD, including all the shows you mention.
Q. Around 1998, the USA network made a TV movie version of Moby Dick, starring Patrick Stewart. It was sensational. I never forgot it. However, it only aired two or three times, then disappeared, only to be sold in expensive DVD format. I could not afford it. I didn't even own a DVD player. Did the original airings and DVD sales justify the cost to make the movie? Why are they holding back from broadcasting it again? I'm sure they would have no problem finding sponsorship. -- J.B., Deerfield Beach
A. There have been at least a half-dozen adaptations of Moby Dick, which lessens the appeal of any individual one. It's typical that a cable film would get several runs right around the time of its premiere, then fall off the earth. Once it gets into the DVD market, its appeal wanes further as a TV attraction. This isn't to say it will never reappear on TV. I don't want to jinx anyone, but the death of a major star often triggers a revival of his or her works. If you ever get around to buying a DVD player, you can get a copy of that Moby Dick for only a few bucks on Amazon.com.
Q. Quite a while ago I saw a TV show with Kirk Douglas and his son Eric, who resembled Kirk more than Michael Douglas does. I think it might have been an episode of The Twilight Zone. Since then I have heard nothing about Eric Douglas. Can you tell me what happened to him? -- A.W., Pompano Beach
A. It wasn't The Twilight Zone. It was a 1991 episode of Tales From the Crypt titled "Yellow." The only other time Eric Douglas performed on screen with his father was in the 1971 film Gunfight. Kirk's youngest son, Eric had the least productive show-business career of the family. He died in 2004 from what was ruled an accidental drug overdose.
Write to Tom ... Send your questions to Tom Jicha, TV/Radio Writer, Sun Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293 or tjicha@SunSentinel.com. Personal replies are not possible. Please do not send self-addressed stamped envelopes.
<
A. I've addressed this before. Game shows are among the most cost-efficient programs on TV. As far as I know, Deal or No Deal has never given away the million dollars during one of the regular editions (on which there are no extra million-dollar briefcases). Even if it did so every week, it would be cost-effective. An hourlong drama costs up to $4 million to produce. Deal outrates almost all of them on NBC. Having the girls costs next to nothing. It's great exposure for them. Their dresses can be made by the wardrobe department or donated by fashion houses for a mention at the end of the show. And because of its solid ratings, Deal is able to command six figures for a 30-second commercial, with about 20 in a typical episode. It also gets a cut from the text messages. The math works.
Q. Do you think Kid Nation will ever come back? I know there was some negative criticism, but I thought it was a great learning tool for the kids who participated, and maybe even for some who watched. -- P.T., e-mail
A. If I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here could be brought back, there is hope for any canceled reality show. However, Kid Nation brought a lot of grief to CBS, generated by busybodies who made child labor complaints, even though most of what the young people were asked to do are the same things being done in summer camps all over the nation.
Q. I say whoever named Florida "The Sunshine State" had been drinking too much moonshine. Do you agree? -- B.T., Coral Springs
A. No. But anyone who goes to the trouble to write a letter like this, put a stamp on it and mail it probably has.
Q. My husband says there is no way they could build a house in a week on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Do they really do it in a week? -- N.L., Tamarac
A. A representative of the show assures us that from the first knock on the door to "Move that bus!" it is seven days. With all the people the hit ABC series gets involved, they could build the Taj Mahal in a week.
Q. What's up with Channel 10? Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy This Week With George Stephanopoulus are some of the programs that are fed to the station in HD, yet they refuse to broadcast in that format. -- M.L., Tamarac
A. Maybe you've noticed by now, but WPLG-Ch. 10 is fully HD, including all the shows you mention.
Q. Around 1998, the USA network made a TV movie version of Moby Dick, starring Patrick Stewart. It was sensational. I never forgot it. However, it only aired two or three times, then disappeared, only to be sold in expensive DVD format. I could not afford it. I didn't even own a DVD player. Did the original airings and DVD sales justify the cost to make the movie? Why are they holding back from broadcasting it again? I'm sure they would have no problem finding sponsorship. -- J.B., Deerfield Beach
A. There have been at least a half-dozen adaptations of Moby Dick, which lessens the appeal of any individual one. It's typical that a cable film would get several runs right around the time of its premiere, then fall off the earth. Once it gets into the DVD market, its appeal wanes further as a TV attraction. This isn't to say it will never reappear on TV. I don't want to jinx anyone, but the death of a major star often triggers a revival of his or her works. If you ever get around to buying a DVD player, you can get a copy of that Moby Dick for only a few bucks on Amazon.com.
Q. Quite a while ago I saw a TV show with Kirk Douglas and his son Eric, who resembled Kirk more than Michael Douglas does. I think it might have been an episode of The Twilight Zone. Since then I have heard nothing about Eric Douglas. Can you tell me what happened to him? -- A.W., Pompano Beach
A. It wasn't The Twilight Zone. It was a 1991 episode of Tales From the Crypt titled "Yellow." The only other time Eric Douglas performed on screen with his father was in the 1971 film Gunfight. Kirk's youngest son, Eric had the least productive show-business career of the family. He died in 2004 from what was ruled an accidental drug overdose.
Write to Tom ... Send your questions to Tom Jicha, TV/Radio Writer, Sun Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293 or tjicha@SunSentinel.com. Personal replies are not possible. Please do not send self-addressed stamped envelopes.
Copyright © 2009, South Florida Sun-Sentinel