Page 45 - Mostly Failed News Today

Nighttime television’s Dallas was never a stranger to over-the-top antics to lure in an audience. The show ended up with astounding ratings bonanza in 1980 just by positing the catchphrase “Who shot J.R.?” Six years later though, with sagging ratings, the soap opera tried to turn up the heat again, this time in a shower scene that left viewers wondering if what they saw was the real thing. Season nine of Dallas saw those closest to Bobby Ewing, played by Patrick Duffy, mourning the de...

Nighttime television’s Dallas was never a stranger to over-the-top antics to lure in an audience. The show ended up with astounding ratings bonanza in 1980 just by positing the catchphrase “Who shot J.R.?” Six years later though, with sagging ratings, the soap opera tried to turn up the heat again, this time in a shower scene that left viewers wondering if what they saw was the real thing. Season nine of Dallas saw those closest to Bobby Ewing, played by Patrick Duffy, mourning the de...

For four and a half minutes on April 27, 1986, HBOs broadcast signal was jammed. Viewers in the entire eastern half of the U.S. were beamed a protestation that read: "GOODEVENING HBO. FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT $12.95/MONTH ? NO WAY [SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!]" Eventually, the signal returned, and the movie that had been screening at the time,  The Falcon and the Snowman, resumed, but not before presumably several million HBO subscribers witnessed the interruption. For several days, the i...

40 Years Ago: Buck Rogers Goes Out Fighting The “difficult second season” issue faced by science-fiction shows in particular is usually caused by the same two issues. The network receives a better (i.e., more profitable) response from the initial run than it expected, but, knowing nothing about the genre, it fails to understand why. For the second season, it tries to refocus the show toward a mainstream audience, losing the sci-fi fans in the process. But the budget is often cut as a way ...