The Inside of My Brain

Money Is King In Entertainment

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 it's 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. Since his co-stars didn't have that kind of reach (or never requested it), they instead pushed for more money. As the seasons went on, I can say I blamed them. The quality had gone down and the jokes got more out there. If you're gonna go out with a whimper, make sure you at least have your pockets full.

There are two words that can describe what happens when you get too high on your success and think you are bankable anywhere; it's called the "David Caruso."

Caruso, who played Detective John Kelly on NYPD Blue, thought he could hold the show hostage by using his own growing star power as leverage to gain more money. After his early season two exit the next year, Hollywood discovered David Caruso didn't have the chops to take a lead role — nor bring in the box office his TV fame was supposed to bring in. It wasn't untilCSI took off that he found himself another hit — CSI: Miami. If you consider the time between NYPD Blue and CSI: Miami, that's a long while to be out of the spotlight. That same thing would have happened to Dennis Franz had he not been smart enough to stay on Blue.

At the end of the day for most actors, it's going to end up being about the money — first and foremost. No matter how much they tell you, no matter how much they speak of "art," the dollar is king in Hollywood.

Posted by Matthew at May 15, 2006 06:03 AM | TrackBack