Executive Meddling/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

* The original series concept for ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' was about a young divorced woman, but [[CBS]] executives were afraid that viewers would think that meant Mary had divorced ''Dick Van Dyke'' (Moore having previously played Van Dyke's wife in ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]''). To protect their investment from the legions of morons they believed were watching, the execs forced the producers of the show to turn Mary into a young unmarried woman fleeing a failed romance.

** Some tropers may also not recall that in 1970, a divorced woman was usually thought to be morally suspect and deeply flawed (even at that late date, divorce was still thought to be almost always the woman's fault). Having a divorced young woman ''as the main character'' would have been a problem no matter who she'd been played by.

** ''[[Law and Order]]'' suffered from the same type of meddling, when the show was forced -- in the name of expanding the demographic reach -- to replace Lt. Cragen and Paul Robinette with Lt. Van Buren and Claire Kincaid, respectively.

*** Of course, this is arguably a positive example. Claire Kincaid quickly became one of the show's most popular characters (as well as one of the most well-beloved female characters on the show, to the point that the show repeatedly tried to recreate the character after the actress left the show) while Merkerson remained until the end, having stayed for 17 of the show's 20 years.

** Considering the below ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' example being so concerned about the "gender ratio," the execs probably were not only right in the ''Law and Order'' case, but actually ahead of their time...

* In the second season of ''[[Babylon 5]]'', [[The WB]] execs insisted on the creation of a hotshot fighter pilot character that they actually called "the Han Solo of ''Babylon 5''", a phrase series creator [[J. Michael Straczynski]] hated due to its implication that [[Viewers are Morons|the viewer would be unfamiliar]] [[Small Reference Pools|with any kind of science fiction besides]] ''[[Star Wars]]''. Since it was the only way the show would survive past its first season, he went along and created Lt. Warren Keffer. However, he got his revenge by giving Keffer as little to do as possible, and at the end of the season, killed him off in a very painful manner. By this point, the executives had completely forgotten that they insisted upon the character in the first place.

** [[J. Michael Straczynski]]'s experience creating the ''[[Babylon 5]]'' sequel series ''[[Crusade]]'' for [[TNT]] was full of meddling; Turner execs reportedly asked him to add more sex and violence, and write a second pilot directly under their oversight. They even forced changes in the color scheme of the sets and uniforms after filming had begun. A [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade was hung]] on this in one episode, with a sarcastic comment about interfering higher-ups back on Earth. The series was canceled before it even aired, and to add insult to injury, the episodes were aired out of their intended order.

** In one of the weirdest examples of [[Executive Meddling]] ever, a higher-up at Sci-Fi insisted that the show's ''intro tune'' be changed. This is why, on Sci-Fi's airings, season one has a different intro theme, for apparently no reason. The intro theme you hear on the Sci-Fi channel in later seasons already existed for season one everywhere else it was broadcast. The reason for the insisted change? The original music was deemed ''too depressing.'' Yes, for a show about [[The End of the World as We Know It|the end of the world]] via nuclear holocaust, an ominous Sanskrit chant is just going to drive the audience over the edge for how much angst they can take. The original was changed back because of a negative fan reaction that surprised Sci-Fi by how disproportionally large it was compared to the actual issue at hand. Anyone who hadn't seen the first season of ''BSG'' via Bittorrent before it finished airing in the United States, but after it finished airing everywhere else, probably heard the original theme on [[YouTube]].

* ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'' got hit especially hard; [[Executive Meddling]] caused a good chunk of the budget to go into the final episodes, meaning Disney didn't have enough money to, of all things, hire an actual actor to play the [[Sixth Ranger]]. Their solution? Come up with some contrived plot about him being a time traveler who manifested as a ball of light when not morphed, and just get a ''voice actor'' to play him. Sam only ever appears as a stuntman in the ranger suit or as the CGI ball of light, making interaction between him and the other characters exceedingly awkward; the creative team was apparently so frustrated that they just wrote around him more often than not, and probably would have sent him back to the future, if not for [[Stock Footage]] constraints. Fans despised this move, even ''before'' the [[Grand Finale]] threw in the sucker punch of Sam appearing unmorphed for about two seconds before returning to the future. Sam rivals [[Cousin Oliver]] Justin as one of the most unpopular characters in the franchise's [[Long Runners|eighteen-year history]]. It's been pointed out that at least Justin ''was'' a character, as Sam was basically treated like a weapon or a Zord.

* [[NBC]]'s Green/Earth Weeks; weeks in November and April respectively where every NBC show had to contain environmental themes. It was a great way for the suits to show off how "green" they were without actually doing anything.

** ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' lampshaded this one when Earl is required to organize a "Scared Straight" Program and Executive Meddling forces him to include environmental themes. He protests, because it wouldn't have anything to do with the story and would just be awkwardly shoehorned in.

* Another example that ultimately worked: Mel Brooks and Buck Henry originally wanted Tom Poston for the lead role in their spy comedy ''[[Get Smart]]''. NBC insisted on Don Adams because he was already under contract.

* One name in [[Toku]] is synonymous with [[Executive Meddling]]: ''[[Kamen Rider Hibiki]]''. Originally it wasn't even intended to be a ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' series, but [[Dolled-Up Installment|was shoehorned into the role]]. However, the unusually introspective and character-driven ''Hibiki'' quickly gained popularity -- [[Merchandise-Driven|but not toy sales]]. So around episode 30, most of the head staff was changed and the series was [[Retool|retooled]] to be more action-centric. This also included Eiki and Shoki being [[Demoted to Extra]], as well as the introduction of [[The Scrappy]] Kyosuke Kiriya. Shigeki Hosokawa, Hibiki's actor, reported that the new writing staff was "fraudulent" and harder to work with, to the point where they were re-writing the final episode ''while the final battle was being filmed''. Just to cap it all off, the ending was changed at the last minute, {{spoiler|denying Asumu the chance to become an Oni, the staff actually scrapping his costume in order to enhance Kiriya's}}; fans were livid at this revelation, and several Toei executives were upbraided for letting things go so far.

* In one of the more controversial aspects of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Claire Bennet was given a lesbian relationship, despite previous seasons heavily implying that she was straight. According to some sources, the issue was [[Hayden Panettiere]]'s idea, although the E! preview before the first episode of the fourth season indicated that Hayden and Madeline were not too happy with what happened. The change among other factors, needless to say, not only got the show cancelled, but also killed the franchise.

** On the flip side of the coin, way back in season 1, Claire's friend Zach was originally supposed to come out as gay. This was scrapped due to pressure from Thomas Dekker's agent who believed him playing a gay character would affect Fox's interest in hiring him for the role of [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles|John Connor]].

** Changing how the hidden immunity idol clues were given due to fear that [[Follow the Leader|the game would turn into an idol-hunt]]. This worked in ''Nicaragua'', but was undermined in ''Redemption Island'' when Kristina managed to break a Survivor record and found the idol [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|before the first tribal council]]. [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|Specifically, to keep it out of Rob's hands.]]

*** ''South Pacific'' has taken this a step further: Clues to the idol are now hidden in places where an idol would normally be, and any clue won in a challenge is going to be a lead to the hidden clues.

* ''[[CSI: NY]]'' (or at least, one of its characters) was a victim when {{spoiler|Angell was killed solely due to budget cuts.}}

* Positive example: When [[Penn & Teller]] did a special for ABC, a trick involving Teller "drowning" in a water tank came in the middle of the show, resulting in an uncommented-on "resurrection". The network suggested that the trick come at the end, leaving Teller "dead". As Teller would later tell [[The Onion]] AV Club, "I was amazed and stunned... I think they were absolutely right [about the water tank trick placement]. This may be the first time I've ever said that sentence in relation to some television activity. They were right."

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[[Category:Live Action TV]]