Chapitre 157: Chapter 157: The Storm Fades Away
[Chapter 157: The Storm Fades Away]
On Wednesday, a special edition aired on CBS, featuring the young director Eric Williams instead of the famous football player originally scheduled as a guest. Many football fans, eagerly waiting for their idol to appear on their screens, were shocked by the switch, leading some die-hard fans to call the station in frustration.
However, the majority of viewers were pleasantly surprised, as Eric's influence far surpasses that of any football star.
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"Wow, I had no idea gunfight scenes were filmed like that, that was so cool!"
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"Eric Williams' dark humor was hilarious! The robbers playing poker with the SWAT team, haha..."
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"Why hasn't Drew Barrymore shown up lately? Since 17 Again, there hasn't been any news about her in the media."
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"Eric looks so scary when he's angry; he doesn't come off as that kind of person at all."
"That's no surprise. He's so young; if he wants those older staff to listen, he has to be a little tough."
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Various discussions sprang up in households across the nation. With summer break in full swing, more teens crowded around the TV, and Eric's appeal among them likely exceeded that of typical celebrity icons. After all, as a peer, if you outperformed someone by a hundred meters, it might lead to envy and jealousy. But if you outshined them by a thousand meters, the response is usually adoration. Therefore, many young people, witnessing Eric's rare appearance on TV, eagerly shared the news with classmates, urging them to tune in.
The impact of this show was nowhere near that of Oprah Winfrey Show, which, although having been around for only a few years, averaged over 11 million viewers per episode. In contrast, this garnered about 4 million.
Initially, this episode had only 4.2 million viewers, but as it progressed, the ratings surged, and by the end of the forty-minute show, viewership climbed to 7.5 million, nearly doubling. After the show concluded, the CBS hotline was bombarded with calls.
"If we had promoted it a week earlier, the ratings would have surely surpassed 10 million," lamented an executive at CBS upon seeing the numbers.
Over 70% of the calls from viewers requested CBS to rerun the show, while the remaining 30% were filled with various random requests. Some wanted the entire cast to appear together, others wanted to see Drew and Eric on screen, and many inquired if the footage Eric held would ever be released commercially.
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CBS compiled the audience feedback and passed it on to Columbia and Firefly Films, also extending invites to Eric, Drew, and several main cast members, acknowledging the potential for another promotional boost for the movie. However, despite Columbia's enthusiasm, Eric and the others turned down the offers.
If it weren't for Eric's desire to clear up rumors, he would have opted out of the talk show appearance altogether; with that in mind, Drew was guaranteed to follow suit.
Agents for both Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks felt the show lacked the clout befitting their high-profile stars. However, Brooke Shields was intrigued; it could serve as a significant turning point in her career. But being rejected by Eric and both Toms, CBS lost interest. With so many key players not participating, inviting just one actress wouldn't generate much buzz, especially since Brooke Shields only had a few minutes of screen time. Nevertheless, CBS was still a national network and hadn't sunk to a point where they had to accept any guest.
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Though the invitation had been declined, CBS quickly devised a way to maximize their benefits. They had over two hours of footage from Eric's recording, while the talk show only had a forty-minute runtime.
CBS edited the two-hour material into two episodes that aired over the next two days. Thanks to brief promotional efforts during prime time, the re-edited first part reached 9 million viewers, and when the second part aired that Friday, viewership soared past 10 million, peaking at 12 million.
For a daytime show to hit such viewership levels was remarkable. To maintain their momentum, CBS dropped previously scheduled episodes and spent big to secure other high-profile guests in hopes of rivaling other talk shows. Yet, they ultimately ended up disappointed. Eric had predicted that the show's primary issue lay with the host, Sophia Temple. It wasn't a matter of her talent; simply put, her personality wasn't suited for talk show hosting.
Following the second week, despite the inclusion of more prominent guests, the ratings continued to slide. Eventually, CBS had to concede defeat. The episodes featuring Eric became an insurmountable peak for the talk show, and after the series was canceled, with Sophia Temple moving behind the scenes, the ratings never reached that height again.
Of course, those were all matters for the future.
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The controversy over the director soon faded after the CBS talk show aired, especially since the episodes exhibited over twenty minutes of behind-the-scenes footage -- showing Eric setting up scenes, rehearsing with actors, and detailing the entire filming process. Large scenes like street blockades demonstrated that the tapes were not tampered with. Anyone who continued to raise doubts was merely testing the intelligence of the audience.
George Norse stopped making noise after the show aired, as Columbia Pictures pressurized the magazine into firing him. After all, due to George Norse's article, Columbia nearly faced immeasurable losses; doing nothing would have made them look like easy targets.
Although other major studios discreetly cheerled for George Norse's article turning the spotlight on Columbia, they didn't want to risk facing a similar situation in the future. Consequently, due to his critique, George Norse ended up on the blacklist of all six major film companies.
*****
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
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