Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-25123326-20140708033021/@comment-4091815-20140711230302

I keep bringing up TOS because YOU provided the Spock decision as a wonderful example of fans making show decisions.

I'm the one who explained the corporate interference and how Gene had to fight for every inch to get his vision on the air.

By the time TNG rolled around - season 2 by all reports - Gene was suffering debilitating mental problems. He wasn't in charge anymore.

The kid was included because that was the formula at the time - you mentioned that submarine show - EVERY ensemble adventure show had a kid. It was a given by the time TNG came around - in fact, CBS passed on Star Trek TOS and picked up Lost in Space instead partly because of Will Robinson.

Again, I don't keep bringing up Star Trek - you do. My primary examples of creator driven shows are both far more contemporary because it is only the relatively recent expansion of Cable Channels into original programming that has created an environment where creators have actual control.

And it is no surprise to me that every time a network tries to copy the success of one of these creator driven shows -


 * The aforementioned - Playboy Club and Pan Am - and more recently Halt and Catch Fire for Mad Men


 * The Bridge for The Killing


 * Low Winter Sun for Breaking Bad

it never works.

You cannot - with a panel of executives and tons of market research create a great television show.

That's because the audience doesn't know what it really wants until it sees it and executives don't know anything about anything - they don't even WATCH TV.