Stephen Falk, the creator / showrunner / executive producer of NBC’s canceled midseason sitcom Next Caller, wrote a long, thoughtful piece on his Tumblr about the experience of working has ass off on the show for a year, only to have NBC pull the plug before even giving it the chance to air. It’s a revealing look into the frustrations of working in network television and a reminder of how much hard work goes into every single show you see on TV (and some that never even make it to the screen). Here’s a taste:
“For if you work hard enough, someday you too may work on your own show for a year — from pitch to outline to script to pilot to the triumph of being picked up to series: the Golden Ticket. Then you might move across the country to actually make the show, hire a hundred actors and writers and crew members, and then in the middle of editing the 4th episode, get your show abruptly cancelled via late-night Friday phone call from Los Angeles. Then the fun part: you get to walk in shock back to your office… and personally call all the actors and writers and crew and inform them the proverbial plug has been pulled and they no longer have a job, sorry. You will talk them through the tears and confusion — attempt to ameliorate the soon-to-be full-blown PTSD taking root already in them, all the while pre-knowing yours will go untreated and indeed sneak up on you weeks later.”
