America 1982-Chapter 292 - 14: Saving Her_3
"The initial plan is to edit the best parts of a week’s worth of raw lifestyle footage into a one-hour episode and broadcast it during the prime-time slot on Sundays." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
After sharing his team’s idea, Rick looked excitedly at Tommy and the others, eager for a response. Tommy just nodded slightly before turning to Earl and Sean, "What do you think?"
Sean cradled his coffee in both hands, his plump face in serious thought for a few dozen seconds before he said:
"Basically, those who have read this novel or know the story are likely to pay attention to this show, as many Americans’ stereotypical perceptions of the Soviet Union actually stem from this completely fictitious historical hour. The gimmick is indeed good, as it is an attack on the Soviet Union. If it isn’t too vulgar, the feedback should be good too, and it’s easy to buy space in some mainstream newspapers with money, increasing the television station’s reputation and influence. However, the prerequisite is that the program’s production must be clever and avoid clichés."
"I agree with Sean’s opinion, at least those members of Congress will be happy to see us smear the Soviet Union for free. I mean, the Communications Committee or the Ethics Committee probably won’t give us trouble, because we can say that the people in the program are just portraying the life of Soviet citizens in the novel."
"Martin, after hearing this, are you interested in participating in this program?" Tommy turned his head and asked Martin.
Martin shook his head, "I won’t sign up to participate, but I’d love to sit in front of the TV and watch how others perform. You know, boss, just me in front of the TV – the moment I see some guy with the chance of winning the prize money, I’d immediately pick up the phone and call the TV station’s program team to vote him out. People love to see others put in a lot of effort and yet fail in the end. That’s the kind of ending I enjoy watching. Many black people I know like it too. Think about it – a woman sleeps with fifteen other men to win a hundred thousand in prize money, thinking she’ll have the last laugh. Guess what, the audience votes her out and watching her go crazy is priceless."
"Don’t use actors from the actors’ union for the pilot. Martin will take you to Compton to pick some black people, and as for the villa, just use the one he’s temporarily staying in Beverly as a dorm, to reduce costs as much as possible. First, try shooting a week’s worth of footage and then edit it to see if the program is as you envisioned, with enough and engaging highlights," Tommy finally turned to Rick and said.
Wanting to make money and expand influence as soon as possible, it’s not enough to just broadcast the program on one channel. Therefore, BT Television needs to ensure that their original programs have enough engaging highlights that, at least before the premiere, they can send Earl Rash to attract the heads of other small television stations with the pilot tape. This will let them recognize BT’s production capabilities and see the potential for making money, thus agreeing to cooperate with BT Television in broadcasting BT Television’s productions.
Only by helping other television stations to make money will they be willing to hand over their operations to BT Television. In this way, a new national television network can gradually form around BT Television.
"Alright," Rick said, agreeing. Then he distributed a few pages of series introductions to everyone: "Next, here is a list of dramas I’m planning to purchase to fill the TV station’s airtime."
Tommy sighed, "This list – Martin took it to the black community he visited to ask if they liked it. He got some feedback for you."
"So, Martin, what did they think of these dramas? I carefully selected them." Hearing Tommy’s words, Rick looked at Martin.
Martin nodded, "Yes, the black people are only familiar with two of them because no one had seen the others. The first one, ’Little House on the Prairie,’ when I asked my black relatives about this show, their reaction was, ’Mr. Martin Hart, you’re starting a black television station and you plan to show black people this shit? Are you a white man’s lapdog?’"
"A white man’s lapdog? This is a children’s comedy. I hoped to broadcast it during the day for the black kids to watch... Plus, although the main character is a white girl, there is an important black character; he’s a highly skilled doctor and he saved the protagonist’s family. His role..." Rick was baffled when he heard the community’s impression of the show from Martin. Even doubting if these black people had seen it, he started to explain.
"Listen, I know there’s a n*gger idiot doctor in the TV series, okay? I’ve got it. That’s the good image of a black person in white people’s eyes. Look how considerate we motherf*ckers are, creating a perfect, flawless role for a black actor and having him save white people." Martin signaled Rick did not need to explain and continued:
"My brothers told me, only f*cking white people like this kind of black character. If I air this drama, don’t expect them to tune into our channel."
"Okay then, what’s the second one?" Rick asked with a sigh.
"’Miami Tempest,’ everyone has seen it. It’s the most famous one on your list."
Relieved at this response, Rick said, "I knew it would interest black people! It’s just that this big production series comes with a high purchase price, about seventy thousand per episode, but if the audience is interested, it’s no problem. We can rely on advertising time..."
