Question for MCuban

[Mariner]

But payback is sweet....

and it is bizarre finding out that I picked more than one candidate that was more than just a little psycho....

Now you have me really, really curious and really, really hoping that Monday Night Football doesn't run too late. If it does, my local affiliate doesn't bother to show the whole episode. :rolleyes

[Dogbat]

Mark, had you been privy to the diary talks as the show unfolded, what would you have done differently and who's talks shocked you the most and why? Thanks.

[Mcuban]

it would give away too much....

[eny]

You can tell us... no one will know

Well other than the million or so hits the site gets weekly/ daily


I'm glad you addressed the horrible broadcast situation on your blog.

ABC could at least broadcast a second time at a nasty but pre - midnight time slot. Saturday instead of a crappy movie would be good. The networks with the ratings do it for even survivor and that hairboy show . How do they expect people to watch when they can't find it?

What is their excuse to you for the poor promotion?

Back to the show Because you had cast some psychos - were you glad you had experience as a bouncer at some point?

I ask because there have been some really bad breakdowns in reality shows past. They have had to remove castmembers for safety reasons.

[Dogbat]

I suppose the answer to my question would do just that. :phhht I want to know. Let me change the wording a bit. Would the eliminations have been different had you seen these as the game progressed? Better, I may get a crumb.

Are you planning another season? I am enjoying this show more than other reality shows right now. I would hate to think this is just a one shot deal.

[candor]

I went to a college where we had the oldest homecoming queen ever elected. She was well over 60 and got to appear on the Tonight show with Johnny Carson. People like unusual contestants! I think this show would be much cooler if they had people who are 20, 30, 40, 50 and even 60 in the mix.

First, props to whatever college that is! Second, I totally agree on the age/diversity thing. Diversity isn't only an ethnic mix -- if you have people of all races who are the same age and share similar life experiences you don't have diversity.

But a question for Mark, if you're still checking in here ...

You've made it pretty clear what traits you think hinder someone's success (toadying, for example), but some of the contestants in your show seem to think that ruthlessness, manipulation and self-interest are admirable traits. I wouldn't want to hire someone like that, but I'm no mogul either. What's your opinion?

[Dogbat]

Really, it is superior. Precious and hilarous at the same time. That does not often happen. My husband did show and tell on his tech and sail boarding message boards. It is a HUGE hit. Really......kudos for the most original I have yet to see. I laugh and melt eveytime I see it.

[Mcuban]

First, props to whatever college that is! Second, I totally agree on the age/diversity thing. Diversity isn't only an ethnic mix -- if you have people of all races who are the same age and share similar life experiences you don't have diversity.

But a question for Mark, if you're still checking in here ...

You've made it pretty clear what traits you think hinder someone's success (toadying, for example), but some of the contestants in your show seem to think that ruthlessness, manipulation and self-interest are admirable traits. I wouldn't want to hire someone like that, but I'm no mogul either. What's your opinion?

just have to watch to find out how....

[famita]

Oh, I just LOVE being teased! It is an enjoyable show to watch. I'm glad Mark has taken the time to answer some of our burning questions. I hope this remains on the air through the finale. Mark, if you're reading this, please consider me for your personal assistant's job. I might not be real good at it, but I'd sure enjoy myself!

[TvFan05]

because she chose the Dallas Mavericks dancers. I thought that was kissing up too much.

I don't see how that's kissing up, but it's your show. Since you say don't like kissing up and prefer honest opinions, I'll give you some of mine. Your show looks like it's bombing compared to Trump's show. I would suspect it's ratings are plumeting and you may not get a 2nd season (well it might get newed due to your name and influence, but I suspect the show based on it's own merits in terms of entertainment value would not).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Trump. If you read any of my posts on The Apprentice board, you'll know that I actually trash him pretty badly. It boggles my mind how he became a billionaire with his poor sense of judgement. But his show has entertainment value, even though I personally find it less entertaining than last year as I see more and more flaws in Trump with every episode (he's more talk than substance and the reasons for his boardroom decisions are a joke).

The basic premise of your show is interesting, but is lacking in it's implementation. You want the show to be fun for you as you've said a few times. But that's not enough. This show is not for you alone; otherwise it would be part of your own personal video collection and not be on TV. It has to be fun for the viewers. And it really isn't all that fun. It's like going to a friend's house and playing some games. That may be fun to do, but it doesn't make for good entertainment value for a TV audience. It needs emotions and conflicts. There isn't much of that, at least not like the cat-fight, back-stabbing you see in the "other" show. You need to play more on that ... create conflict and select players that would naturally have conflict. Last year, Trump had Omarossa and she was kept in the game a lot longer than she should. B*tches from hell works great for conflicts and everyone tunes in to see her get booted.

And removing the cheerleader was a mistake as she would've drawn in the male audience. Rather than what was shown, the show should have shown a demo of her performing in front of you during the presentation. A cute girl in a skirt bouncing around is always good for ratings, and there was a perfectly good reason for showing it given that you showed the guitar guy performing in front of you. Sex sells.

I could go on for another page, but given the pro-Cuban nature of this thread, I'll probably be trashed by the other members for posting what I have already. But assuming you really did want some honest feedback, here it is. I like to think of this as constructive criticism. Like I said, if all you want is to entertain yourself, there's no point showing it on TV. If you want it on TV and expect it to be successful, then you must build the show with the audience in mind. Sure, this thread is very pro-Cuban/Benefactor. But do the TV ratings reflect the same sentiment? If not, then you may want to rethink your strategy.