ABC cuts back 'The Benefactor'

[AmandaFabulous]

10:38 AM CDT on Thursday, October 14, 2004


By ED BARK / The Dallas Morning News



Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's The Benefactor has been further downsized by ABC, almost assuredly killing any possibilities of a sequel to the Dallas-based reality series.

An announced eight-episode run, still in ABC's plans at the start of the week, is now reduced to six episodes, with the finale scheduled on Oct. 25 instead of Nov. 1.

"I have nothing but great things to say about ABC," Mr. Cuban said via e-mail Wednesday. "I still love the show and the way it turned out. Viewers won't see everything we shot, but it still turned out great and will be incredibly entertaining."

Last Monday's scheduled fifth episode belatedly was pre-empted for a tribute to the late actor Christopher Reeve. ABC initially said that two episodes would be condensed into one to keep the finale in place on Nov. 1. It then announced Wednesday that an election-eve special will air instead.

On the finale, Mr. Cuban will give one of two remaining contestants $1 million after they have 60 seconds to "explain why he should pick them," ABC said in a statement scheduled to be released nationally today. The network also promised "a surprising twist."

"There is always a chance of a sequel," Mr. Cuban said, although the first four episodes of the show averaged just 4.7 million viewers to rank 81st in the season-to-date ratings and last among all ABC shows, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The Benefactor did win its time slot three out of four times in Dallas-Fort Worth, where it airs from 7 to 8 p.m. on WFAA-TV (Channel 8). Mr. Cuban said the show was hampered nationally by pre-emptions in several markets and delayed telecasts on the West Coast, where Monday Night Football precedes it instead of vice versa.

"I think we would have done better in a time slot that had us playing [at the same time] in every major market ... but we knew the challenge going in," Mr. Cuban said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...tor.581f1.html

[Bof_Cof]

So the finaly two shows (10/18 and 10/25) are going to be 2hrs crammed in to 1 hr each?

Man, the shows going to fly. Instead of "MARK CUBAN WILL SEND ONE OF THE CONTESTANTS PACKING WITHIN THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF THE SHOW" what it'll happen while the opening credits are still rolling?

And ABC wonders why they are in 3rd place every year.

[E-Daddy]

3rd place huh? Well, they deserve it. They put in too many reality shows to start with then they give up/pull the plug on the show when ratings aren't good. That's exactly what they are doing with "The Benefactor". I am not pleased with ABC's decision at all. ABC lost points in my book for that action.

[speedbump]

"I have nothing but great things to say about ABC," Mr. Cuban said via e-mail Wednesday. "I still love the show and the way it turned out. Viewers won't see everything we shot, but it still turned out great and will be incredibly entertaining."

Oh c'mon Mark. You can't possibly be happy the way those morons scheduled your show. You can tell us how you really feel...honestly.

[E-Daddy]

That's right speedbump. ABC treated Mark's beautiful game like trash!!! Tell us how you really feel about ABC's decision, Mark! I know that you must be very unhappy about ABC's decision.

[hepcat]

Wow, I figured the episode we missed was toast but they cut it from 8 to 6?

At least Manny gets a break.

[Dogbat]

I am definately disappointed. This show is my favorite this season. It would have done very well with a stable time slot and promos indicating the big lie and dual personality. ABC dropped the ball on these two counts.

At this point I am grateful they did not cancel it as they did the Mole and NBC Last Comic Standing.

[Mcuban]

what the timeslot was all about....

sometimes you learn the most from the greatest challenges...

We didnt do all that bad given the slot, but it wasnt good enough...

Hey it took Dave Chappelle 18 pilots to get it right

[eny]

You did good . It was a heleva lot better than a lot of other reality shows cobbled together for profit with no thought for content.
Go see FOX they'll fix you up with more respect. The show had a "what would I like to see" feel rather than one of "ok this is popular, lets shove it to broadcast" .

I have no clue what's in ABC's tiny little brain , but it's not entertainment that people want to watch. Their ratings reflect it.

I could just be grumpy because there is no hockey season

[E-Daddy]

I agree with eny, Mark!!! Put "The Benefactor" on another network other than ABC and see what happens!!! I love this show and I hate to see it go to waste because of ABC's bad handling of the show. ABC does not know how to handle Reality TV that well anyways yet my favorite reality show of all time (The Mole) is (or should I say was) on that network! ABC keeps cancelling and rushing shows when things don't go their way and its not fair to the people who do watch it.

The key piece here -- if a network agrees to air a reality show, it is bad business to cut it, rush it, or put it on hiatus mid-season. Finish off the show first, then you can discard it or do whatever you please with it!