The Will (TV series)

Last updated

The Will
Genre Reality
Created by Mike Fleiss
Presented by Tony Noakes
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 (5 unaired)
Production
Executive producerMike Fleiss
ProducersMartin Hilton
Adam Reed
Running time60 minutes
Release
Original network CBS
Original releaseJanuary 8, 2005 (2005-01-08)

The Will was an American reality television series on CBS that lasted only one episode, shown on Saturday, January 8, 2005. It centered on the "Benefactor", a multi-millionaire from Arizona named Bill Long. Ten of his friends and relatives competed in a series of challenges to win the right to inherit his "prized possession", a large Kansas ranch. [1]

Contents

The show was created by Mike Fleiss, who produced The Bachelor for ABC. The Will is one of only a handful of series in American history to be pulled after one episode. [2] In the case of The Will, cancellation was due to very low ratings. Despite receiving a heavy promotional push from CBS, the program averaged only 4.2 million viewers during its 8:00-9:30PM ET/PT time slot, which made it CBS's lowest-ranked show of the week. The following Saturday, the network replaced it with a re-run of Cold Case , a crime drama. The cancellation defied expectations published in some media that the show would be a hit, and would become a topic of conversation among viewers. [3]

The quick cancellation of The Will was lampooned on an episode of the ABC late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a montage of clips from the show, and the message "Will Miss You--January 8, 2005 - January 8, 2005."

Although it was initially reported that the five remaining episodes could appear on an American cable network, they eventually did air on the Fox Reality Channel not long afterwards, and all six episodes aired in New Zealand beginning in December 2005. In the final episode, Long's fourth wife Penny [3] (widely seen as the show's villain) became the overall winner.

In 2005, The Will was one of several television programs cited in a class-action lawsuit filed by the Writers Guild of America concerning labor law violations.

Episodes

Protected HeirCut from the Will
Episode 1:
Josh
Mickey
(Bill's Best Friend)
Billy
Kristin
(Ashley's Ex-Girlfriend)
Episode 2:
Penny
Danielle
(Trusted Employee)
Episode 3:
Bette
Crystal - Withdrew
(Close Family Friend)
Episode 4:
Billy,
Josh
Ashley
(Penny's Son)
Episode 5:
Bette
Josh
(Bill's Adoptive Son)
Episode 6:
Penny
Sole Heir
(Bill's Wife)
Scott
(Penny's Brother)
Bette
(Penny's Mother)
Billy
(Bill's Son)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Broadcasting Company</span> American commercial broadcast television network

The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and additional offices at the Fox Network Center in Los Angeles and the Fox Media Center in Tempe. Launched as a competitor to the Big Three television networks on October 9, 1986, Fox went on to become the most successful attempt at a fourth television network. It was the highest-rated free-to-air network in the 18–49 demographic from 2004 to 2012 and again in 2020, and was the most-watched American television network in total viewership during the 2007–08 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The WB</span> American television network (1995–2006)

The WB Television Network was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, with the former acting as controlling partner. The network aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between 12 and 34, with its children's division, Kids' WB, geared toward children 6 to 12.

<i>As the World Turns</i> American television soap opera (1956–2010)

As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light. With 13,763 hours of cumulative narrative, As the World Turns has the longest total running time of any television show. In terms of continuous run of production, As the World Turns at 54 years holds the fourth-longest run of any daytime network soap opera on American television, surpassed only by General Hospital, Guiding Light, and Days of Our Lives. As the World Turns was produced for its first 43 years in Manhattan and in Brooklyn from 2000 until 2010.

The "Friday night death slot" or "Friday evening death slot" is a perceived graveyard slot in American television. It implies a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings is likely to be canceled.

<i>Medium</i> (TV series) American television drama series

Medium is an American supernatural drama television series created by Glenn Gordon Caron that originally aired on NBC for five seasons from January 3, 2005, to June 1, 2009, and on CBS for two more seasons from September 25, 2009, to January 21, 2011.

<i>TGIF</i> (TV programming block) American television programming block

TGIF was an American prime time television programming block that has aired on ABC at various points since the late 1980s. The name comes from the initials of the popular phrase "Thank God It's Friday"; however, the stars of the lineup touted the initialism meaning "Thank Goodness It's Funny." In its various incarnations, the block mainly featured situation comedies aimed at a family audience, and served as a lead-in to the long-running newsmagazine 20/20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural purge</span> Coordinated cancellations of American rural-themed television programs

The "Rural Purge" of American television networks was a series of cancellations in the early 1970s of still-popular rural-themed shows with demographically skewed audiences, the majority of which occurred at the end of the 1970–71 television season. In addition to rural-themed shows such as Mayberry R.F.D., The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres, the cancellations ended several highly rated variety shows that had been on CBS since the beginning of television broadcasting. CBS saw a dramatic change in direction with the shift, moving away from shows with rural themes and toward more appeal to urban and suburban audiences.

<i>Bette</i> (TV series) American sitcom television series

Bette is an American sitcom television series which premiered on October 11, 2000, on the CBS network. The show was the debut of Bette Midler in a lead TV series role. Sixteen episodes were aired on CBS, with its final telecast on March 7, 2001. Eighteen episodes in total were produced, with the final two only broadcast on HDTV simulcasting and in foreign markets. Bette was created by Jeffrey Lane, with Midler serving as one of the executive producers.

The following is the 1958–59 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1958 through March 1959. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1957–58 season.

<i>The One: Making a Music Star</i> American TV series or program

The One: Making a Music Star is an American reality television series that aired in July 2006 on ABC in the United States, and CBC Television in Canada. The show was hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos, the host of CBC's The Hour. It was advertised as being superior to American Idol and Rock Star with the twist that contestants "live together in a fully functioning music academy", with their actions documented similar to the Big Brother format.

The Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR) was an American television broadcasting regulation enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from September 13, 1971, to August 30, 1996. It was instituted under concerns that television networks controlled too much of their affiliates' programming, and that there was not enough competition in program production and distribution. Under the regulation, commercial television networks were prohibited from airing programming in the 7:30 p.m. ET/PT half-hour on weekdays and Saturdays, and the 7:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT half-hours on Sundays, on stations in the top 50 media markets. Despite only applying in the largest markets, the PTAR was practiced nationwide.

In American broadcast programming, "burning off" is the custom of quickly airing the remaining episodes of a television program, usually one that has already been or is planned to be cancelled, without the intent to attract a large number of viewers. In addition to airing episodes two at a time, this process may also include rescheduling the show to a lower-rated time slot, or transferring the show to a less visible sister network. A low-rated show that premiered in the early portion of the regular television season may return during the summer, only to have the final episodes "burned off."

A graveyard slot is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast programming is considered far less important. Graveyard slots usually displayed in the early morning hours of each day, when most people are asleep.

In broadcasting, cancellation refers to when a radio or television program is abruptly ended by orders of the network or syndicator that distributes the show.

<i>Live PD</i> American television series documenting law enforcement in real-time

Live PD was an American television program that aired on the A&E Network from 2016 to 2020. It followed police officers in the course of their patrols live, broadcasting interactions with the public. The show was hosted by Dan Abrams with analysis provided by Tom Morris Jr. and Sgt. Sean "Sticks" Larkin.

The 2020–21 network television schedule for the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the prime time hours from September 2020 to August 2021. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2019–20 television season.

In 1995, Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries' United Television launched United Paramount Network (UPN) with Star Trek: Voyager as its flagship series, fulfilling Barry Diller's plan for a Paramount network from 25 years earlier. In 1999, Viacom bought out United Television's interests, and handed responsibility for the start-up network to the newly acquired CBS unit, which Viacom bought in 1999 – an ironic confluence of events as Paramount had once invested in CBS, and Viacom had once been the syndication arm of CBS as well. During this period the studio acquired some 30 television stations to support the UPN network as well acquiring and merging in the assets of Republic Pictures, Spelling Television and Viacom Television, almost doubling the size of the studio's television library.

References

  1. Heffernan, Virginia (January 7, 2005). "One Aging Rich Guy, 10 Heirs, and All Sorts of Plastic Surgery". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  2. "CBS cancels 'The Will' after only one episode broadcast". Reality TV World. January 12, 2005. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "BEST REALITY SHOW FLOP WITH A PHOENIX CONNECTION - The Will". Phoenix New Times.