What would make The WB credible?

The first couple years of the network's programming was apparently Not Good, which would make any attempts by the network to upgrade its affiliate roster at this time (e.g. buying VHF stations affiliated with a Big Three network) seem ludicrous and like moves that might even hinder The WB more than help it (the networks would likely seek to protect their affiliates more).

But until Buffy came along, I'm under the impression that The WB had a lot of really bad shows. And how in the fuck do you funnel talent and ideas to a new network that is only cleared in like 3/4 of the country?

Comments

  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    It's not like The WB is in any position to bid on football, and gain instant credibility like Fox did, at this time.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I am liking the oddly specific tag on this thread.

    As for its contents, well...is it hard to build a network from scratch?
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    It's hard when you don't want to air anything interesting.

    Also, it's quite troubling how Buffy was a Fox product and Dawson's Creek was a Sony product, and those were the shows that really defined the network. (Well, 7th Heaven too...which was a Spelling product)
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    I'll mention that Fox had to gut it out at first too, though it had less of a distribution problem than The WB (or UPN) faced. And of course most of the network's problems vanished once they shelled out for the NFL...
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    My version of The WB takes direct aim at Fox, despite Fox making it very difficult to do so.
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    Kill the motherfucker who wants to kill the motherfuckers. Then kill them too.
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    for real though, if Warner Bros. wants its own outlet for its programming, then they can't half-ass it, they have to bring good stuff to the network and not just "save it" for the big boys
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    not all Fox programming was produced by 20th Century Fox Television, but still
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    also, as late as 1993, the creative guilds didn't even consider Fox a network. What hope does The WB have?
    (Then again, Fox deliberately programmed just under a certain number of hours so as not to be legally considered a network, and could get around the laws preventing a network from owning the syndication rights to its own shows this way)
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    You know a lot about this stuff
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    oh you know what The WB really, really shouldn't have done? CANCELED BUFFY.

    Because it went to UPN and with it went a big chunk of The WB's identity. Really, in its last three years, UPN actually had some idea what it was doing (thanks to Les Moonves) and resembled The WB more than The WB did. Hell, Veronica Mars was even a Warner Bros. Television production!
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Whoa

    Also I said this before but it's weird that The CW is a decade old already
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    It is!

    And even before I read the piece that prompted that, I had begun to think The WB was being criminally stupid in canning Buffy. Like it never made sense to me (setting aside the whole penny wisdom that led to the cancelation of the show), but it never dawned on me how truly moronic it was until a few days ago. It was one of their signature shows and they just threw it away.
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