W.E.B.

This article is about the 1978 TV show. For the women artists network, see West-East Bag. For other uses, see web (disambiguation).
W.E.B.
GenreDrama
StarringPamela Bellwood
Richard Basehart
Alex Cord
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes5
Production
ProducerLin Bolen
Running time60 minutes
Production company20th Century Fox Television
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 13 (1978-09-13) –
October 5, 1978 (1978-10-05)

W.E.B. is an American prime time drama series that aired on NBC for five episodes from September 13 until October 5, 1978.

Demi Moore has stated that she made her professional acting debut on this show,[1] though her IMDb filmography does not mention it.

Cast

Overview

W.E.B. showed the inner workings of the TV industry, centering on brash female programming executive Ellen Cunningham (Pamela Bellwood) at fictional network Trans-American Broadcasting (TAB). As head of Special Events Programming, Ellen was confronted with a variety of obstacles, most notably her male colleagues, such as ruthless programming head Jack Kiley (Alex Cord), drunken has-been news chief Gus Dunlap (Richard Basehart), and ratings-obsessed research chief Harvey Pearlstein (Lee Wilkof).

The initials that comprised W.E.B. were never explained on the series; presumably, it referred to the fact that "web" is a slang term for a broadcast network. (In promotional spots, the show was called simply "web", not "double-you ee bee".)[2]

W.E.B. was originally scheduled to air on Wednesday nights at 10pm Eastern, and debuted on Wednesday, September 13, 1978. However, new NBC boss Fred Silverman's decision to scrap the proposed hour-long sitcom Coastocoast, originally announced for the Thursday 10pm slot, caused the network to move W.E.B. to Thursdays. It didn't help -- W.E.B. aired just four more episodes, the last on October 5, 1978. The show, the sixth lowest-rated network program of the entire 1978–79 season (10.1 rating, 18 share), was replaced with the police drama David Cassidy: Man Under Cover.

In a case of life and art imitating each other, W.E.B. was at least partially inspired by the 1976 film Network, starring Faye Dunaway. Dunaway's role in the film (ratings-mad TV exec Diana Christensen) was said to have been based on NBC's former daytime programming chief Lin Bolen—who produced W.E.B.[3] However, Bolen denied that the Network character was based on her.[4][5][6]

Reception

Tom Shales wrote that most of W.E.B. was "just dopey-dreadful in a half-entertaining way – no competition for respectable dramas like Lou Grant and Family but no real threat to one's bottom line of boredom, either." He described Ellen Cunningham by comparing her to the protagonist in Way Down East, saying that she was "perhaps the most put-upon and abused heroine since Lillian Gish carried a silent-movie baby across the ice floes with the hound dogs yappin' at her heels." He also mocked Trans-American Broadcasting by calling it "the only TV network ever to be named after a cola" because of its acronym. He only praised the performances of Bellwood, Basehart and Tisch Raye who played Gus Dunlap's wife Christine.[7]

References

  1. ^ Martin, Harry (1988). "Demi Moore on career and family growth" (Interview). KCRA News. Event occurs at 3:10.
  2. ^ "NBC Fall Schedule Promo 1978". 19 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2017-04-24 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Dunaway, Faye (December 29, 1997). Looking for Gatsby. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-67526-4. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Scott, Vernon (July 31, 1978). "Producer Lin Bolen Denies She's Network Character". Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International (UPI). p. 2. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012.
  5. ^ Haring, Bruce (January 28, 2018). "Lin Bolen Dies: First Female VP of Programming at a Network Was 76". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  6. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (February 4, 2018). "Lin Bolen, a Trailblazing TV Executive, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Shales, Tom. "W.E.B.: A Super Woman at the Network ," The Washington Post, Wednesday, September 13, 1978. Archived September 30, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved June 15, 2022.