A fast-paced, behind-the-scenes account of how programming innovations, innovative business models, and larger-than-life risk-takers revolutionized the television industry. The story of the rise of FOX is the story of contemporary American television. A deeply researched and fast moving history. —Leo Bogart
Daniel M. Kimmel is the Boston correspondent for Variety and a reviewer of television and film for such publications as the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Herald, and Film Comment. A graduate of the University of Rochester with a law degree, he has also taught film-related courses at Emerson College, Boston University, and Suffolk University. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he occasionally watches The Simpsons with his wife and daughter.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
ix
Prologue: "If I found out, he was going to cancel the deal."
3
Part I.
The Coat-Hanger Network
1
"There will only be three" (1985-1986)
17
2
"A brand that most of America knows" (1986-1987)
30
3
"Why should I buy you?" (1987-1988)
45
4
"Hey, you watched the whole show" (1988-1989)
57
5
"People will watch car accidents, too" (1989-1990)
71
6
"What is this 90210?" (1990-1991)
94
7
"We were throwing parties in the halls" (1991-1992)
111
Part II.
The Revolving Door
8
"Like most businesses, this is a team sport" (1992-1993)
131
9
"How come you make my mommy cry all the time?" (1993-1994)
145
10
"I was never in doubt about what FOX intended" (1994-1995)
175
11
"They finally got it" (1995-1996)
194
12
"Tom, you've got to script the ad-libs" (1996-1997)
210
13
"We're not the establishment" (1997-1998)
224
14
"They've run the numbers" (1998-1999)
239
15
"I never got a real at bat" (1999-2000)
255
Part III.
21st Century FOX
16
"It was the perfect fit at the right time" (2000 and Beyond)
