(2005) Family Values Equal Success
May 30, 2005
By A.J. Frutkin
When broadcasters announced their 2005-06 schedules, the Family Friendly Programming Forum added several more feathers to its cap. Among the projects it supported this year through its script development fund were ABC's Commander-in-Chief, UPN's Everybody Hates Chris and the WB's Related.
Of course, the meaning of “family friendly” continues to evolve. In fact, the Forum’s greatest success to date is having funded the pilot script for the WB’s Gilmore Girls, about a mother (Lauren Graham) who became pregnant as a teen and gave birth out of wedlock.
Dawn Jacobs, a Johnson & Johnson advertising vp and a co-chair of the Forum, said the group’s definition of family friendly has more to do with a program’s cross-generational appeal than it does with promoting a particular set of moral values. “At the end of the day, a show has to be engaging. And the best way to do that is by depicting real-life situations and problems,” Jacobs said. “There can be issues, but we ask the networks to resolve those issues responsibly.”
While ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson said Commander-in-Chief is as much a family drama as it is a political one, he added that the show will feature “adult-themed story lines dealing with politics and power.” He also noted the Forum’s support of the series is a credit to the organization. “I think there’s a misperception that family friendly requires an exceedingly soft depiction of the nuclear family,” McPherson said.
Perhaps surprisingly, even Chris Rock’s edgy stage persona hasn’t prompted advertisers to squirm when it comes to Everybody Hates Chris’ family-friendly label. “The salt that [Rock] dishes out on stage is not in the fabric of the series,” said Shari Anne Brill, vp/director of programming at Carat USA. “This is about a family whose core values are working hard, getting the best education for your kids that you can and making something of yourself.” For the Forum, a group comprised of more than 40 national advertisers, its biggest win this year may be that all six networks participated in the initiative for the first time.
With the new shows’ pickups, Jacobs said its job is done for this year. “We don’t drive content,” she said, noting that should sensitive subject matter arise in these programs down the line, “typically the networks will let us know as individual advertisers.”
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000938196
Submitted by Trisha
By A.J. Frutkin
When broadcasters announced their 2005-06 schedules, the Family Friendly Programming Forum added several more feathers to its cap. Among the projects it supported this year through its script development fund were ABC's Commander-in-Chief, UPN's Everybody Hates Chris and the WB's Related.
Of course, the meaning of “family friendly” continues to evolve. In fact, the Forum’s greatest success to date is having funded the pilot script for the WB’s Gilmore Girls, about a mother (Lauren Graham) who became pregnant as a teen and gave birth out of wedlock.
Dawn Jacobs, a Johnson & Johnson advertising vp and a co-chair of the Forum, said the group’s definition of family friendly has more to do with a program’s cross-generational appeal than it does with promoting a particular set of moral values. “At the end of the day, a show has to be engaging. And the best way to do that is by depicting real-life situations and problems,” Jacobs said. “There can be issues, but we ask the networks to resolve those issues responsibly.”
While ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson said Commander-in-Chief is as much a family drama as it is a political one, he added that the show will feature “adult-themed story lines dealing with politics and power.” He also noted the Forum’s support of the series is a credit to the organization. “I think there’s a misperception that family friendly requires an exceedingly soft depiction of the nuclear family,” McPherson said.
Perhaps surprisingly, even Chris Rock’s edgy stage persona hasn’t prompted advertisers to squirm when it comes to Everybody Hates Chris’ family-friendly label. “The salt that [Rock] dishes out on stage is not in the fabric of the series,” said Shari Anne Brill, vp/director of programming at Carat USA. “This is about a family whose core values are working hard, getting the best education for your kids that you can and making something of yourself.” For the Forum, a group comprised of more than 40 national advertisers, its biggest win this year may be that all six networks participated in the initiative for the first time.
With the new shows’ pickups, Jacobs said its job is done for this year. “We don’t drive content,” she said, noting that should sensitive subject matter arise in these programs down the line, “typically the networks will let us know as individual advertisers.”
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000938196
Submitted by Trisha
posted by MissCoffee @ 1:33 p.m.
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