Lee Goldberg

Strike Two

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On the heels of canceling DR. VEGAS, Variety reports that CBS axed CLUBHOUSE. Two of the networks three new dramas this season… the only ones without CSI in the title… have failed.

With the exception of JOAN OF ARCADIA, the only shows that have clicked on CBS over the last season or two have been police procedurals in the style of CSI… like CSI MIAMI, CSI NEW YORK, NCIS, COLD CASE, and WITHOUT A TRACE.

Considering that, it’s probably very wise that CBS is going with another police procedural, NUMBERS, to take the place of DR. VEGAS.

Crossovers

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Tonight, the second part of the CROSSING JORDAN/LAS VEGAS cross-over airs. Jill Hennessey, star of JORDAN, is no stranger to cross-overs, as she told the folks at zap2it. When she was on LAW AND ORDER, she did a cross-over with HOMICIDE. But this cross-over was her idea…

Hennessy takes some pride in the fact that the whole thing was her idea. At a pre-upfront meeting for advertisers, NBC bigwig Jeff Zucker trotted Hennessy and the "Las Vegas" cast out as proof of the network’s recent success stories. Hennessy looked around at the glitzy "Vegas" set and suggested to that show’s creator, Gary Scott Thompson, that a meeting of the minds would be a great idea. Although she claims she threw out the idea in jest, there were ulterior motives. "From what I’ve heard, they have a very strong young male following and we’ve got a very strong young female following, which works very well for both of us," she notes. "Put them together and they can procreate. I’m all for that."

She’s thinking like a producer. She just went up a notch in my estimation.

The only reason to do a cross-over episode is to goose the ratings, get some extra publicity… and bring new viewers to your show. I’ve done it a couple of times

But it’s complicated, especially if the two shows are done by rival studios.

On DIAGNOSIS MURDER, we did a cross-over with the show that led into us, PROMISED LAND, to create a promotable event on Thursday night.  We were the higher-rated of the two shows and, arguably, the better show from a creative stand-point as well. So the motivation for us was purely the one-time ratings spike the event might get.

Unfortunately, because the show was shot in Utah, we weren’t able to do a "true" cross-over… the only cast the two shows shared were guest-stars, none of our principals guested on each other’s series, which I think was a mistake. The hardest part of doing a cross-over is crafting a story that would begins on one show and ends on another… but that stays true to the tone of each series. We worked closely with their writers who, as it happened, were old friends of ours, as managed to craft a story that meshed well. The ratings bump wasn’t as big as we hoped…but I attribute that to the fact the stars didn’t cross-ovver.

We toyed with cross-overs with JAG and NASH BRIDGES, but we couldn’t pull either of them off for various reasons. We did, however, bring back MANNIX and MATLOCK for stunt episodes that scored enormously well… though those weren’t crossovers, more like TV reunions.

On MARTIAL LAW, we did a crossover with the show that followed us, WALKER TEXAS RANGER. We came up with the idea and CBS went nuts for it. The cross-over made a lot of sense. It not only created a promotable Saturday night "event," and one that could get some WALKER viewers to sample our series, but the two shows were perfectly compatible from a creative stand-point… (unlike, say, the MARTIAL LAW/EARLY EDITION cross-over that the previous showrunner tried the season before).  As it happened, two of our writers had written for WALKER before and we were friends with the show-runner, so crafting the storyline and the two scripts was suprisingly smooth. The hardest part was having to watch a half-dozen WALKER episodes so I had a feel for the show. We made sure Sammo sounded right in their script, and they made sure Walker sounded right in ours. And most important  of all, our stars guested on each other’s show. Chuck Norris spent a few days on our show, and we sent Sammo down to Dallas for a few days as well. We even used the WALKER theme when Chuck first shows up on screen… and they did the same for Sammo when he first appeared in their show.  We got a lot of press and the ratings were terrific… the highest ranking episodes on both series that season.  We got a big bump from the stunt…but not big enough. We were canceled that season anyway.

There’s a long history of cross-overs on television… so many have been done, there’s even a site dedicated to them. Check out what they had to say about the Diagnosis Murder/Promised Land cross-over, the Martial Law/Walker crossover, and, of course, everybody’s favorite, the Manimal/Nightman crossover

Testing Hell

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The network just tested a friend of mine’s pilot in front of an audience. He writes to me that it didn’t go well. 

Death and devastation.  Surely one of the worst focus group tests ever.  They hated everything about it. 

We’ve all been there. I remember observing a focus group discussion after the audience screened a couple of DIAGNOSIS MURDER episodes. Several of the audience members said they didn’t find the guy playing "Steve Sloan" believable at all as Dick Van Dyke’s son. Fair enough. Except the guy who played Steve was Barry Van Dyke.

During testing, the audience members hold a dial, and they twist it one way or another throughout the show to indicate whether they like what they are seeing or not. In the backroom, we see a read-out of these dial reactions that reads like an EKG. You can literally see your show dying… or getting a sudden jolt of life. It allows you to get instant feedback.

We tested some episodes of MARTIAL LAW and, of course, the scores went way up whenever there was an action sequence. That was no surprise. What was a surprise was that the scores went up even higher when Kelly Hu walked into a room. She didn’t even have to say anything.

So… what did we learn? We could have scrapped every single one of those expensive action sequences and simply asked Kelly Hu to stand in front of the camera for five minutes. Naturally, the network immediately asked us to get her in front of the camera as often as possible… which infuriated our star Sammo Hung, who already felt threatened by her. But that’s another story…

I Wish Bush Would Do the Same Thing

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After 12 years in municipal government, The Acton Beacon reports that Town Treasurer Stan Smith will step down to pursue his passion of mystery writing.

"I’ve always thought I’d like to give it a shot, and now that I’m about to turn 45, it seems like the right time of life as well as the right opportunity to make a change of this kind," Smith wrote in his letter to Town Administrator Natalie Lashmit. Smith commended the town and wished his colleagues the best of luck.

We wish you luck, too, Stan. Maybe if you hit it big, other politicians will follow your lead.

Surgery Update

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I will be having surgery on my right elbow on Wednesday, Nov. 17th. In my absense and recuperation, my brother Tod and my writing partner Bill Rabkin will keep you entertained, informed, and offended…and let you know how I am doing. Until then, I’ll do my best to fulfill those awesome responsibilities.

Palm Springs Book Buyers

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Last summer, Bill Rabkin & I spoke at a big library event in Palm Springs where  were supposed to talk about our new book, answer questions, and then sign copies afterwards. About eighty people showed up, the talk was one of the best we’ve ever given, and the people in the audience were obviously enjoying themselves and asked us lots of great questions. I was afraid we wouldn’t have enough books to accomodate everyone who was going to want to buy one.

After our presentation, we were mobbed at the table. Everyone wanted to tell us how much they enjoyed listening to us.

But we sold less than a dozen books. I couldn’t understand it. How could the audience like us so much… but not buy anything?

Today,  my brother Tod and I spoke at an event together in Palm Springs. Again, we had a big crowd, and they seemed to love us, laughing and applauding and smiling. Once again, I thought we hit a home-run. Afterwards, they all came up to thank us, take their pictures with us, kiss us…

But did they buy books? Not really. I think I signed less than 12.

So what’s the deal? Is it the age of the audience (well over 60)? Was it something I said? Were they all Battlestar Galactica fans? It’s not because these were seniors on a fixed income… these were very wealthy seniors.

I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worthwhile doing speaking engagements in Palm Springs…at least from a bookselling point-of-view.

There was a bright side. We spoke at a fundraising event for a charity… and the event managed to raise a lot of money for the cause, so that was good. And I had a good time, met a lot of nice people, had a tasty lunch, and got a very unusual gift… a book mark that’s also a magnifying glass.

I gave the book mark to my daughter, who plans to use it to fry ants.

Palm Springs Signing

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I was interviewed on CBS 2 TV in Palm Springs on Thursday… and my daughter Madison, who was in the studio with me, joined me on the air. I’ll have the video clip on my website soon. In the meantime, here’s a picture from my signing last night (click on it for an enlarged image) Leesigning at Celebrity Book on their stage at the Palm Springs Street Fair. I met tons of DIAGNOSIS MURDER fans and even managed to sell some copies of THE WALK, too. It was a fun night and I look forward to returning in February for THE WAKING NIGHTMARE.

Gil Mille

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This has been a sad year in the world of television and film music — already we’ve lost Jerry Goldsmith, David Raksin, Fred Karlin and Elmer Bernstein. Now Variety reports that composer Gil Mille has died. Mille is perhaps best known for his TV scores for KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, NIGHT GALLERY, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, and THE QUESTOR TAPES as well as the feature film THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, among others.

I’m a huge fan of TV and film music… I listen almost exclusively to soundtracks as I write. I’ve been listening to a lot of Goldsmith, Raksin, Karlin and Bernstein over the last few month…Mille never quite attained their legendary status and wide appeal, but his scores were powerful, ground-breaking and memorable. He will be missed.

Book News from Lee

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Today, I finished the first draft of DIAGNOSIS MURDER #5: THE PAST TENSE… and I’ve sent it off to my writing/producing partner Bill Rabkin (with whom I exec produced Diagnosis Murder) and my brother Tod, the literary novelist, for their opinions, suggestions, and brutal edits. Bill & Tod will also be subbing for me here while I recuperate from surgery.

I also am pleased to annouce I’ve sold my book THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE to Five Star, the fine folks who brought you my novel THE WALK. The new novel will be published in hardcover some time next year. It’s a dark-comic mystery about a detective who learned everything he knows about being a PI from watching TV shows and reading paperbacks…and discovers the hard way just how different reality and fiction really are.

I’m going to take a few days off for a speaking engagement and two book-signings in Palm Springs this weekend before going into the hospital for surgery on my arm next week…though that date could change. I’ll know more after I see my doctor on Monday.

Rob Lowe and Joe Pantoliano

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Both Rob Lowe and Joe Pantoliano have starred in two TV series in two consecutive seasons… IN THE LIONS DEN (Lowe), THE HANDLER (Pantoliano) and DR. VEGAS (Lowe & Pantoliano).. and all three shows bombed. Do you think anybody will be hiring them to star in a TV series any time soon?