"He lost it," recalls an ASI employee. Theincident happened after
someone in the focus group blurted, "He used tohave so much class.
And now he's associated his name with
this?"
Testingtelevision pilots before committing to air a multiepisode
series hasbeen a time-honored tradition since pretty much forever
for broadcastnetworks hoping to lower their margin of error.
Because costs ofcreating, staffing, and airing a television series
are well into themillions, the idea is to get as close to
guaranteed success aspossible. Of course, a great pilot does not a
great series make, nor doall poorly testing series go down in
flames. There's a matter of weeklyexecution, as Steven Bochco found
out with the cop drama
Brooklyn South, which tested high but
went, ahem, south after a handful of episodes. On the other hand,
Seinfeld tested poorly but ended up, well, you know
where.
Shows with lukewarm results often use the information to retool and
try again.
All in the Familywas trashed for its lead being
an unapologetic bigot, the wife beingtoo submissive, and the family
dynamic being too chaotic, but a heavilyaltered pilot convinced CBS
to air what turned into a classic. Nowonder few things are as
vital, and as secretive, in television as thefocus group, which has
the power to rewrite dialogue it finds stale oroffensive, dump a
title it doesn't think makes sense, or indirectlypink-slip an
annoying actress.
ASI owner David Castler tells his150 or so clients a year, who pony
up $20,000 a session, to use thefocus groups for insight,
direction, and information.
"It's an excruciating process but a necessary evil," says Ian
Biederman, creator and
executive producer of the new
CBS series
Shark,starring
James Woods. "You know from minute to minute
whether they areenjoying it or falling asleep. And you get to watch
12 to 14 people sitaround a table with a leader and answer specific
questions about yourpilot: Did you like this character? Why not?
Were you interested inseeing more about this or that? It's
educational. But you may end upgoing to a bar afterward."