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".)[1]
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.[2] However, Bolen has denied that the Network character was based on her.[3]
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.[4]
"Interview with Pamela Bellwood/W.E.B. (1978)". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. 1978. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
February 08, 2023
this, article, about, 1978, show, women, artists, network, west, east, other, uses, disambiguation, american, prime, time, drama, series, that, aired, five, episodes, from, september, until, october, 1978, genredramastarringpamela, bellwoodrichard, basehartale. 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 is an American prime time drama series that aired on NBC for five episodes from September 13 until October 5 1978 W E B GenreDramaStarringPamela BellwoodRichard BasehartAlex CordCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons1No of episodes5ProductionProducerLin BolenRunning time60 minutesProduction company20th Century Fox TelevisionDistributor20th TelevisionReleaseOriginal networkNBCOriginal releaseSeptember 13 1978 09 13 October 5 1978 1978 10 05 Contents 1 Cast 2 Overview 3 Reception 4 References 5 External linksCast EditPamela Bellwood as Ellen Cunningham Alex Cord as Jack Kiley Lee Wilkof as Harvey Pearlstein Richard Basehart as Gus DunlapOverview EditW 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 1 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 2 However Bolen has denied that the Network character was based on her 3 Reception EditTom 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 4 References Edit NBC Fall Schedule Promo 1978 14 21 Google Books Looking for Gatsby By Faye Dunaway and Betsy Sharkey p 304 Scott Vernon July 31 1978 Producer Lin Bolen Denies She s Network Character Milwaukee Sentinel United Press International UPI p 2 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint url status link Shales Tom W E B A Super Woman at the Network The Washington Post Wednesday September 13 1978 Retrieved June 15 2022 External links EditW E B at IMDb Interview with Pamela Bellwood W E B 1978 Texas Archive of the Moving Image 1978 Retrieved June 29 2014 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title W E B amp oldid 1093230054, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
