News Flash: UPN cancels all but one show

NEW YORK (AP) (May 18, 1995) -- Be brave, all you "Pig Sty" fans.

The United Paramount Network, on the air since January, this fall will scuttle all but one of its current series. "Pig Sty" isn't the one.

Programming four hours on two nights, the "weblet" announced Wednesday that three new drama hours will join the returning "Star Trek: Voyager" for the 1995-96 season.

That means the axing of UPN's Monday sitcoms "Platypus Man" and "Pig Sty," as well as Tuesday dramas "Marker" and "Legend."

In addition to the fall schedule, UPN announced that a third night of prime-time programming, on Wednesdays, would commence in March 1996.

The three new series:

-"Nowhere Man." Documentary photographer Thomas Veil (Bruce Greenwood) is faced with the frightening quest to find out who he is, after his whole existence disappears overnight. Even his wife, mother and closest friends are part of the mysterious plot to erase any trace of his life. But why? (Monday, 9 p.m. Eastern.)

-"Deadly Games." A young scientist invents a video game, then watches in horror as its characters come to life during a freak lab accident. Starring Christopher Lloyd of "Back to the Future" and TV's "Taxi." (Tuesday, 8 p.m.).

-"Live Shot." This ensemble drama focuses on the people and personalities inside a television newsroom. The cast includes David Birney ("St. Elsewhere") and Wanda de Jesus ("Santa Barbara"). (Tuesday, 9 p.m.)

Since its launch, UPN has averaged a meager 4.1 rating. Meanwhile, the two weekly hours programmed by The WB (Warner Bros. network), also a January startup, have scored even lower: a 1.9 rating. One ratings point equals 954,000 television households.

CBS, Fox and The WB unveil their upcoming lineups next week. The schedules of NBC and ABC were released earlier this week.

End of News Flash

ATTENTION STAR TREK Fans:
Michael Piller has a favor to ask.

A MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL PILLER
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF "LEGEND" & "VOYAGER"

May 17, 1995

To everyone who responded to my request to give me feedback on LEGEND:

Thank you for taking the time to give me your thoughts. By now, you've probably heard the show has not been renewed. We're all disappointed not to be given a better chance.

Interestingly, you put your finger on many of our own criticisms and concerns about the show (many of which we've addressed in later episodes). Sure, it wasn't quite the way we wanted it in the first four episodes. Neither was DEEP SPACE NINE, VOYAGER or for that matter THE NEXT GENERATION but those shows were given a firm commitment and allowed to develop over time. In fact, the primary reason TNG went into syndication was that the fledging FOX network refused to make a long term commitment to the series.

When I was growing up, we only had one television set in the house and that set was a magnet that brought the family together. We watched Captain Video and Martin and Lewis and Lucy and Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle... together. Today, it seems television often separates our families except for the unique program that can bring them together. That, to me is the secret of STAR TREK'S success. And I hoped LEGEND would do the same thing. This is a show that celebrates history and science and literature in an adventure format. It was reviewed positively by 90 percent of the nation's critics. We had high hopes.

I'd say we have a week or two to resurrect it. If you care to give an opinion, drop a card to:

Lucie Salhany
United Paramount Network
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

But the best thing you can do is watch it.

Ironically, last night's ratings were the highest we've had in three weeks. If the ratings continue to rise, maybe another network will notice. Our best episodes are still ahead.

Thanks again for your thought and support.

Michael Piller

Here's a May 25th update - some good news!

Star Trek: Voyager is the "flagship" of the fledgling United Paramount Network, which took to the air in January 1995 in the United States. In markets where no Paramount station exists, Paramount will sign secondary affiliation contracts. These contracts require the station to air all four UPN hours. Though, after the start of UPN, they have been signing Voyager only contracts. In Canada, Paramount will require a station to sign a 5-year commitment to TNG repeats and new DS9 and Voyager episodes or it'll be no Voyager for you.

As UPN/Paramount add more of the UPN shows to the official Web pages, links will be added here to point to those pages. Keep an eye out here for information that may show up before it appears on the official site. But, be sure to visit the official site, once it is making new pages available.

(1:30): The United Paramount Network launched itself onto the airwaves on Monday, January 16, 1995 at 8 pm EST/PST (7 pm CST/MST) with the two-hour Voyager pilot.

United Paramount Network Schedule

Select an image below for more details about the UPN program.

Monday

: 8:00pm (ET/PT) - Star Trek: Voyager; 9:00pm (ET/PT) - Pig Sty; 9:30pm (ET/PT) - Platypus Man
Visit the official UPN Platypus Man site.

Tuesday

: 8:00pm (ET/PT) - Legend
Visit the official UPN Legend site. While it duplicates most of the text available here (for the moment), the UPN pages do feature a lot more in the way of photos and other info. Do give the site a look.; 9:00pm (ET/PT) - Marker

Broadcasting & Cable - May 1, 1995

In Brief

UPN's new Tuesday night schedule debuted last week to flat ratings but a significant share improvement from the season-to-date numbers for the evening. The heavily promoted debut of the 8-10 p.m. block, which includes new show Legend at 8 and a move of Marker from that time period to 9, earned a 3.7 Nielsen overnight household rating and a 6 share, up 20% in share from the season-to-date 5 for the previous schedule, which included the now-canceled Watcher at 9. Legend earned a 4.1/7, improving on the February sweeps 3.9/6 average for Marker, but was down from the 6.0/9 of the show's two-hour premiere a week earlier. The 3.2/5 of Marker was up 23%/25% from the 2.6/4 February sweeps performance of The Watcher.

Broadcasting & Cable - March 20, 1995

Paramount may beam up more shows to `Net'

Encouraged by the enthusiastic response to its Star Trek: Voyager area on the Internet, Paramount is considering similar sites for Hard Copy, Entertainment Tonight and Frasier, a Paramount executive says.

Like the Star Trek service, the other services primarily would promote the shows, Sueann Ambrom, vice president, advanced media, Paramount Technology Group, said last week at the NAB's Futures Summit. ET and Hard Copy are first-run shows syndicated by Paramount; Frasier is a Paramount-produced hit NBC sitcom.

Paramount also is developing new shows that "integrate" the Internet or other commercial online services, she said. "We're looking at the intersection of online and TV," she said. "What does online bring to TV, and what does TV bring to online?" She declined to elaborate.

Despite limited promotion, the Star Trek service has attracted 3.5 mil lion "requests for pages" since it first appeared on Jan. 9, she said. [I guess she doesn't know the power of Star Trek fans. :-)]

The service offers Star Trek trivia, profiles of the actors and a list of TV stations airing the weekly, hour-long drama. Those who log in get a tour of the starship in a game environment.

The service has generated plenty of e-mail, she said. And the show's producers appreciate it. It tells them "what's working and what's not," she said.

Broadcasting & Cable
Telemedia Week
March 20, 1995
Harry A. Jessell

Broadcasting & Cable - March 13, 1995

`Watcher' out, `Legend' in at UPN

The United Paramount Network has its first casualty in the form of The Watcher. The series, starring rap musician Sir Mix-A-Lot, will make its last appearance on April 11.

Joining the Tuesday lineup April 18 is Legend, starring Richard Dean Anderson, most recently ABC's MacGyver. The series will debut with a two-hour episode and will assume its regular 8-9 p.m. slot April 25 as lead-in to Marker. Legend is produced by T.L. Productions and Gekko Film Corp. and distributed by Paramount Network Television.

Other changes on the network's schedule include flip-flopping the Monday night comedies. Beginning Marc 20, Pig Sty will air at 9 and Platypus Man at 9:30.

The Watcher, which has a 13-episode order from Paramount, has aired seven times, averaging a 2.8 rating/4 share. The series will continue in production for its remaining episodes and is expected to return to the schedule at a later date. UPN's first made-for-television movie, The Shamrock Conspiracy, pulled in a 5.7/8 last Tuesday night in 27 of the 32 metered markets. The movie, starring Edward Woodward, recorded a 6.4/10 overall and improved on its lead-in by two share points. -SC

Some UPN station information

In Denver, KTVD-20 will be the United Paramount Network station, so this is where you should look for Voyager. KWGN-2 will continue to broadcast TNG repeats and new DS9 episodes on their syndication contract, but will not, I repeat not, carry Voyager! KWGN-2 is also joining Paramount's rival, the Warner Network, which also begins its broadcasting in January 1995 with Wednesday and Thursday night programming.

In Madison, WI, WISC-TV 3 will be the secondary United Paramount Network station. By secondary, the station is affiliated with another network (in this case CBS) and there are no available stations in the market that can sign a Paramount Network contract. Paramount is signing secondary affiliation contracts only in markets that don't have any stations available. If your market still has an open station, you will probably not be able to see ST:VOY until the station signs.

WISC-TV will be airing the UPN programming Saturday and Sunday nights. The ST:VOY 2-hr premiere will air Tuesday night, January 17, 1995, at 8 pm. The repeat will be Saturday night (the 21st) at 10:30 pm. The permanent slot for ST:VOY will be Saturdays at 10:30 pm. Repeat airings of ST:VOY have been canceled because UPN only allows for a one week window. ST:DS9 will move to its new Sunday 11 pm time slot that same weekend.

The remaining UPN programs will air as follows: Platypus Man, Saturday at 5 pm; The Watcher, Saturday night after ST:VOY at 11:30 pm; Pig Sty, Sunday morning at 12:30 am (right after The Watcher); Marker, Sunday night at Midnight (after ST:DS9).

brown@ftms.com
Last modified on May 3, 1995