BEHIND THE SCENES
‘St. Elsewhere’ team decided
to end the show while on top
By Frank Lovece
The NBC series ‘St. Else-
: where” is not being can-
celed, network spokesper-
sons say, and co-executive
producer Bruce Paltrow
concurs. You might call its
imminent demise euthana-
sia - although the series
was, creatively, in very
good health.
Bruce Paltrow
“We'd done most of the
stories we wanted to do,”
Paltrow says. “After a
while, no matter how much
something works, people
want to do other things. It
was a collective decision,
but it was in the air. I can't
point to a particular mo-
ment. After a while, you just
know.”
Most shows never reach
that moment, although a
few have ended on their
own - one of the most nota-
ble being ‘‘St. Elsewhere” ’s
antecedent at MTM Produc-
tions, “The Mary Tyler
Moore Show.” The old show-
biz tradition of course, is to _
leave ’em wanting more
These days, though, other
considerations take hold.
“The licensing fee (paid
by NBC to MTM Produc-
tions) is $1 million an epi-
sode,” Paltrow says. “It
costs us $250,000 more than
that per show.” This sort of
“deficit financing” is com-
mon in TV; producers hope
to make their money in syn-
dication, where shows are
leased for big bucks to indi-
vidual TV stations.
A five-year network run
provides the minimum num-
ber of shows needed to make
syndication worthwhile, al-
though that number is
lessening.
“It’s economic reality.”
observes Paltrow. “We got
to thinking that financially.
maybe we wouldn’t make it.
And I see (producers) John
(Tinker) and Channing (Gib-
son) working six, seven-day
weeks for a year. I said.
‘Look, let’s address what's
going on.’ ” Whether a high-
er licensing fee would have
changed things is academic:
the show’s ratings probably
didn’t warrant higher fees. ,
Paltrow’s next project is
already underway: ‘‘Tat-
tinger’s,”” a drama set in a
New York restaurant. Like
“The Cosby Show” and
“Kate & Allie,” the series
joins the mini-exodus from
Hollywood to New York.
“T’m not burned out,” Pai-
trow laughs. “If we learned
anything on ‘St. Elsewhere.”
it’s not to rush the show
You take it slow, and see
where it goes.”
Release the week of Feb. 21-27, 1988