Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central) was a short-lived television situation comedy which aired on ABC in 2002.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
Idealistic television executive David Weiss joins struggling TV network IBS, only to discover it is a place of backstabbing, constant competition, and a fair bit of bad programming. His colleagues include: Mike McClaren, an exec who will do anything to get ahead in the business, including hiding his own homosexuality; Lindsay Urich, an air-head who gets by on her looks; Joanne Walker, who exists as the token black person at the network; and head of programming Paul Weffler, who has an ability to get things done but is so clueless that often it is by accident. Overseeing them all is the president of the network, Red Lansing, whose orders - no matter how far-fetched - are always right.
[edit] Cast
- Ivan Sergei as David Weiss
- Melinda McGraw as Lindsay Urich
- Ed Begley, Jr. as Paul Weffler
- Sherri Shepherd as Joanne Walker
- James Michael McCauley as Mike McClaren
- John Cleese as Red Lansing
The series was created by Peter Tolan.
[edit] Storylines
The series didn't shy away from surprising storylines. Episode one featured David sleeping with Lori Loughlin which caused a scandal at the network; episode three - Death Be Not Pre-Empted - featured the team going after ratings by airing the execution of a serial killer, and episode six revolved around David's attempt to please all sorts of minority groups without displeasing others.
[edit] Behind-the-scenes
The series was a mid-season replacement, premiering on March 27, 2002. Since Tolan was a television veteran - having written for The Garry Shandling Show, Ellen and Murphy Brown, the series was able to attract big name guest stars such as Lori Loughlin, John Ritter, Garry Shandling and Lisa Rinna who all appeared as themselves in the first few episodes. But low ratings caused ABC to put the series on hiatus after just two episodes, and ultimately cancel it. Three more episodes aired after May sweeps were over (with the show having been renamed as My Adventures in Television), and a sixth produced episode was never aired.
