349 - Hollywood: Backlot Emperor (Patreon)

349 - On Television

The reception hall glowed with light and conversation. Cast members from Desperate Housewives mixed with ABC executives, most of them delighted by the reason for the party: the premiere had drawn about 21 million viewers.

"Quite a turnaround, Marc," a tall executive told writer-producer Marc Cherry. "I thought the show was good. I didn't expect this."

"The people who turned you down must be kicking themselves," someone else said.

A premiere above twenty million viewers commanded attention even a decade earlier. With cable dividing the audience, it was extraordinary. ABC had been hungry for a scripted hit; the network had not seen an opening like this in years.

"Thank you," Cherry said. "I didn't see these numbers coming either. We would not have got here without your support." He turned to Todd. "Especially yours. Without Backlot, I might still be looking for financing."

"Frederick pointed the script toward Adrian," Todd said, waving away the credit. "Adrian sent it to me. I wouldn't have seen it otherwise."

"I only mentioned it," Frederick said with a shrug. "Adrian did the rest."

"He has quite a track record with scripts," an ABC executive said, glancing around the room. "Films, a talent competition, now a television series. Is he here?"

"Somewhere," Frederick said. "He's making the rounds."

"Fair enough. Young man has a lot of people to meet."

"Where did he go?" Todd asked Frederick under his breath.

Frederick gave him a knowing look. "You've spent enough time with him to guess."

Todd followed his gaze and sighed. He had never asked for details about Adrian's private life, but the gossip was hard to miss. Nor had he forgotten how Adrian's connections sometimes followed him into casting decisions, including National Treasure.

Frederick, as usual, understood Adrian better than most. At that moment, Adrian was nowhere near the executives he was supposed to be meeting.

"The hall is clear," Adrian said when he stepped out and checked both directions. He looked back toward the woman still gathering herself.

"Go on ahead," she said with a wry smile. "I'll be out in a minute."

He lingered. The privacy of the encounter made him want to stay, even though he had already been away from the party too long.

He drew close again, then caught himself. "I should get back."

"You troublemaker," she called after him, half amused.

The woman was Mary-Louise Parker, one of the stars of Backlot's Desperate Housewives. She had worked in theater, film, and television for years, and her appearance on The West Wing had brought her wider recognition. Cherry had approached her while searching for the right performers for his ensemble.

At first, Cherry had not been convinced she fit the role. Adrian had heard her read and argued that she could make the character work. He was not running the production day to day, but as an investor and credited producer he could make his opinion count.

What held Adrian's attention at the audition was the precision of Parker's choices. She could make a polite smile look like a demand for control. Cherry still had reservations, but Adrian pressed him to watch what she did with the scene.

"That's Bree Van de Kamp," Adrian told him. "She can make perfectionism feel like a threat."

Cherry had imagined Bree as a woman who needed every detail of her life to appear flawless. He disliked being overruled by the person financing the show, and Adrian knew it. Parker's work during production eventually won Cherry over on its own merits, but the initial decision remained a reminder of who held the money.

Back in the hall, Adrian wondered why Parker had approached him so openly. He had not planned to disappear with anyone tonight. She had made her interest clear while they spoke, and he had chosen to follow her. 'Was she thinking about the casting decision too?'

He stopped himself from treating the evening as proof of anything about her private life. He knew little beyond what she had chosen to tell him, and his own influence over the show complicated every assumption he wanted to make.

"Adrian. Adrian, wherefore art thou?" Frederick said at his shoulder.

"Here, and not in a Shakespeare play." Adrian turned toward him.

"Then come talk to the people who can help us make another one of these," Frederick said.

"I'm here now, aren't I?" Adrian spread his hands.

He had already met ABC's senior people with Todd before slipping away. He knew which introductions mattered most and had not neglected them.

Frederick was looking out for him, so Adrian let his agent lead him across the room to meet the people he had missed.

It was tedious at times. It was also hard not to enjoy the strained smiles of people who had predicted the series would fail.

ABC had arranged the party to celebrate the premiere, but the guests included people from rival networks, other production companies, and the press.

The industry had seen the show's pilot at the May upfront presentations in New York, when networks courted advertisers for the coming season.

By then CBS had passed and ABC had picked it up. ABC's recent record and the series' unusual premise made advertisers wary. At first, few people approached its display.

A screening of the pilot changed some minds. Most of those who stayed to watch thought it was promising; even the skeptics acknowledged that Cherry had found an unusual angle.

Their praise was easy to miss amid hundreds of competing programs. The larger conversation still dismissed the show, and some people laughed at it outright.

One producer had even declared that if it became a hit, he would leave television for good.

Adrian would have enjoyed seeing him at the party. He was young enough, he thought, to get away with a little pointed gloating.

The advertisers who bought in early had made a good bet. Upfront spending was always a wager: a costly returning hit could collapse, while a show bought cheaply might break out.

For now, Desperate Housewives looked like the second kind. If the audience held, ABC would be able to charge far more for the next round of advertising.

Adrian kept his satisfaction in check as he talked to the people who had doubted it. Backlot needed more series, just as it needed stronger film properties. He wanted the company to keep growing, and that meant collecting good scripts and keeping these relationships alive.