Ten steps to cash in on a successful foreign TV Show
Let’s imagine that you own a network. And there is this TV show, which wins countless prizes and is a worldwide success. Sadly, it’s not one of your own. So how do you manage to make money out of it after all? Well, there is a
sure strategy:
Step one: Do a remake
This is the most practical approach of all. If you get the rights, congratulations, you can forgo the following steps. Sadly you might encounter really unreasonable show makers who have no interest in making a quick buck with a knock-off. In this case, proceed to…
Step two: Do your own version
Naturally something which is far enough removed from the successful show that they can’t sue you for copyright infringement. Ideally, you take a good look at whatever the critics of the successful show complain the most about and pretend to do it better. You don’t actually have to do it better, just throw enough elements in your version that you can sell it that way. But now you need to be sneaky to get the attention of, well, everyone. To achieve that, start with…
Step three: Make misleading statements
Do whatever you can to connect your show with the successful show. Accidentally call it a “remake” (you can always refute later on), and you will immediately get the attention of the whole fandom of the successful show. The more unprofessional your conduct is, the more likely you’ll get a reaction from the makers of the successful show. If you force them to make a statement, you have already half won. Now lean back and wait for the people who already had a beef with said show makers for one reason or another to do your work. They will just as loudly protest your right to do your own take as the fans of the successful shows will express their worries that the show they love will be turned into a cheap remake. But you also need to keep the media interested after the initial uproar. Therefore keep going with…
Step four: Cast a lead actor with connections to the other show
Ideally the rival of the lead actor of the successful show, but sadly, some actors don’t go through live and acquire a lot of personal enemies. In this case, pick an actor with whom he works closely together in some sort of project. The press will lap it up, and immediately ask the main actor of the successful show about his feelings about this matter in every interview. If you are really lucky, he either does express anger or gets misquoted by the press. This is the perfect moment for…
Step five: Add a controversial character
Important is that the character is not controversial in general, preferably you pick a well-known actor or actress with a strong fanbase for this role and then design it in a way that it will offend the purists, but is actually something the average viewer won’t care about . This way you can sell what is actually just a gimmick as ground-breaking TV. And you get the fans of said actor or actress on board, who immediately will start to defend him or her from the enraged purists. Note that you don’t really have to do something new and unusual, you just have to pretend that you are the first one who did it. Preferable you use a gimmick which failed to enchant the fans in the past, it will just fuel their anger, and the defender are most likely not informed enough to care either way. Now you have to be subtle with…
Step six: Create a promo picture similar to the promo picture of the successful show
Don’t make it to blatant, but close enough to enrage the fans of the successful show again, just in case they stopped discussing the matter. Who knows, some people even might confuse the two shows. And when the day of the actually premiere approaches, it is time to implement…
Step seven: Repeat step three
Preferable not in person. Just tell one of your actors that the makers of the successful show actually like your take, so that he or she can rely this unwittingly to the press. Nothing is better shortly before the premiere than forcing the makers of the successful show to comment on yours. No matter what they say, at this point every press is good press. In fact, bad press is the best what can happen to you for…
Step eight: Pretend to be the underdog
People love underdogs and they automatically root for them. It even doesn’t matter if you have one of the biggest networks in your country, as long as you can sell the idea that rivalling network is better off for one reason or another. Since you have ensured that everyone will watch your pilot, if only to see if it’s a rip-off or not, make sure that you are painted in various reviews as the poor victim, who was wronged by the fanatic fans of the overrated successful show. You most likely won’t even have to do much, because your show is now connected in the mind of people to the successful show, so they will keep bringing yours up in context with it. If you did your job well, most people will even overlook if you, in your laziness, created just another generic show on which you slapped a popular name, they will praise you for it not being a rip-off, thus overlooking that your show is still a cash-in. You might even convince fans of the successful show that yours is not so bad after all, and some of its dislikers show might even buy into the belief that your show is the better one, just because it is not like the one they don’t like. Plus, they will love everything the fans of those show don’t like on principle. This attitude will help you with…
Step nine: Make them believe your show is a success
If the ratings take a nosedive after the pilot (and they most likely will), use average ratings in order to pretend that it’s a success nevertheless. If possible put your show at least once on an audience drawing airing spot, just to keep the ratings steady enough that you’ll get a second season. Everyone will overlook that you are pulling barely the networks average, even if your ratings are worse than what another show managed on the same airing spot. Instead they will praise you for surviving all the critic which predated your show. Now the only thing left for you to do is…
Step ten: Lean back and cackle evilly
Congratulation, you just pulled the perfect con. Now your show will go the way all shows go, with a little bit of luck eventually to syndication. You will have a devoted fanbase, which will allow no criticism whatsoever against your show, and will keep trying to proof that “their” show is better than the successful show. And attitude which will enrage some of the fans of the successful show, thus keeping the fandom rivalry alive.