W.E.B.

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This article is about the 1978 TV show. For the women artists network, see West-East Bag. For other uses, see web (disambiguation).
W.E.B.
GenreDrama
StarringPamela Bellwood
Richard Basehart
Alex Cord
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes5
Production
ProducerLin Bolen
Running time60 minutes
Production company20th Century Fox Television
Distributor20th Television
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 13 (1978-09-13) –
October 5, 1978 (1978-10-05)

W.E.B. is an American prime time drama series that aired on NBC for five episodes from September 13 until October 5, 1978.

Cast[]

Overview[]

W.E.B. showed the inner workings of the TV industry, centering on brash female programming executive Ellen Cunningham (Pamela Bellwood) at fictional network Trans-American Broadcasting. As head of Special Events Programming, Ellen was confronted with a variety of obstacles, most notably her male colleagues, such as ruthless programming head Jack Kiley (Alex Cord), drunken has-been news chief Gus Dunlap (Richard Basehart), and ratings-obsessed research chief Harvey Pearlstein (Lee Wilkof).

The initials that comprised W.E.B. were never explained on the series; presumably, it referred to the fact that "web" is a slang term for a broadcast network. (In promotional spots, the show was called simply "web", not "double-you ee bee".)[1]

W.E.B. was originally scheduled to air on Wednesday nights at 10pm Eastern, and debuted on Wednesday, September 13, 1978. However, new NBC boss Fred Silverman's decision to scrap the proposed hour-long sitcom Coastocoast, originally announced for the Thursday 10pm slot, caused the network to move W.E.B. to Thursdays. It didn't help -- W.E.B. aired just four more episodes, the last on October 5, 1978. The show, the sixth lowest-rated network program of the entire 1978–79 season (10.1 rating, 18 share), was replaced with the police drama David Cassidy: Man Under Cover.

In a case of life and art imitating each other, W.E.B. was at least partially inspired by the 1976 film Network, starring Faye Dunaway. Dunaway's role in the film (ratings-mad TV exec Diana Christensen) was said to have been based on NBC's former daytime programming chief Lin Bolen—who produced W.E.B.[2] However, Bolen has denied that the Network character was based on her.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ NBC Fall Schedule Promo 1978 (14:21)
  2. ^ Google Books: "Looking for Gatsby" By Faye Dunaway and Betsy Sharkey, p.304.
  3. ^ Scott, Vernon (July 31, 1978). "Producer Lin Bolen Denies She's Network Character". Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International (UPI). p. 2.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

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