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If you didn't read it in wx-chase...:
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The following article appeared in the September 24 issue of Variety:
CBS announced that it has purchased "Killer Winds" as a mid-season
replacement series. The deal, worth a purported $37.4 million plus
ratings incentives to executive producer Brandon Tartikoff's New World
Entertainment, constitutes the second largest amount ever paid for a
series, topped only by the gargantuan fee paid for NBC blockbuster
"ER." In the first half of each episode of the hour-long series,
viewers will be introduced to the four or five residents of a different
community in the Central Plains, while a team of tornado-chasing
scientists use the latest technology to follow a storm destined to
strike that town as the first half-hour comes to a close. In the second
half, viewers will see the aftermath of the disaster, learning the
identities of the victims and observing how the survivors fare through
the course of rescue efforts and rebuilding.
According to Leslie Moonves, the president of CBS Entertainment, "Killer
Winds" is not going to be another Twister clone, but rather will focus
on the human drama of ordinary people. "This series isn't about death
and destruction," said Moonves, "but how we frail human beings
find--each in our own way--the inner strength to overcome an
unexplainable tragedy. It's about real life, so we plan to use real
tornado footage as much as possible." To provide continuity, the
scientists will have their own plot lines, Moonves added, but the focus
will be on the residents of the devastated communities. One
confidential source told Variety that the last episode of the season may
end with a cliffhanger in which the scientists find themselves trapped
in the path of a tornado.
More cynical observers think the series is designed more as a financial
coup for the ailing network than as a positive statement about
humanity. Noting that CBS intends the unusual move of starting an
hour-long series at 8:30, entertainment industry consultant Shiela
Corinth observed, "From a ratings standpoint, it is sheer brilliance.
Once the viewers are caught up in the first half, they'll tune in to the
rest to see who lives and who dies. And that will kill all but the
strongest 9:00 pm shows on rival networks."
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==============================================================
Jesse "J" Ferrell - j{at}weatherwatchers.org - ICQ 136832
Central Atlantic Storm Investigators - www.weatherwatchers.org
"A tornado? Why wasn't it dissipated by the weather
modification net?" --Jean-Luc Picard
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