Aug 31, 2006 @ 9:26 pm

Post #37

From http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...nt/15405201.htm

The first two telenovelas -- ``Desire'' (two brothers fight for one woman) and ``Fashion House'' (Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild cat fight) -- have cost just $200,000 an episode. The average network hourlong drama starts at $2 million an episode and often goes higher. is that in large part bcs much higher pay to actors?
And where a network hour normally takes seven or eight days to film, the episodes of ``Desire'' and ``Fashion House'' have often been shot in a day. cool.
Another cost-saver: The dramas are all based on shows that have already aired in other countries, and there is no original writing per se. (The show's writers are called ``adapters.'') huh.

A better review at http://www.suntimes.com/output/elfman/cst-ftr-elf31.html. I am surprised that Desire got the better review.

But http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/artic...tworktv_1006896

News Corp has been able to attract less than half the $50 million in upfront ad sales that it expected for next Tuesday's launch of MyNetworkTV, its English-language "telenovela" (limited-run soap opera) network, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Thursday), citing two unnamed company executives. One media buyer told the newspaper that she is standing on the sidelines, waiting to see whether the network is able to attract an audience. Laura Caraccioli-Davis, director of Starcom Entertainment, said, "Everyone is curious to see how this will play out. ... It defies all of the conventions that make network television work." cool. what conventions are those? Only two shows will air on the network, Desire and Fashion House. Each will run five nights a week for 13 weeks and will then be replaced by two new shows. "A lot is riding on these first two shows," Shari Anne Brill, of the ad-buying firm Carat told the Times. "The next three months will be crucial."

Full LA Times article http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-myne...rack=crosspromo

------fr Desire board:

-With less than a week to the start reviews are starting to come. A good one is at http://www.suntimes.com/output/elfman/cst-ftr-elf31.html

Here's the surprise. "Desire" is (I can't believe I'm saying this) good. Compelling. Stupid. Well-acted. Not terribly written. Funny on purpose. Better than most series on TV. It's more fun than "Desperate Housewives." Deal with it.

It also says that Desire is better than Fashion House. I might have to reconsider which novela I am going to watch.

-There are trailers for each show though at a MySpace area for MNT (both are owned by News Corp./Fox) http://www.myspace.com/mynetworktv