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HOLLYWOOD – Michael Stecher, who has worked in Hollywood 18 years, sees himself as high royalty in an unenviable kingdom.
The father of two has been fired so many times he refers to himself as “The King of Canceled TV Shows.” Twice, he received pink slips at lunch.
“People don’t realize how fast it can change,” said Stecher, who has been let go five times and now works as a camera operator for CBS’ military action-drama “The Unit.” “There is zero security in this gig.”
Stecher is one of 225 people employed by the program, which chronicles the exploits of an elite U.S. Army counterterrorism force.
But what nobody knows is whether the show will survive “the bubble” – the tenuous region where TV shows on the boundary of renewal and cancellation exist. Sunday’s season finale could be the series’ final episode.
If drama is life heightened, then Hollywood’s bubble shows mirror much of America right now, where the specter of pay reductions, freezes and immediate unemployment are writ large. In the TV industry, it is an annual rite as network executives decide which series will be ditched to make room for new projects.
“What the country in general is going through, if you choose to work in Hollywood, you’ve accepted a life that is constantly like that,” said executive producer Shawn Ryan, who runs the show and created FX’s police drama “The Shield.”
“There’s no coasting along. They don’t care if you’re some huge star or an established writer. They’ll take the best idea wherever they can come up with it and in May they’ll re-evaluate where they are.”
In all, 18 shows across the five broadcast networks now reside in “the bubble,” and have since March, when the decisions about renewal typically begin. The cast and crew of “The Unit,” a steady but unspectacular ratings performer, have been here before, but that doesn’t make the wait any easier. They expect a verdict from CBS on May 20.
Executive producer Vahan Moosekian’s four years on “The Unit” mark his longest stint on any one show during his 33 years in the industry. And with the rise of reality TV and NBC’s new 10 p.m. Jay Leno comedy show, there are fewer jobs in scripted television.
“You just go, ‘Oh God! I have to look for a job!’ ” Moosekian said. “I don’t think I’d panic, but I don’t want it to end.”
“The Unit,” which ended production April 7, has been on the bubble every season since its launch. The David Mamet-created drama registers 9 million to 11 million viewers. That’s a respectable figure, but only a third of those are younger than 49, a demographic that CBS needs to court.
“The Unit” audience, which has a median age of 54.6 years, still has some appeal to advertisers: 25 percent of its audience have graduated from college, 35 percent earn incomes of more than $75,000 and 21 percent make $100,000 or more, according to Nielsen data.
“Typically, the shows that are on the bubble are on the bubble because they haven’t failed. There’s something that’s still working,” said Laura Caraccioli-Davis, executive vice president of ad-buying company Starcom. “For (‘The Unit’), it must be ‘Groundhog Day.’ It’s a big gamble for CBS to cancel it because we know most of the new shows don’t work and they know what numbers it can deliver.”
There is no science to the method executives use to select programs. Ratings, especially time-slot performance, are a key element. Which company owns the show matters too. More and more, networks are sticking with shows made by their own companies rather than one made by another studio. That way there’s more money to be made from syndication, overseas showings and digital sales. “The Unit” isn’t produced by CBS, but by 20th Century Fox Television, where executives have signaled a willingness to cut costs to keep the show going.
Lean budgets also are important. From that standpoint, “The Unit” has an advantage. Mostly shot in Southern California, it costs less than $3 million per episode to produce, despite the many action sequences. That’s about half the price tag of the typical TV drama.
The networks’ process of elimination is carried out in secrecy, a maddening tradition for those waiting for resolution.
“One of the hardest parts of the job is making decisions this time of year about the future of shows that are terrific creatively but have a ratings picture that isn’t as clear,” wrote President of Entertainment Nina Tassler via e-mail. “While it’s a business, we’re very aware of the human factor; for every show on the bubble, there are hundreds of talented people on staff who work very hard, and they’re waiting for an answer.”
