Fallon
10-22-2001, 02:21 PM
<IMG SRC="http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20011022/capt.1003777810tv_the_runner_nyet104.jpg" ALT="mas" HEIGHT=200 WIDTH=300>
NEW YORK (AP) - ABC has pulled the plug on ``The Runner'' an eagerly anticipated reality TV show that was being produced by actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
The network said it was worried about how a series in which people try to hunt down a citizen, the runner, as he travels across the country would be received after the terrorist attacks.
ABC reportedly had concerns that increased airport security could slow the chase. The network is also likely responding to the public's relative lack of interest in the reality genre since the Sept. 11 attacks.
``It is our view that today's environment would not be conducive to this type of television event,'' said Lloyd Braun, co-chairman of ABC entertainment. Braun said it's still possible that ``The Runner'' could resurface in the future.
ABC had high hopes for the series, which would have appeared midseason. Not only were Damon and Affleck involved, but so was Michael Davies, the executive behind ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (news - web sites).''
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the public has largely rejected faux television reality in favor of the more unsettling reality in the news. ABC last week cancelled the second run of ``The Mole'' before the game had finished. CBS' highly anticipated series ``The Amazing Race'' has fallen flat.
Even the genre's champion, ``Survivor,'' was beaten by NBC's ``Friends'' in the ratings during the first two weeks of its new African edition - the opposite of what happened last spring.
Shelving ``The Runner'' also adds to a season of bad news for ABC, which has run a distant third in the ratings behind NBC and CBS so far this fall. <a href="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011022/en/tv_the_runner_3.html">Click Here</a>
<IMG SRC="http://wwfallon.homestead.com/files/RFnet21.jpg">
That F'n Good! <a href="http://www.geocities.com/wwfallon.com">WWFallon</a>
NEW YORK (AP) - ABC has pulled the plug on ``The Runner'' an eagerly anticipated reality TV show that was being produced by actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
The network said it was worried about how a series in which people try to hunt down a citizen, the runner, as he travels across the country would be received after the terrorist attacks.
ABC reportedly had concerns that increased airport security could slow the chase. The network is also likely responding to the public's relative lack of interest in the reality genre since the Sept. 11 attacks.
``It is our view that today's environment would not be conducive to this type of television event,'' said Lloyd Braun, co-chairman of ABC entertainment. Braun said it's still possible that ``The Runner'' could resurface in the future.
ABC had high hopes for the series, which would have appeared midseason. Not only were Damon and Affleck involved, but so was Michael Davies, the executive behind ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (news - web sites).''
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the public has largely rejected faux television reality in favor of the more unsettling reality in the news. ABC last week cancelled the second run of ``The Mole'' before the game had finished. CBS' highly anticipated series ``The Amazing Race'' has fallen flat.
Even the genre's champion, ``Survivor,'' was beaten by NBC's ``Friends'' in the ratings during the first two weeks of its new African edition - the opposite of what happened last spring.
Shelving ``The Runner'' also adds to a season of bad news for ABC, which has run a distant third in the ratings behind NBC and CBS so far this fall. <a href="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011022/en/tv_the_runner_3.html">Click Here</a>
<IMG SRC="http://wwfallon.homestead.com/files/RFnet21.jpg">
That F'n Good! <a href="http://www.geocities.com/wwfallon.com">WWFallon</a>