8:46 Is the part where he talks about ABC hiring Q5. Basically, he says that their reason for hiring Q5 was because of the network being dead last behind CBS & NBC, and as he also stated: “Third place in 1987 was last place, and somebody’s gonna get fired.”
I actually wonder if Pee-wee’s Playhouse over at CBS stole ABC’s thunder, which resulted in ABC trailing behind CBS & NBC for Saturday Morning content, and was the whole reason ABC hired Q5? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not justifying this. I also wonder if there were other ways for ABC to catch up to CBS & NBC, besides hiring Q5?
Is anyone else confused by this post? It reads like a reply to someone only it’s not. What is Q5? Why did you start a thread like you were in mid conversation with someone?
I wasn’t confused by it, and I didn’t expect anyone to be confused it.
Q5 was (don’t know if they’re still around) a consulting firm hired by ABC in an attempt to improve their lackluster Saturday Morning ratings. More information here.
I remember reading a book about Pee-wee’s Playhouse that said that RGB had the highest ratings at that time. And after PWPH took RGB’s ratings crown, it made me wonder if that was what prompted ABC to hire Q5.
Oh right, I remember hearing about them! But what I meant by my original post & the confusing thing was just how this post starts like you were having a conversation about Q5 with someone. I wasn’t sure if you somehow created this post by accident or meant for it be to be a reply to someone else. You didnt give any context for anything you just start kinda in the middle of a thought. I’ve never seen a thread started like that before.
It would be like me creating a thread saying something like, oh I don’t know, “Vahan Is a massive Dancing with the Stars fan” without going into context for how I knew that.
Anyways, Q5 is interesting because I was just talking in another thread about how strict the BS&P people were in the 1980s in another thread.
They also sound like the name of a villainous organization from James Bond or Marvel.
“We are Q5. We’ve been slowly turning children’s entertainment into boring, vanilla, generic content. Then those children will grow up and be boring, vanilla generic people. And the best part? They won’t even realize it’s happening. Then one day the world will be a boring, vanilla generic planet and on that day all Q5 shall rejoice! And there’s nothing you can do to stop us Mr. Bond. Now excuse me, I’d stay to watch our laser death trap machine kill you, but I’ve got an episode of The Real Ghostbusters to ruin. Good day Mr. Bond Muahahahahaah”
Although ultimately, and thankfully, Q5 didn’t get rid of Ray like they initially asked for, they instead, however, slimed him down. Compare him with how he looked in ABC Season 2 and beyond to how he looked in ABC Season 1/Syndicated Season.
I think it was hypocritical of Q5 to do this, considering the franchise was making billions of dollars off of sugary junk food. (i.e. cereal, and in 1989, Hi-C would be launching their Ecto Cooler flavor with Slimer on the drink boxes)
