So this is what NBC has to offer us viewers in light of the cancellation of such wonderful shows as the Pretender, Profiler and The Others? My God just what are they smoking within the executive offices of NBC? Reading the below article in today�s Newsday makes me want to go for the nearest barf bag. In this article they say that women will want to watch this XFL show. What planet are they living on? It is no wonder they have sunk to third and sometimes fourth in the ratings wars. If this is the best they have to give us, then they deserve that ranking. Period! And if you are a parent like myself, would you let your child watch this horrific show if you can call it that? I hope not! At least with the Pretender, you had a man righting many wrongs, especially when many wrongs were done to him growing up. A show like that should be praised instead of cancelled. With the Profiler, the writers took you into how the FBI solved many cases, and did a superb job at doing so. And with The Others, a show about the paranormal, it took you beyond reality into fantasy. But did it creatively. It is no wonder that I have changed my viewing habits, and have given CBS a big thumbs up. Especially with giving us three very well written shows. C. S. I., The District and The Fugitive. It is no wonder CBS has pulled ahead in the ratings department over NBC. And just a reminder the station that did listen to Pretender fans, TNT will be airing the Pretender movie January 22, 2001 starting at 8PM EST. So if you are as furious as I am by this XFL programming, call NBC studios at once. Their numbers being, (212) 664-4444, and (818) 840-4444. Call them today and voice your disgust over this mindless decision.
Sincerely, Mary MacElveen
************Newsday�s Article************************************** TV PRESS TOUR 2001 XFL Pledge: Felon-Free Football By Diane Werts. STAFF WRITER
PASADENA, Calif.-The players might be on steroids, but at least they won't be killers. That's how new football entrepreneur and longtime wrestling titan Vince McMahon enlightened TV critics Wednesday at the press tour, where he promoted the XFL, his eight-team smash-mouth league. It starts play Feb. 3 on partner NBC when the New York-New Jersey Hitmen face the Las Vegas Outlaws.
Though performance-enhancing substances won't be banned if they're legal, McMahon boasted that this is the first "no- felon league" to bar the convicted, even if on-air promos seem to encourage violent on- field behavior in extolling play with "busted hands and broken legs." The XFL has no fair catch or in-the-grasp rules, which McMahon insists is simply "turning the clock back to the way the NFL played," when "the whole idea was to kill the quarterback," before the sissy days of rules meant to stem injuries.
NBC sports chief Dick Ebersol calls their Saturday night XFL games (Sunday matches air on TNN, with Tuesday games on UPN) "the ultimate TV reality show," featuring mikes on players and even cameras in the locker room.
Maybe that's because McMahon says "we want more women watching," but his
other appeals to females seem questionable. XFL cheerleaders, McMahon says, are designed as an "integral part of the game," whose "personalities are going to be projected in the skits we do." They might introduce a player by discussing his "tight end," for instance, in "a little bit of double entendre," McMahon says, but "not unsavory."