CSotD: … and, continuing on that theme …
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It seems this is the week for cartooning about Annoying Broadcast Practices, and La Cucaracha picks up on a very strange thing, the return of "Dialing for Dollars" without the dollars.
Back at the dawn of time, or, at least, in the 1960s and 70s, back when TV stations did more local programming than just the news, one of the staples of afternoon television was the "Dialing for Dollars" movie. The station would purchase the rights to a package of movies and a local talent would host a two-hour show in which the 90-minute movie would be shown.
The extra 20 or 30 minutes would be taken up by commercials and by cut-ins during which the host would chat about upcoming community events and dial random phone numbers live on-air. If someone answered the phone and could answer a question — typically the amount of money in the jackpot — they'd win the money. If not, the jackpot was increased and the tension built!
Viewers used these cut-ins to go down to the basement and move the laundry from the washer to the dryer.
Two things killed "Dialing for Dollars":
1. Cable increased the number of choices, cutting the audience share for any particular program at a time when audience numbers weren't robust to begin with. The jackpot grew because either nobody answered the phone or they weren't watching the show, but the increasing potential payoff didn't build tension. It only underscored how futile the concept had become. It is not only embarrassing when you can't give away money, but it doesn't convince sponsors to buy ads on your program when, day after day, your host can't find anyone who is watching.
2. Local stations quit producing anything but the local news and perhaps a Sunday public affairs show that nobody watches. In 1980 or so, I was interviewing a station manager who had dropped that weekend show and who guffawed over the competition's effort, which was called, "Involvement." "'Involvement'?" he said. "Are you kidding me? Have you seen the ratings for that thing? What 'Involvement'?"
At last, nothing was left of the concept except the memory of Pearl's plaintive prayer, "Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV? 'Dialing For Dollars' is trying to find me!"
But now, thanks to cable television's infinite need for content, the hosted movie is back, right smack in the middle of an era when people don't want their entertainment interrupted by commercials, never mind by a pair of vacuous spokesmodels making vacuous chitcat, promoting the sequel to the film which is about to be released in theaters, and not even giving away money.
Frankly, to get back to the comic strip of the day, a pair of drunken celebrities hosting these flicks would probably be more entertaining than what is actually being served up.
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