Comments (26)

• A&E wasted A LOT of money acquiring Old “Sopranos” seasons. A total waste, considering fans Either had the DVD’s already, or were insulted by the watered down TV version and (like me) refused to watch.

  All that money could have probably saved a number of jobs.

  Sad.

  Comment by JasonTHX — November 6, 2009 @ 1:05 pm  Reply to this post

  • Actually, JasonTHX, you are completely incorrect in your assessment. The Sopranos deal actually made A&E a good deal of money and was considered a success.

    Comment by Slappy — November 6, 2009 @ 1:58 pm  Reply to this post

    • You may be right, although I don’t know that it will show up on the books as a positive play for some time. I don’t think Bob DiBitetto does it again if he had the choice. It was a huge financial play and was constructed to be the lead in for original programming of which it had little to zero positive impact. Should have used the money for original programming. Outside of the Dick Wolf franchises, don’t know of any acquired series, particularly one so associated with another network, that has ever paid off big time. You’re lucky if they’re just placeholders in the open slots that abound on every Cable Network.

      Comment by AC — November 9, 2009 @ 3:43 pm  Reply to this post

• Keep us appraised. Can’t imagine that A&E and Lifetime need to have two sets of drama and comedy development teams and there’s a lot of overlap (and lack of success) from the drama side at A&E and the docu side of Lifetime…

  Comment by kenny — November 6, 2009 @ 1:15 pm  Reply to this post

• Welcome to the entertainment business in 2009.

  Comment by eb — November 6, 2009 @ 1:34 pm  Reply to this post

  • Hi Eb,
    Thanks for making the BEST asnd salient comment of all….But i’d just like to add 1 point….it’s welcome to the (old) entertainment business in 2009….Time for a bit of self reflection, new strategies and action for a better industry. It’s possible with a little more effort and innovation.

    Comment by charlie salem — November 8, 2009 @ 4:01 am  Reply to this post

• Jessica Samet is out

  Comment by Bill — November 6, 2009 @ 1:41 pm  Reply to this post

  • Jessica is one of the best executives out there. . . their loss.

    Comment by BJ — November 6, 2009 @ 1:59 pm  Reply to this post

    • It’s David Hillman they need to get rid of. How he has managed to stay on board for so long escapes me.

      Comment by yd — November 8, 2009 @ 10:52 am  Reply to this post

• Ah what have they done? I mean, really.

  Comment by the drama side of a&e... — November 6, 2009 @ 1:42 pm  Reply to this post

• Jessica Samet will land on her feet, for sure. I agree — one of the best executives out there. Can’t wait to see how they staff up the new incarnation.

  Comment by DD — November 6, 2009 @ 3:20 pm  Reply to this post

• what does this mean for david cross?

  Comment by unknown — November 6, 2009 @ 5:11 pm  Reply to this post

• Samet is a GREAT exec., and truly a good person. And those A&E people’s programming is so top notch (NOT!). They’re crazy. Maybe she can salvage NBC????

  Comment by unknown — November 6, 2009 @ 5:12 pm  Reply to this post

• First off, Jessica Samet had nothing but failures at Lifetime. Every reality show developed performed worse than the one before it. Not necessarily her fault b/c the Lifetime audience does not want reality programming, and maybe now they are realizing it b/c Project Runway has performed miserably for them. A top 5 cable show that is not not even ranking on the top cable programming charts.

  They need to get rid of Andrea Wong who is a complete disaster for the network. Expect to see her back at ABC/Disney soon as she won’t last reporting to Abbe Raven. Andrea doesn’t think she reports to anyone.

  Comment by Lifetime Insider — November 8, 2009 @ 3:35 am  Reply to this post

  • Andrea spent hundreds of millions to buy Project Runway while dumping the few quality shows Lifetime had in the process to afford it. Shows the Lifetime audience loved and were devoted to. Sad. Then she’s developed these heinous sitcoms that feel like they are fresh out of the 80’s. As a human being she is so lifeless and limited. She can’t motivate or inspire her employees. Her vision for the network is so out of touch. Robert Iger has always been keen on her. She is an empty suit if ever there was one. Anne Sweeney and Iger have never allowed Lifetime to thrive. They make more bad hires. But then they empower McPherson at ABC who is so destructive to work for that his employees and former employees live in fear. Creatively they are damaged from working for the guy. Unable to come out in front of a project and believe in it. They are terrified of saying they like something and being wrong. ABC Network and Studios employees past and present are all suffering from post traumatic stress. Look at what happened with “V.” ABC (McPherson) claimed internally it was a disaster and voila it is an audience and critical smash. They have had three showrunners in four episodes. This is insane stuff. Sweeney and Iger bear ultimate responsibility for the lack of talent at the top at Lifetime and ABC. Andrea Wong makes Dawn Tarnowsky look like Bill Paley.

    Comment by Tara R. — November 9, 2009 @ 9:15 pm  Reply to this post

• Our whole department was annihilated! only a hand full of people from our department were saved and are now going to be redistributed to help out in the transition. I just don’t know if their services will still be needed after the transition.

  Comment by just lost my job at A&E — November 8, 2009 @ 8:08 am  Reply to this post

  • what dept?

    Comment by Molly — November 13, 2009 @ 9:07 am  Reply to this post

• A&E has been in the toilet for years. After an ambitious beginning focusing on the arts, this channel has become nothing more than a dumping ground for re-runs. So much for the arts and entertainment factor.

  I stopped watching this channel when they canceled Breakfast With the Arts and started showing Murder She Wrote marathons on Christmas day. I could never figure out the connection between Christmas and Murder She Wrote not that there ever was any. With the exception of A&E’s bottom line staying in the black. A&E is just another example of a fine network being dumbed down for the sake of profit.

  Comment by Lesley — November 8, 2009 @ 9:34 pm  Reply to this post

• The cultures of A&E and Lifetime are not compatible right now and neither side is smart enough to know what it doesn’t know. On top of that, A&E is the more arrogant of the two and doesn’t share necessary information. They are like a poor man’s CBS in terms of infrastructure and attitude. Look for mass defections on the Lifetime side.

  Comment by Otis — November 9, 2009 @ 8:25 am  Reply to this post

• Hope Bob and Lew got the boot at Lifetime.

  Comment by guy — November 9, 2009 @ 10:46 am  Reply to this post

• Anyone know if anyone from A&E programming and/or development team was let go?

  Comment by Fred — November 9, 2009 @ 12:30 pm  Reply to this post

• The day Andrea Wong came to Lifetime was the death of programming there. She was a joke at ABC but Bob Iger was warm for her hence her rise. She has no people skills, her public speaking skills are worse. She is terribly arrogant about what she doesn’t know. Instead of being all ears and hiring smart people she is literally tone deaf to the business of TV and to her viewing audience. Lifetime is worse than ever under her. Andrea Wong cancelled Side Order of Life one of the few critically acclaimed shows on the network. She was so sure the Lifetime audience wanted reality and these embarassingly bad sitcoms. The network is unwatchable. It was doing far better before Andrea came. Let’s hope A&E can save it from itself.
  Lifetime was a fantastic idea hideously carried out.

  Comment by Sally — November 9, 2009 @ 8:59 pm  Reply to this post

• I lost interest ever since A&E became T&A.

  Comment by Buddy Bing — November 9, 2009 @ 10:25 pm  Reply to this post

• A&E & Lifetime have made huge mistakes in this merger. Lifetime not only let go of some great people, some of whom where made to uproot their lives from New York to Los Angeles recently, but they also have decided that a Casting department is obsolete. Rick Jacobs, the VP of Casting at Lifetime was let go. They think they can do it themselves…little do they know, they can’t. Keeping the Marketing Department in tact is the gravest error of all. Bob and Lew really need to be stopped. They along with their ally Andrea Wong are running Lifetime into the ground. And now without a casting department, the network is only going to get worse, as no one has the contacts and clout that Rick Jacobs had there. Look forward to Judith Light and Merideth Baxter movies again. Lifetime is soon going to be a network of second run shows, barely surviving sitcoms, and a few attempts at original drama. Good Luck Lifetime….you sure are going to need it this coming year.

  Comment by unemployed — November 10, 2009 @ 6:41 pm  Reply to this post

• For what it’s worth, A&E is a horrible place to work and the management treats its staff very poorly.

  Comment by The Ghost of Bill Kurtis — November 12, 2009 @ 7:29 am  Reply to this post

• During this merger A&E employees were treated like dirt and swept out. So much for company loyalty. Thanks Abbe Raven.

  Comment by Jules — December 27, 2009 @ 10:02 pm  Reply to this post