Chasing Stars in Hollywood

"Desperate Housewives" officially premiered on Thursday, September 17.

For television series, this is a prime time slot.

On the other hand, it must be said that the timing of the "Desperate Housewives" premiere was rather clever.

The Forbes 400 Richest Americans list had just been released, and the buzz hadn't subsided. At this time, a TV series rumored to be personally directed and co-created by Simon Westeros premiered, naturally attracting a lot of attention, even if it was a women's program on a women's TV network.

The USA Network seized this opportunity and went all out to promote "Desperate Housewives."

Of course, like box office numbers for movies, TV ratings are an unavoidable topic. How "Desperate Housewives" would fare still depended on the ratings.

The first episode of "Desperate Housewives" aired at 9 PM on Thursday, following the lead-in of "The Real Housewives of New York," which had premiered the previous week.

As one of USA Network's major new season offerings, which was crucial for the network's further expansion, USA Network executives were stationed at their headquarters on both coasts, waiting for the ratings results in real-time.

When the ratings for the nearing end of "The Real Housewives of New York" suddenly surged, USA Network executives already had a premonition.

At 9 PM, "Desperate Housewives" premiered, and its ratings immediately surpassed those of "The Real Housewives of New York" by a significant margin.

Moreover, comparing the first episode of the second season of "The Real Housewives of New York," it was evident that the preliminary ratings were significantly better than the first episode of the first season.

USA Network had initially planned for "The Real Housewives of New York," a ratings pillar, to boost the popularity of "Desperate Housewives." However, the result was clear: the newly premiered show actually boosted the popularity of "The Real Housewives of New York" due to its prior attention.

The next morning, mainstream media across North America published reviews of this highly anticipated new series.

Variety praised "Desperate Housewives" by saying, "Though just starting, it has built an intriguing and compelling mysterious world through vivid characters and excellent plot setups, making people eagerly look forward to the further development of the story."

A critic from The Hollywood Reporter even cheekily remarked, "Before the show aired, I doubted whether Simon Westeros was involved in the show's creation. After it aired, I doubted even more how Westeros could do such an outstanding job."

Apart from these professional media outlets, most mainstream newspapers also gave glowing reviews of "Desperate Housewives."

Subsequently, when the ratings were revealed, "Desperate Housewives" firmly established itself as the breakout hit of the fall season.

After more than a year of restructuring and expansion, the current USA Network covered a total of 72 million viewers in the USA, equivalent to about one-third of the country's population.

This viewership base wasn't particularly high among the major cable networks in the USA. Turner Broadcasting's CNN and Viacom's MTV network, for instance, had much higher coverage.

Moreover, in the early 90s, traditional major TV networks still dominated the market. Though cable TV had quickly spread, most cable channels in bundled packages, except for CNN and MTV, had low ratings. Many history and science channels were rarely selected by viewers and were often skipped over when occasionally tuned in.

Before merging with MCA, USA Network, while better than many niche cable channels often skipped over, was still far behind popular cable networks like CNN and MTV.

However, with a year of operations, USA Network used "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and "The Real Housewives of New York" as its mainstays, along with other programming development and relentless promotion. This originally unremarkable cable network had successfully confirmed its positioning as a women's TV network. The two flagship reality shows had an average viewership of over 5 million, which was an impressive achievement.

The accumulated efforts over the past years and the restructuring in the last year had laid a solid foundation for the rise of USA Network.

With 72 million viewers, the network had enough coverage to showcase its strength.

So, when the highly anticipated "Desperate Housewives" premiered, and the show itself was of high quality, everything fell into place.

On its premiere day, the first episode of "Desperate Housewives" averaged 7.36 million viewers, with a core 18-49 demographic rating of 4.1. The peak viewership of the entire first episode even reached 8.71 million, peaking in the latter half, indicating that future episodes' ratings were likely to continue rising.

Additionally, "Desperate Housewives" ranked sixth in ratings for Thursday night.

The top five were all public network TV shows.

In comparison, "The Real Housewives of New York," which was supposed to lead into "Desperate Housewives," had an average viewership of only 5.91 million for its second episode of the second season, with a core demographic rating of 2.7, which was higher than the 5.76 million average viewers for the first episode.

It's worth noting that typically, the premiere of a new season's first episode has the highest ratings.

Evidently, "The Real Housewives of New York" did not boost "Desperate Housewives"; rather, it was the latter that enhanced the former's ratings.

The highest-rated show on Thursday night was NBC's "Law & Order," with 17.56 million viewers and a rating of 10.7.

The viewership gap between "Law & Order" and "Desperate Housewives" seemed vast. However, NBC's coverage was nearly nationwide, while USA Network covered only a third of the US population. Moreover, USA Network's positioning as a women's TV network further limited "Desperate Housewives."

Under these dual constraints, "Desperate Housewives" achieving an average of 7.36 million viewers and showing an upward trend was already "phenomenal" for a cable network series.

If both series were on an equal playing field, it wasn't hard to imagine that "Desperate Housewives" could surpass "Law & Order" in ratings.

As the ratings of "Desperate Housewives" were revealed and sparked media discussions, many cable TV providers began contacting Daenerys Entertainment, hoping to introduce USA Network.

To expedite USA Network's promotion, the network had not increased the operator's share over the past year. However, with more operators requesting to introduce USA Network, the management team could consider raising the share price.

Meanwhile, USA Network's advertising rates rose significantly.

While intensively planning subsequent development strategies, Daenerys Entertainment wasn't stingy and announced a celebration party for the show's creators over the weekend following the premiere of "Desperate Housewives."

Although USA Network was jointly owned by Daenerys Entertainment and Paramount Communications, the celebration party was naturally held at the activity center of Daenerys Studios in Malibu.

On September 19, as dusk fell, the employee activity center on the second floor of Daenerys Studios was bustling.

USA Network's three main programs had recently premiered, including the newly launched "Desperate Housewives," and the new seasons of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and "The Real Housewives of New York," all of which achieved impressive ratings. Plus, other program creators from the network were invited, making the party venue distinctly female-dominated.

"Ms. Ward, your portrayal of the perfect housewife Bree is outstanding and charming. I can't wait to see the second episode."

"Thank you... Mr.?"

"My name is John Peterson."

"Oh, I know, Mr. Peterson, nice to meet you."

"I'm also very pleased to meet you," John Peterson politely shook hands with Shera Ward again, then casually said, "By the way, Ms. Ward, I happen to have a role in a project that would suit you well. Could I have your contact information? Maybe we could find time to chat about it?"

Although she was previously a low-profile actress, Shera Ward knew a lot about Hollywood's internal workings.

As the head of Sony's Columbia Pictures film business and a seasoned Hollywood producer who had worked with big names like Spielberg, John Peterson's hint could easily win over many actresses.

However, upon hearing this middle-aged man, Shera Ward's smile remained unchanged, but her eyes instinctively searched the crowd.

Still no sign of a certain someone.

Disappointed, she did not hesitate further.

Sometimes, the more straightforward the refusal, the fewer the troubles.

With the success of "Desperate Housewives," even if it was just a TV show, she knew she had firmly established herself in Hollywood. If everything went smoothly, this show could easily run for more than three seasons, possibly even five or six.

That would give her plenty of time to seek better opportunities without relying on external forces.

Since a certain someone placed her in this TV show, she might as well stay in the TV circle. After all, at 36, it would be tough to make significant strides in the film industry without strong support.

Having made up her mind, Shera Ward shook her head and apologized, "I'm sorry, Mr. Peterson, I don't have a business card with me tonight."

"No problem," John Peterson, not sensing a refusal, cheerfully handed her his card. "Here's my contact information, Ms. Ward. If you're interested, feel free to reach out."

Shera Ward, seeing the situation, had no choice but to take his card.

As a seasoned Hollywood producer, John Peterson didn't lack pride. After giving her his card, he left decisively.

Shera Ward, holding a champagne glass in one hand and the card in the other, hesitated for a moment. Just as she was about to put the card in her handbag, not wanting to toss it at such an event, she noticed a commotion nearby and casually looked over, spotting a certain young man.

Westeros was entering the hall while chatting with Paramount Communications chairman Martin Davis, accompanied by a few others. The guests in the

 hall were also focusing their attention on the young man.

Coincidentally, he looked over and curiously glanced at the card in her hand.

It felt like being caught cheating.

She secretly cursed herself twice, reminding herself it was just a one-night stand. Though, yes, the night in Seattle was indeed wonderful, that man had rarely appeared in her life since.

Hollywood is big, and she was just a small figure.

Their gazes briefly met and then quickly looked away as if nothing had happened.

Noticing many guests subtly gathering around Westeros, Shera Ward felt even more guilty and instinctively moved in the opposite direction. In a slightly defiant gesture, she put the card in her handbag, as if to prove she wasn't afraid of a certain someone.

Meanwhile, Simon, occasionally nodding at approaching guests, finally reached a sofa in the corner of the hall and sat down, discussing USA Network's next steps with Martin Davis before the conversation shifted to their film collaborations.

Recently, Simon had been pondering whether to delay the development of the "Mission: Impossible" series.

Mainly because next year's schedule was too crowded.

Especially at the end of the year.

Daenerys Entertainment had planned to release three major films: the 3D animation "The Lion King," "Forrest Gump," and the co-produced "Mission: Impossible" with Paramount Pictures. Additionally, the DC Movie Universe's "Cyborg" would also premiere at the end of next year.

Not to mention, "The Lion King" and "Forrest Gump," two films with domestic box office potential of $300 to $400 million each, would already consume most of the holiday season's resources. Adding "Mission: Impossible" and "Cyborg" would lead to internal competition.

Adjusting the schedule was an option.

However, the 1994 summer season would feature "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises."

Another $300 million blockbuster.

It would be the same later on.

He couldn't keep delaying it.

After much deliberation and several discussions with Paramount, Simon decided to stick to the development plan for "Mission: Impossible" and keep the schedule for "The Lion King" unchanged. "Forrest Gump" would be moved to the 1994 summer season, roughly set for the July 4th holiday, a month after "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises."

The Independence Day holiday suited "Forrest Gump's" theme, and the month gap would prevent "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" from significantly impacting "Forrest Gump."

By reducing one major film at the end of 1993, other movies would have enough space to perform well.

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