Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990 TAG: 9007270269
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Short
The network is getting out of the business of making docudramas, those part-fact and part-fiction renderings of real-life events that often leave viewers wondering what is true and what is made-up about the events.
"We're going to move away from the headline-grabbing, sensationalistic docudrama," Allen Sabinson, ABC executive vice president of motion pictures for television and miniseries, said at a press conference here Monday.
"It almost became a joke," Sabinson said, "opening up the newspaper and reading the accounts of what we were doing and others were doing making [a docudrama about] another headline story. I think we just felt that enough is enough for us."
Sabinson denied that the ratings failure and controversy surrounding docudramas like "Challenger" or the million-dollar-plus advertiser pullout on "The Rock Hudson Story" had any bearing on ABC's decision. He said that ABC is pulling back because it sees no social "purpose" in the docudrama stories currently available.
Sabinson said that the network might make docudrama if it found the right property. It has several still in development, which it will complete and air as planned.
by CNB