The pitch was barely on paper before the networks were falling over one another with offers. Fox was especially hot for the series; Fox execs even offered to make McCarthy spokeswoman for the entire network. But despite such Jenny-flecting, Paramount sold to NBC. "We went with the No. 1 network," says Dan Fauci, Paramount's senior VP of comedy development. "Ultimately, that's what it came down to." That, and NBC's offer to pay for--if not necessarily air--22 episodes of the show up front.
It was a pretty plum deal--most new shows get a 13-episode guarantee, some only six--and a real gamble for NBC. McCarthy's audience on MTV was small by network standards--only a few million viewers a week, not nearly enough to keep a prime-time sitcom in business. More crucially, it was made up almost entirely of young males, a desirable but very narrow demographic. If Jenny is going to survive, its star is going to need to start wooing some female viewers.
Which is why seemingly minor details like that cardigan sweater in the pilot episode can blow up into huge battles--such minutiae will be critical in fixing McCarthy's image in the marketplace. In the end, after flip-flopping on the question for months, the powers that be at NBC decided to use--big surprise--the sweaterless version. And an important lesson was learned by all. "Howard and I probably went a little overboard in trying not to do a T&A show," Reisman says contritely. "We so wanted to go against what people expected from Jenny that we may have made her look a bit frumpy."
Judging from the show's third episode--the one McCarthy is rehearsing today--Reisman and Gewirtz have shifted course a few degrees. They've hired the wardrober from Friends to class up McCarthy's look. They're also giving Jenny more room to be Jenny, adding some light slapstick to the mix. Still, there are some obvious problems ahead--not the least of which is Jenny's deadly time slot. Originally there were rumors the show was being considered for a coveted Thursday-night spot, perhaps even cushioned between Friends and Seinfeld. Instead, it got Sundays at 8:30, right after the network's misbehaving Men Behaving Badly and competing against Fox's animated 18-to-34-year-old powerhouse King of the Hill, CBS' golden-age golden goose Touched by an Angel, and ABC's relaunch of The Wonderful World of Disney (all of which predictably beat Jenny's Sept. 28 premiere--although with 12.1 million viewers, it did better than its Men lead-in).
"Not everyone can get Thursday night," offers Littlefield coolly. And no promises have been made of a move to another night should Jenny continue to struggle on Sunday. Which hasn't stopped Reisman and Gewirtz from praying for the failure of another NBC sitcom--even a Monday or Tuesday slot would be welcome.
Of course, the biggest question mark hanging over Jenny is...Jenny: Does the pratfalling Playmate really have what it takes to become a mainstream star? Critics, who generally trashed her sitcom debut, are skeptical. And the track record for MTV alums is hardly inspiring (two words that should turn McCarthy's blood cold: Pauly Shore). Even Jenny herself seems uncertain of the answer. "It's definitely bizarre," she admits. "I've done one episode of Wings, and all of a sudden I have my own show. I guess the people [at NBC] must have seen something inside me."
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