''W.E.B.'' is an American prime time drama series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

for five episodes from September 13 until October 5, 1978.

Cast

Pamela Bellwood Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King) is an American actress known for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera, ''Dynasty''. Life and career Bellwood became interested in an acting career when she portrayed Emi ...

as Ellen Cunningham *

Alex Cord Alexander Viespi Jr. (May 3, 1933 – August 9, 2021), known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series '' ...

as Jack Kiley *Lee Wilkof as Harvey Pearlstein *

Richard Basehart John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the television science-fiction drama '' Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' (1964–68). He also portrayed Wilton Knig ...

as Gus Dunlap

Overview

''W.E.B.'' showed the inner workings of the TV industry, centering on brash female programming executive Ellen Cunningham (

) at fictional network Trans-American Broadcasting (TAB). As head of Special Events Programming, Ellen was confronted with a variety of obstacles, most notably her male colleagues, such as ruthless programming head Jack Kiley (

), drunken has-been news chief Gus Dunlap (

), and ratings-obsessed research chief Harvey Pearlstein (Lee Wilkof). The initials that comprised ''W.E.B.'' were never explained on the series; presumably, it referred to the fact that "web" is a slang term for a broadcast network. (In promotional spots, the show was called simply "web", not "double-you ee bee".) ''W.E.B.'' was originally scheduled to air on Wednesday nights at 10pm Eastern, and debuted on Wednesday, September 13, 1978. However, new NBC boss

Fred Silverman Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as '' ...

's decision to scrap the proposed hour-long sitcom ''Coastocoast'', originally announced for the Thursday 10pm slot, caused the network to move ''W.E.B.'' to Thursdays. It didn't help -- ''W.E.B.'' aired just four more episodes, the last on October 5, 1978. The show, the sixth lowest-rated network program of the entire 1978–79 season (10.1 rating, 18 share), was replaced with the police drama '' David Cassidy: Man Under Cover''. In a case of life and art imitating each other, ''W.E.B.'' was at least partially inspired by the 1976 film ''

Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

'', starring

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

. Dunaway's role in the film (ratings-mad TV exec Diana Christensen) was said to have been based on NBC's former daytime programming chief

Lin Bolen Lin Bolen (March 21, 1941 – January 19, 2018) was an American television executive and producer. She was most noted for her role at NBC daytime television programming as the first female vice president of a TV network, a position she held from ...

—who produced ''W.E.B.'' However, Bolen has denied that the ''Network'' character was based on her.

Reception

Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...

wrote that most of ''W.E.B.'' was "just dopey-dreadful in a half-entertaining way – no competition for respectable dramas like ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'' and ''

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

'' but no real threat to one's bottom line of boredom, either." He described Ellen Cunningham by comparing her to the protagonist in ''

Way Down East ''Way Down East'' is a 1920 American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It is one of four film adaptations of the melodramatic 19th century play ''Way Down East'' by Lottie Blair Parker. There w ...

'', saying that she was "perhaps the most put-upon and abused heroine since Lillian Gish carried a silent-movie baby across the ice floes with the hound dogs yappin' at her heels." He also mocked Trans-American Broadcasting by calling it "the only TV network ever to be named after a

cola Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imi ...

" because of its

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

. He only praised the performances of Bellwood, Basehart and Tisch Raye who played Gus Dunlap's wife Christine.Shales, Tom. "''W.E.B.'': A Super Woman at the Network ," ''The Washington Post'', Wednesday, September 13, 1978.
Retrieved June 15, 2022.

References

External links

* *{{cite web, url=http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=The_Carolyn_Jackson_Collection,_no._65_-_Interview_with_Pamela_Bellwood_(1978) , title=Interview with Pamela Bellwood/''W.E.B.'' (1978) , publisher=Texas Archive of the Moving Image , year=1978 , access-date=June 29, 2014 NBC original programming American television soap operas American primetime television soap operas 1978 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series about television Television shows set in New York City