Paramount is Back in Business… the Television Business, That Is

March has proved to be a busy month for Viacom as the entertainment conglomerate announced its intention to get back in to television.  Paramount, a Viacom company, who after splitting with CBS Corp. eight years ago, has primarily been known as a movie studio, is now said to be working on a pilot that would launch it back into television.  Viacom CEO, PhilippeDauman made the announcement that shocked the media world March 4th. 

While for any other company this declaration might not seem like a big deal- for Paramount and Viacom this is a big deal indeed.  Why?  Because up to 2005 the century-old Paramount had been quite successful at churning out television hits- everything from I Love Lucy, to Happy Days, to Star Trek, Cheers, and Frasier.  Then, Sumner Redstone, the executive chairman of both Viacom and CBS decided it best for branding to divide television and movie production between both of the companies he controls.  Television went to CBS and movies went to Paramount.  Though this sounds like a pretty cut and dry deal for both of Redstone’s holdings, CBS and Paramount have a long and well-publicized history of competition and this unexpected declaration was no exception.   Soon after Viacom announced a new pilot CBS said they would be making a play for the same series. 

Paramount said that the new TV project would be based on one of its films.  The details were at first vague, but this blogger has heard that it will be based on the Beverly Hills Cop film series starring Eddie Murphy from the 80s and early 90s.  Given that television spin-offs are generally unsuccessful, (think Clueless and My Big Fat Greek Life) many critics are skeptical.  Also, fueling the doubtful fire is the apparent absence of Redstone’s influence in making this decision.  Then there is the looming question of why would Paramount want to get back in to television in the first place?  That answer, besides the obvious awesomeness of the medium, is that recently television networks have been branded by their original programming.  Content is king and if Paramount wants to stay at the “paramount” of entertainment this is a good move.  However, I, along with prominent New Testament writers, am of the belief that a house divided against itself cannot stand.  My concerns are first the success of the series spinoff of Beverly Hills Cop.  Though it is rumored that Eddie Murphy will be front and center reprising the role of Axel Foley, if previous performance is any indicator, this may be a hard sell.  Especially with the hackneyed police detective show genre on practically every channel.  Second the competition between CBS and Paramount and third Sumner Redstone’s obviously nonexistent stamp of approval.  I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see how this pans out.