You might not know who Paul Lee is, but he was the man who has been running ABC for the last 6 years. Today, that is no longer the case and I think that they made a big mistake.
He has done more for sitcoms than all the other networks combined. He has had huge sucess with The Goldbergs, Fresh Off the Boat, Black-ish and Dr Ken. While that is the comedy side, he made TGIT a thing with the Shonda Rimes shows and was able to get Grey’s Anatomy to turn around after they killed off McDreamy. Quantico is also doing really well and one of the few new shows that didn’t benefit from a strong lead in. American Crime and How To Get Away With Murder has also got them award recognition which is something ABC has been lacking. These are just a few of his many accomplishments he has achieved during his tenure at the network.
Before he was at ABC, he was at ABC Family and he completely turned that network around with The Secret Life of an American Teenager, Baby Daddy and Pretty Little Liars. What happened when he left? They changed the name of the network to Freeform, enough said.
Those are the positives. ABC’s ratings are down, but their diversity is up. To me the fact that they have two sitcoms centered around Asian families speaks louder than anything else.
But I guess it is a money game and they want the ratings. Which is sad because I have been saying for years, he is the best network head out there. All the networks are struggling and yet their bosses all still have their jobs.
The person who should be out of a job is Ben Sherwood who was Lee’s boss. According to The New York Times he wants to turn ABC into CBS and do more procedurals. That is exactly what TV doesn’t need, we have more than enough as it is. Oh and CBS’s shows are all down this season. So maybe people are tiring of the same old who done it which can be guessed within the first 10 minutes of the show. I know I am. I like variety, and ABC had that.
Oh well, I am sure Paul Lee will wind up at another network like Fox? C’mon Fox hire him, he would be perfect for you.
