# "The Will;" Worse TV Debut Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646 "2005-01-14T01:54:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/1 "2005-01-14T01:54:22Z")
(Of course in Saudi Arabia, I just read about this on the internet. Did anyone here see this?) CBS pulled its new reality program ‘The Will’ after one airing. The show had a number of contestants trying to become the one heir to a 73 year old rancher’s fortune. The last show pulled after one episode was another CBS show ‘South of Sunset,’ on its opening night it got a 6.1 (of something), the lowest ever. This program got only a 2.9, less than half of ‘South of Sunset.’ Remarkable! The show might not have even been bad, who can say since nobody saw it? Was it promoted? How many episodes are in the can? Why not at least show those? I wonder if someone will pay a price for green-lighting this show. [CNN Linky](http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/13/tv.thewill.canceled.ap/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/2 "2005-01-14T02:18:22Z")
I saw enough commericals for it to know that I would never, ever watch it. It was billed as a reality show, but the characters seemed to be straight out of a B movie. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/3 "2005-01-14T02:38:51Z")
I never heard of it before reading about its failure. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/4 "2005-01-14T02:47:03Z")
I watched it. It was bad, but no worse than other shows they’ve let run their full course (like “Who Wants to Marry a Midget,” – which, for the record, I didn’t watch). I’m hoping that the 79-year-old saw enough on the one episode to realize what a horrifying bitch his young(ish) blonde(ish) wife is. Probably not, though. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/5 "2005-01-14T04:02:16Z")
Who Wants to Marry a Midget? You are (I hope) pulling my leg. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/6 "2005-01-14T04:05:10Z")
No, that would be the midget. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/7 "2005-01-14T04:26:48Z")
Weren’t all the contestants dwarves? I didn’t watch it, but I remember the commercials for the show. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/8 "2005-01-14T04:33:34Z")
Never saw “The Will”, but I can affirm the existence of “Who wants to Marry a Midget” (thanks Fox!!!) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/9 "2005-01-14T14:46:32Z")
If we are lucky this will mark the beginning of the end for “reality TV”. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/10 "2005-01-14T15:33:43Z")
Yeah, although “The Will” might have been absolutely horrendous, that’s probably not why nobody watched. Audiences are finally getting fed up with these exploitive, sensationalistic, artificial “reality” set-up hoaxes. Took them long enough. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/11 "2005-01-14T15:45:57Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Who Wants to Marry a Midget? > > You are (I hope) pulling my leg. Well, it wasn’t really called “Who want’s to marry a midget?” I think it was more along the lines of “The littlest groom”. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/12 "2005-01-14T15:55:26Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > Yeah, although “The Will” might have been absolutely horrendous, that’s probably not why nobody watched. Audiences are finally getting fed up with these exploitive, sensationalistic, artificial “reality” set-up hoaxes. Took them long enough. 😉 I also think that the fact that they ran it on a Saturday night was a factor – it’s a shitty night for any show (“where good shows are sent to die”), and their potential audience is, mostly, out. I happened to be home, and because I was chatting online, etc., I didn’t want to put on a movie – it was either “The Will” or an “L&O” rerun, IIRC. Well, yeah, that and the fact that I’m a reality TV slut. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/13 "2005-01-14T18:46:37Z")
I had it on for about 10 minutes in the background while I was surfing online. It was enough for me to realize that every single person on that show ranks among the most unlikeable people I’ve ever seen in my life. They were all rich, spoiled idiots there to grub more money. I felt like I needed a shower after just that much background exposure. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-will-worse-tv-debut-ever/284646/14 "2005-01-14T19:55:00Z")
I saw it come on. I turned it off. It looked loathsome. I saw a couple minutes of the Littlest Groom. Pure shit.