Editing Supertrain (section)

==Production troubles==
''Supertrain'' was the most expensive series ever aired in the [[United States]] at the time. The production was beset by problems, including a model train that crashed. NBC paid $10 million for a total of three sets of trains: a full-size train with enormous [[Passenger railroad car|passenger cars]] measuring {{convert|64|x|26|x|22|ft|m}}, and two model train sets at 1:9.6 and [[1:48 scale]]s for outside shots.<ref name=":0" /> While the series was heavily advertised during the 1978–79 season, it received poor reviews and low ratings, with 16.24 million viewers watching its premiere.<ref name=RatingsRyan>{{cite web |title=Ratings Ryan: Weekly Nielsen Ratings: 1978-79 TV Season (UPDATED) |website=Ratings Ryan |url=http://www.ratingsryan.com/2022/01/weekly-nielsen-ratings-1978-79-tv-season.html |access-date=16 October 2024 |date=22 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422084850/http://www.ratingsryan.com/2022/01/weekly-nielsen-ratings-1978-79-tv-season.html |archive-date=2024-04-22 }}</ref> The two-hour premiere was out-rated by a two-hour special of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'', and received a 21.8 rating and 32 share, ranking it 17th for the week.<ref>Weekly Rating Scorecard. (1979, February 14). ''Variety'', ''294''(2), 68.</ref> Despite attempts to salvage the show by replacing its producer, reworking the cast and the show's genre to a [[sitcom]]-like format, and a timeslot change from Wednesdays at 8:00&nbsp;p.m. to Saturdays at 10:00&nbsp;p.m., it went off the air after only three months.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} NBC, which had produced the show itself, with help from ''[[Dark Shadows]]'' producer [[Dan Curtis]], was unable to recoup its losses from the high production costs.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} This, combined with the [[1980 Summer Olympics boycott|U.S. boycott]] of the [[1980 Summer Olympics]] the following season (whose coverage NBC was to have carried, costing the network millions in ad revenue), nearly bankrupted the network.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.kiwireport.com/hugely-promoted-shows-turned-massive-flops/8/|title=Heavily promoted shows that turned out to be huge flops {{!}} KiwiReport|date=2018-06-21|work=KiwiReport|access-date=2018-10-17|language=en-US}}</ref> For these reasons, ''Supertrain'' has been called one of the greatest television flops.<ref>[http://www.businesspundit.com/7-of-the-most-expensive-flops-in-television-history/ "7 Of The Most Expensive Flops In Television History: 1. Supertrain."] ''www.businesspundit.com'', January 31, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.</ref> The show finished 69th out of 114 shows during the 1978–79 season, with an average 15.7 rating and 25 share.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvratingsguide.com/2017/07/1978-79-top-30-ratings-abc-enjoys.html |title=1978-79 Ratings History -- ABC Enjoys a Hattrick in 1st Place |author=J. Clawson |date=July 19, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118133719/http://www.tvratingsguide.com/2017/07/1978-79-top-30-ratings-abc-enjoys.html |archive-date=2018-01-18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/79-OCR/BC-1979-06-18-OCR-Page-0056.pdf |title=Rounding up the ratings for 'the season' |magazine=Broadcasting |date=June 18, 1989 |page=56 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513230749/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/79-OCR/BC-1979-06-18-OCR-Page-0056.pdf |archive-date=2022-05-13 }}</ref> By the end of the series, the show had lost over half its audience with only 7.08 million viewers watching the last episode.

Before the show aired in the U.S., NBC sold it directly to the [[BBC]], the first foreign broadcaster to pick up the series. "For two runs, BBC reportedly coughed up more than $25,000 per hour episode, which if not a record series price in this market is close to it."<ref>'Supertrain' Sold to BCC Directly by NBC. (1979, January 31). ''Variety'', ''293''(13), 39.</ref> The BBC was planning to air ''Supertrain'' in the fall of 1979, after the series premiered in the U.S. in February. By selling the show to international markets, NBC hoped to offset its own development costs. After the failure of the series in the United States, the BBC never aired the show.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}