Like most Jewish kids, I dreamed of one day controlling the media. Specifically, I wanted to run a TV network. As I grew older, this became less of a possibility, partly because a big part of being a network executive seemed to involve owning a suit. But then my digital-cable box neared 200 channels, designer-outlet stores became more prevalent, and my dream moved within reach. ... Testing how thoroughly I could ruin Trio's reputation as the smartest channel on cable, I got Andrew Cohen, vice president of Original Programming, to green-light Good Clean Porn, a series where I would show adult films without the sex scenes and introduce them, Alistair Cooke style, sitting in a leather chair and smoking a pipe. For the week, Trio even changed its slogan from "Pop, Culture, TV" to "Joel, Stein, TV" and had me introduce each show. They also had me write and host a half-hour show of clips from my selections. It was about 12 hours into the day of shooting that it struck me that I wasn't getting paid for any of my work: not the hosting, the months of programming, the Good Clean Porn show or the My Trio idea. Trio is indeed the smartest network in the world. My Life as a TV Executive |
