King of Hollywood-Chapter 234 - 232 Amazing Ratings

Chapter 234: 232 Chapter: Amazing Ratings

Chapter 234: 232 Chapter: Amazing Ratings

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After returning to Los Angeles, Adrian’s life became much easier. Although the cast of “The Professional” had returned a day earlier because of their trip to Miami and New Orleans, it didn’t mean that post-production work had to start immediately. He decided to take a vacation and rest for a few days—after all, there was plenty of time this year.

As for other aspects, there were professionals from his companies handling things; he just needed to stay updated through Charlize and give his own opinions whenever necessary. Being a boss was like that—some things needed his direct control, but others did not. If everything required his personal intervention, what was the point of having professionals?

However, though his workload had decreased, his personal life troubles had increased. For example, arranging dates properly had become an issue. Last time, when he was dealing with Pixar’s acquisition in Los Angeles, both Monica and Julia had called to ask him out, hence the teasing from Charlize while they were getting cozy in the small room at the party.

Furthermore, the gossip about him and Julia had resurfaced in the public eye. The rumors had faded over time, as, besides the initial photos, there were no more concrete pieces of evidence, and their constant ambiguous responses had also helped cool down the hype.

But at the end of June, when the trailer for “Four Weddings and a Funeral” was released, the rumors resurfaced as Adrian had initially declared that he had specially invited Julia to play the female lead. Though most journalists camped outside Julia’s villa, Adrian was careful. He was nearly caught by them on the day he left Julia’s secluded little villa in Santa Monica, where they had spent a pleasurable four days recalling their wild times there, hence he wasn’t too vigilant about his surroundings. It was only when leaving a nearby convenience store he noticed several suspicious figures around. Fortunately, Adrian wore a hat and quickly warned Julia through his phone not to go outside. The paparazzi, possibly only hearing rumors of their presence, didn’t stay long — a few hours in one place was nothing out of the ordinary for them.

Nevertheless, tabloids still published articles with headlines like “Adrian and Julia suspected of spending the weekend in Santa Monica,” employing sensationalist rhetoric that attracted quite an audience.

Adrian didn’t take these too seriously. If it weren’t for the need to drum up publicity for “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” he wouldn’t mind making it public. Moreover, since the publicity had worked fairly well, and critics had shown interest, he even stirred up more rumors.

Nothing serious, just got photographed with Monica while dining in an Italian restaurant. He initially planned to enter her house and leave half an hour later, but considering Julia’s feelings, he decided just to walk Monica to the door.

When Adrian was leaving, Monica’s gaze carried a bit of melancholy, but she didn’t say much; she and Julia were different, after all. Therefore, Adrian took good care of her, bringing her back to his villa in turbulent times and making good use of every possible opportunity, resulting in Monica spending the entire next day in bed.

Actually, it wasn’t as dramatic as it sounded. Most news still headlined with “Adrian finds a new love?” while a few followed with “Monica and Adrian rekindle old flames?” In any case, they just rehashed how Adrian had called Monica his Muse at Cannes the previous year to suggest they might be dating.

In summary, without sufficient evidence, be it with Julia or Monica, no incontrovertible photo of them being intimate was captured. Given Adrian’s status, which differed from that of a regular celebrity, common folks might not be aware, but the media surely knew, so they still played by the rules. Even the unrestrained tabloids could only speculate about his possible liaisons.

“You’ve been quite the sensation lately, Ed,” Claude laughed over the phone.

“Should I say thanks then?” Adrian replied irritably, “Look, Claude, I didn’t call to hear this.”

“Alright, alright,” Claude sighed, “Such an impatient guy, then let’s start with…”

Claude was much busier, constantly watching Redstone and Diller fighting over Paramount, keeping tabs on the early stages of the acquisition of TBS, and paying attention to the situation in Japan—Clinton’s administration had definitively forced the yen to appreciate. However, the Japanese had already lost a significant portion of their savings during the last crisis, so even if they could scrape”},{“together more this time, it wouldn’t compare to their previous losses.

Still, every little bit counts, and Adrian’s resources now were incomparable to what they had been before. Even if the yields were minimal, cautious management would ensure they weren’t too far short of previous gains.

Moreover, in addition to that, Claude had made several good acquisitions, such as acquiring the well-known Evora Publishing Company and merging it with its subsidiary, and acquiring United Kingdom’s Bullfrog Games Company and Edos Game Company. Adrian wasn’t clear about the former’s capability, but he did have some impression of the game they were developing called “Theme Park,” which was quite good. As for the latter, oh, they had developed the game “Tomb Raider!”

“You mentioned this game company to me, and after analyzing and discussing, I felt that their cost-effectiveness was good, and their prospects were also promising, so I bought them,” Claude said.

Well, Adrian admitted it was quite a surprise if their 3D engine had already been made, then it would be perfect to turn the novel “Tomb Raider” into a game.

Thus, “Resident Evil” could also be considered for game development, why not entrust it to Silicon & Synapse—oh, they had already formally renamed it, ah, Blizzard Studio, upon his suggestion. Though having them develop the game was somewhat odd, it didn’t matter; it was perfect since Pixar was laying off some game programmers, and they could merge with some personnel here into a small department specifically dedicated to developing the games he wanted.

When Adrian initially bought Silicon & Synapse, he had also promised not to interfere with specific operations, so they would certainly fulfill such a small request; he was eager to see what an American-styled “Resident Evil” would look like.

“By the way, I’m now eager to buy TBS; I wonder if you can still create miracles.” After discussing a few work-related matters, Claude suddenly said.

“I do have some ideas, and if handled well, they could potentially become classic, but reaching such a height could be rather difficult,” Adrian thought for a moment and then responded.

“Your rating of this TV show is so high?” Claude asked in surprise.

“Of course, I know my own ideas very clearly,” Adrian said leisurely.

This TV show was naturally NBC’s “Friends,” which premiered in late June. Although it was scheduled at the beginning of summer, NBC had started advertising early, not only occasionally showing clips in trailers to whet people’s appetites, but also specifically highlighting that the ideas came from Miracle Director Adrian, thereby attracting quite a bit of attention. Especially after Adrian’s scandal was exposed, they even made a small display out of it.

Thanks to NBC’s relentless advertising campaign, the first episode of “Friends” directly reached a viewership of 35% upon airing, which for a new show, was extraordinary data. However, this was just the beginning—when the second episode aired, the figure rose to 45%! And recently, after the third episode aired, it jumped directly to 55%!

Such a triple jump, although not entirely unmatched in the future in American dramas, was definitely unprecedented. The humorous language and funny daily lives of the characters resonated with many Americans. After watching, numerous people called NBC requesting repeats. Seeing the popularity of the show, NBC conveniently arranged for daytime slots, and many who had watched it chose to watch it again. At the same time, those who had missed it for various reasons also took the opportunity to watch, so the viewership for the reruns was not much less than the premieres.

Facing this situation, NBC was naturally overjoyed, as the surprising and even terrifying viewership prompted many advertisers to come knocking with cheques, offering high advertising fees, which also meant considerable profits for Bossworth Film Company. Besides, it also boosted NBC’s stocks, simply adding tens of millions in revenue.

At the same time, “Friends” also received unanimous praise from critics. Although only three episodes had aired so far, many already considered it a wonderful piece of work.

“Six unique characters each with their own traits, performing ordinary yet interesting stories in the city of New York, the screenwriters and director handle humor in life just right, it feels like it’s happening around us, plus the brilliant performances of the six actors, no wonder it’s so popular, we totally have reason to expect more from the upcoming episodes,” that’s what renowned critic Ciarán Hinds wrote in the Washington Post.

In summary, the most popular TV show in the United States in the first half of the year was none other than “Friends,” which had only broadcast three episodes, and the most popular character was none other than the ditsy Rachel Green—this was based on a public opinion survey especially conducted by NBC. Jennifer Aniston’s sweet image and the rich character of the role received the majority’s support.

No wonder Claude expressed such a sentiment; if this TV show had been broadcast on TBS’s channel, he could have fully seized the opportunity to expand the original network even further.

Adrian, of course, understood this regret, but unfortunately, he had no better solution, as he couldn’t be sure that no similar type of TV show would appear before then. Thus, he could only take preemptive action, and the regret just had to be left as regret.

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