NBC took an enormous risk, spending an insurmountable amount of money on a show centered around a sci-fi train in 1979. The creators designed the luxurious train to travel through cities and gave the series one of the biggest budgets television had ever seen.
On the other hand, making such a grandiose attempt at creating the show forced producers to try anything and everything to boost its ratings. Although it offered stunning visual effects, ‘Supertrain‘ soon derailed. But what was the reason behind pulling the plug on the show after such a huge investment?
‘Supertrain’ Sky-High Ambitions Ultimately Became Its Greatest Weakness
In choosing to support ‘Supertrain‘ in 1979, NBC saw an opportunity to produce an exciting new show that would transport its viewers to a futuristic world. NBC created a luxurious train complete with all of the resources you would find in a big city—pools, stores, restaurants, and medical facilities.
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To build the required set, NBC was willing to pay any price. The network built extensive sets and used train miniatures to achieve the desired effect.
It is estimated that NBC invested over $10 million in the show without even knowing how well the audience would receive it. Supertrain became the most expensive television show ever produced at the time.
NBC was counting on the show’s uniqueness to draw viewers’ attention and help it become the network’s new flagship series.
Unfortunately, the high cost of production left NBC with no margin for error, as anything less than spectacular success would be perceived as failure. However, while NBC tried hard to create a spectacular show, it failed to address the main element: storytelling.
Stunning Visuals Failed To Hide Its Narrative Problems
Although the show’s visuals were breathtaking, it soon lost its appeal. Both critics and viewers found many faults in ‘Supertrain‘ because it paid too much attention to showing off its luxurious train and too little to developing good stories or appealing characters.
The show used the same formula as ‘The Love Boat,’ in which celebrities performed self-contained stories aboard the ship. However, the viewers could not relate to the characters or the stories, and the futuristic setting could not compensate for the script’s poor writing.
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As the ratings started to decline, NBC resorted to drastic measures to revive the series. The network changed producers, the show’s mood, the cast, and even tried to change its name. However, none of those tricks worked out.
After just nine episodes, the network canceled the series, and a promising flagship project became the biggest flop in television history.
Now, people remember ‘Supertrain‘ as a cautionary tale about the dangers of prioritizing spectacle over substance, and as proof that even the largest budgets cannot compensate for a failure to engage viewers.
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