• by Paul Gough , December 5, 2002

Some quality TV shows never make it past the first season or even the first month or two, owing to competition or a misunderstood premise or some other reason. But a handful over the past 50 years will get a new if brief life in a monthlong revival on Trio.

The channel, which bills itself as the popular arts provider, reaches 17.5 million mostly urban and suburban homes nationwide. Owned by Vivendi's Universal Television Group, Trio has made a splash in recent weeks with its campaign for Brilliant, But Cancelled Television Month. Its aggressive promotion has included a wrap around the Sunday New York Times television supplement and purchased air time to run 90 minutes of programming on a TV station in Philadelphia, where Trio hasn't been able to acquire a strong presence yet.

Brilliant, But Cancelled's premise is simple. Take eight shows that should have made it but didn't, and give them the play and laurels they deserve. And create three original documentaries that look at the making of TV shows, successful or canceled. The shows include Robert Altman's Gun, which ran as a midseason replacement on ABC in 1997; Action, with Jay Mohr and Illeana Douglas; Now and Again, a CBS show that ran from September 1999 to May 2000; and the Emmy-winning The Famous Teddy Z, which lasted a season on CBS in 1989-90. There's also Kolchak: Night Stalker, a supernatural series that 20 years later inspired The X-Files and The Ernie Kovacs Show that ran from December 1952 to April 1953.

Scott Collins, Universal's vice president of special programming, says the network has been able to acquire and develop programming that reaches the urban/suburban 18-49 market. He said the programming savvy and leadership of Trio has been key to the success. He said Brilliant But Canceled generated a buzz among advertisers and viewers well before it started.

"There are so many great shows that people got hooked on and unfortunately had a short life, not in a lot of cases from a lack of quality. This is a great opportunity for viewers to catch the shows they may have missed. These are things that would never be syndicated," Collins says.

Collins says that the programming allows advertisers to break through the clutter. Trio aims at an upscale audience and it's designed to skew younger than Bravo or A&E, which he says has moved way from what Trio is trying to do.

Kevin McAuliffe, Universal's SVP of cross-platform initiatives, says the strategy is working. McAuliffe says the younger planners and buyers open meetings discussing something they've seen on Trio.

"That's spilling over into the ad community. We're seeing a lot of big-name brands come to us, having heard from us through those campaigns and those big-event efforts that they [programmers] are putting together. It's filling an environment niche that our advertisers are really craving," McAuliffe says.