I have always been fascinated by television disasters. Not the shows that simply failed because they were unlucky or up against tough competition. I’m talking about the shows where you look at the concept and immediately ask yourself, “What were they thinking?”
One of the greatest examples in television history is Pink Lady (and Jeff).
Now technically, the show’s title was Pink Lady. NBC added “(and Jeff)” to the opening credits because comedian Jeff Altman served as the host and translator between the audience and the Japanese pop duo Pink Lady. But let’s be honest. Nobody calls it Pink Lady. Everyone remembers it as Pink Lady and Jeff. Even people who never saw the show know it by that name.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Pink Lady was one of the biggest musical acts in Japan. They sold millions of records and were genuine superstars. Somewhere along the line, NBC executives looked at their success and decided that American audiences would embrace them as well. There was just one small problem. Pink Lady barely spoke English.
That little detail somehow didn’t stop the network from building an entire prime-time variety show around them.
I would love to have been in the meeting where this idea was approved. Imagine the presentation. “We have this wildly successful Japanese singing duo. Most Americans have never heard of them. They don’t speak much English. Let’s give them a weekly network television show.”
At what point did nobody raise their hand?
Every bad business decision I’ve ever seen has one thing in common. Nobody wants to be the person who points out the obvious flaw. People assume someone else has already done the homework. They assume somebody higher up must know something they don’t. So they nod along and the bad idea gains momentum until it becomes reality.
That’s how you end up with a show like Pink Lady (and Jeff).
The strange thing is that nobody involved lacked talent. Pink Lady was enormously successful in Japan. Jeff Altman was a talented comedian. The producers had experience. NBC had resources. Yet all the talent and money in the world couldn’t overcome a concept that never made much sense in the first place.
The show featured musical performances, comedy sketches, celebrity guests, and the standard variety-show formula that had worked for decades. The problem was that the entire premise felt forced. American audiences had no connection to Pink Lady. Language barriers made comedy
sketches awkward. The chemistry never developed. The show felt like a network trying to manufacture a hit rather than allowing one to develop naturally.
The ratings reflected that reality.
The show lasted just six episodes before NBC canceled it. Six episodes. That’s barely enough time for a new show to find an audience. In the television business, that’s the equivalent of pulling a pitcher in the first inning after giving up a grand slam.
What fascinates me about television failures is that they often teach the same lessons as business failures. Success in one market doesn’t guarantee success somewhere else. Just because something works in Tokyo doesn’t mean it automatically works in New York. Just because a product is successful doesn’t mean the public wants more of it in a different format. And perhaps most importantly, not every successful person needs their own television show.
I’ve seen similar mistakes throughout my career. Companies see someone succeeding in one area and assume that success automatically translates elsewhere. They spend money chasing an idea because they are focused on the upside while ignoring the obvious warning signs. Then when the project fails, everyone acts surprised.
The truth is that most disasters are predictable. The warning signs are usually there from the beginning. People simply choose not to see them.
That’s why Pink Lady (and Jeff) remains such a fascinating case study. It wasn’t a failure because people didn’t try. It wasn’t a failure because people lacked talent. It failed because the fundamental concept was flawed from the start.
And yet, that’s what makes it memorable.
Forty-six years later, nobody talks about the hundreds of average television shows that came and went during that era. But people still remember Pink Lady (and Jeff) because it has become shorthand for a spectacularly misguided television idea.
Which brings me back to my favorite question.
What were they thinking?
The scary answer is that they probably thought they had a hit on their hands.
And that’s exactly why I love studying television disasters. They remind us that smart people, successful people, and experienced people are all capable of convincing themselves that a terrible idea is actually brilliant.
Sometimes the most important skill in business, television, or life is having someone in the room willing to say, “This isn’t going to work.”
Apparently nobody was willing to say that at NBC in 1980.
