
General Motors has made a lot of dumb decisions in their day, and three-quarters of them are still being sold to gullible car-buyers across the globe.
However, one of their biggest, boneheaded moves doesn't involve a car at all. The soon-to-be-former car manufacturing giant has announced that it's ending its 22-year run as primary sponsor for PBS filmmaker Ken Burns, and it just might end Burns' career in television as we know it.
GM was more than just a sponsor for Burns and his wonderful films. GM was his reason for existence.
The car company provided millions of dollars as an underwriter for his films, starting with The Civil War and running all the way to the absolutely brilliant The War. Without GM, it would be hard to find someone with an extra $2 million lying around that they wouldn't need or feel safer keeping buried in a jar in the backyard.
The move also spells doom for PBS. Burns' documentaries are among their highest rated programs, and it would be hard to pull in equal numbers without him. The director is as well known as his movies because of the style he invented and the attention to detail he has for his subjects. The man has a visual film effect named after him. The only thing GM has named after them is a crappy electric car that even Al Gore wouldn't drive.
I, for one, hope the unthinkable won't happen, and that 10 years from now when Burns is chronicling the second Great Depression, he'll have the last laugh when his film The Recession features the collapse of GM.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-10-2009 @ 11:57AM
kkotlows said...
Come on! GM is in the Car-making business, not the film-making business. They're losing billions of dollars. It's no great surprise that they're cutting back on handouts like this. It's just smart business.
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3-10-2009 @ 11:41AM
Mike said...
Why are you bashing GM like this? They bankrolled his documentaries for years, and then when they get into money problems they pull the plug to save money, like everyone is asking them to. This post sounded like a bitter child. Why did you hope that GM collapses? Thousands, if not millions of people would be adversely affected. Quit piling on GM, they're doing the best they can with a situation in which no one is buying any cars.
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3-10-2009 @ 11:46AM
VP said...
You are a blogger who is supposed to be writing about Paris Hilton and Wife Swap? How exactly are you qualified to talk about GM? Have you seen reliability ratings for American cars? They score much better than a lot of your favorite Japanese cars. It's because of gullible idiots like you that every American manufacturing business is going under.
When the company is fighting for it's very existence, it is supposed to be shilling out millions for some art crap? Who is the clueless fellow that actually let you publish this crap.
I for one hope somebody is chronicling your firing from this site in ten days.
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3-10-2009 @ 11:54AM
Aaron Perez said...
I found this post insulting. I'm a regular reader of TV Squad and an employee of GM. What you wrote was downright cruel and ignorant. The fact that you would worry about Ken Burns, a millionaire film maker during a time when thousands of people are losing their jobs everyday is mind boggling. GM is doing their best to stay alive and viable and save thousands if not millions of jobs around the world. You are a TV critic, not an auto industry analyst. Keep your ignorant thoughts to yourself on important issues, just for future reference.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:04PM
Brady said...
If Burns's documentaries are as wildly popular for PBS as you say, then PBS should bankroll him and attract viewers that way. In case you haven't heard, cash taken from GM is now cash taken from the taxpayers, so GM has a responsibility to spend it on saving their company, not on saving Burns.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:05PM
JR said...
Danny I allways wanted to call you a douche but that might just be pilling on at this point. Way to go pal you proved my point.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:05PM
Drex said...
That's cold.. I completely agree with the rest of the comments, you're out of touch here Danny..
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3-10-2009 @ 12:06PM
KC said...
Seriously....
I cannot believe that you are giving GM a hard time about this?????
I think it is honorable that they are making tough decisions to become viable again and here you go bashing them for it. I second everyone's comments above.
Sometimes it just seems like GM can't win. I'm not saying they're perfect, but they're working a heck of a lot harder to make things work than much of the banking industry.
Why don't you write a post complaining about AIG...oh yeah, it's ok to give CEO's million dollar bonuses while taking government money but when GM's CEO works for $1 and pulls out of a FILM (not auto related whatsoever) business, that's a big freaking deal...sigh....
I don't get it.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:17PM
Gill said...
Wow. I can not imagine a more pathetic and childish approach to this news.
Delete this post and find a more suitable topic for this writer. Perhaps reviewing The Wiggles would suit his intellectual maturity.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:19PM
jasahl said...
Wait - so manufacturing selling people cars they actually ask for is dumb (the C/K1500 is the number 2 selling vehicle on the planet - next to the F-150), but it would be much smarter to continue bankrolling something that has almost zero ROI
I love Ken Burns work, but given their cash shortage, you'd think non-vehicle producing expendatures would have been cut a long time ago...
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3-10-2009 @ 12:19PM
Scott said...
I think Ken Burns and his films are national treasures. However, I don't think that taxpayer money going to GM should be funneled into his films. As a country we should be supporting work like Burns's directly, no matter what our national economic status. But it should come from the National Endowment for the Arts, or some other organization. Not from a car company whose obvious failure in the marketplace has left it struggling for survival, and begging the federal government for handouts.
There. I'm sure I've made both sides unhappy. :-)
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3-10-2009 @ 12:27PM
Europa said...
You know what? I'm a loyal Toyota owner and even I agree with everyone else's comments here. I think you missed the mark big time with this post.
You really need to do some fact checking in regards to the trickle down effect of GM, Chrysler, et al going out of business. It's not pretty and could, inadvertantly, cause you to loose your job and not just because of this stupid post.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:33PM
Vito said...
Most of the previous posters have said it so I'll be brief. Your post was very ignorant. Stick to reviewing reality TV, as that seems to be about what you can handle.
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3-10-2009 @ 1:09PM
Miles said...
Wow. I loved everything Ken Burns has done, but you complaints with GM seem pretty hacky. These guys are broke, so they cut expenses by not funding movies ( which in the end that's all Ken Burns is making) and now they're assholes?
Can't wait for more nuggets of wisdom.
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3-10-2009 @ 1:15PM
Paul said...
All this love for a car company that has done bad business and made cars nobody wants to buy for YEARS, and yet is demanding federal money for their bad business practices? GM was going in the tank LONG before the economy began crumbling. It's unfortunate, yes, but it's true.
Danny also never said anything about AIG getting billions being a good thing, either, so I think it's rather silly to assume he thinks that way.
However, if GM goes under (which is looking more and more likely), Ken Burns would've been without the funding anyway, so I don't see how it's much different being cut out now vs. in the near future. And at least they've funded several Burns films over the years, which may not have happened had they not stepped up in the first place.
But believe it or not, the arts also create jobs. The money going from GM to Ken Burns didn't just help him make his fortunes (which are surely far less than GM execs) -- it also no doubt kept many other people employed, as well. The idea that art needs to be sacrificed due to the economy is preposterous, as 1) the arts do create jobs, and 2) the only real positive that can come out of financial uncertainty and "tough times" is strong and passionate creative pieces.
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3-10-2009 @ 1:19PM
rick cokely said...
Sounds like Rush Limbaugh wrote this post instead of Danny. Seriously, let's not wish for failure unless we're talking about Michelle Malkin or (m)Ann Coulter.
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3-10-2009 @ 2:10PM
Tracey said...
rofl, the "end" of Ken Burns and PBS...over GM pulling out of advertising? I bet you think when you feel a swollen gland you think it's cancer, planning your funeral immediately.
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3-10-2009 @ 2:57PM
CParis said...
I'm pretty sure someone with Burns reputation will be able to find another sponsor, even in these tough economic times.
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3-12-2009 @ 7:32AM
jason Blosser said...
Burns is a two-hit wonder with overt liberal leanings. Let him get a real job and make money like the rest of us. GM has every right to drop sponsorships, and considering their current financial situation, they should have done this long ago. And not just with Burns.
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