XXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1999 18:01:22 ET XXXXX

NBC'S Y2K SCARE MOVIE SET FOR AIR; NETWORK PRESS RELEASES BLUR NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Anticipation is building for NBC's upcoming Y2K scare movie, now set to run during a sweet November Sweeps spot.

The fuss film, set to air on November 21, has been criticized for exploiting and cashing in on the nation's Y2K fears.

Last month a lawmaker on the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem blasted the project: "This is one of the most irresponsible things to ever come out of Hollywood! Why is NBC doing this? There are going to end up scaring people into a complete panic. Shame, shame, shame on them!"

Even though NBC is planning to run a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie -- "This program does not suggest or imply that any of these events could actually occur" -- producers of Y2K now admit that they set out to exploit the situation.

"My slogan while making the movie was, 'Paranoia is our most important product,'" said Y2K executive producer David Israel.

Plot line of NBC's Y2K:

It starts with a news flash: An F-18 falls out of the sky at 12:01:40 somewhere in the South Seas. Soon ATM glitches show up everywhere. Machines limit angry customers to $20 a pop. The lights go out in Paris. The Times Square blacks out; so do Philadelphia and Scranton. 911 is cut. A 72-year-old woman dies on the operating table, becoming the first Y2K death. A nuclear meltdown in Sweden kills all plant workers. Soon, a nuke plant in Seattle teeters.

"As the millenium dawns in North America, most of the Eastern Seaboard suffers a major power outage," NBC said in a press release. "But the worst is yet to come. Nick [a complex systems failure expert consulting the government played by actor Ken Olin] must stay ahead of the unpredictable Y2K bug as it spreads across the United States threatening everyone, including his own family on the West Coast."

"Drudge, this is a movie, this is entertainment," an NBC executive said over lunch in Burbank on Friday.

"No one is going to run to the banks on Monday morning after watching this film."

The executive conceded that the network may have gone too far this week when it issued a press release suggesting that Y2K was a game.

"PLAY THE 'Y2K' DOOMSDAY MOVIE QUIZ" blasted NBC in a flash on the ASSOCIATED PRESS EXPRESS wires.

A press pusher named Cathryn Boxberger in NBC's "Entertainment Publicity Department" also issued a press release on Wednesday titled "Y2K' BITES AND BYTES" to hype the film.

Boxberger reported: "The State Department is advising against travelling abroad during the days following December 31st. Sources quoted in Washington expect telephone and power failures as well as water shortages in many foreign travel destinations."

Boxberger continued: "Citizens who fear that their savings are in jeopardy due to the bug are expected to withdraw heavily from their accounts in the days leading up to the new year. However, the government warns, the greater millennium risk is of being robbed of all that cash."

Boxberger appeared to be using recent NBC NEWS Y2K items -- twisting them into scare flashes to hype the film.

"Report after report has come out telling us that the biggest Y2K fear is fear itself, and GE, of all companies, pulls this stunt!" said a news executive from a rival network.

Developing...

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), November 13, 1999

Answers

Ray,

This movie, you can bet, is endorsed by the powers that be. The controled panic is in very good shape. If the powers that be did not want this movie aired it would not be aired. THEY control EVERYTHING.

-- Not Saying (not@saying.com), November 13, 1999.

I just can't believe this kind of movie is going to be shown. It is going to cause alot of havoc. The people in this country are so easily manipulated by the media.

Ron

-- ron (rrest@hotmail.com), November 13, 1999.

Kosky's girl said at the DCY2K conference that the story would begin to change in mid October...perhaps the movie is a substitute they realized would do the same thing...get people to stock up in December when typically the store shelves are cramed with food.

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), November 13, 1999.

To All;

As a firm believer that if TBTB did not want this film on it would not be shown. I have a feeling that "focus groups" have reviewed this and it will bring a "Been there Done that" feeling to the sheeple and they will walk down the ramp to 010100...Judus Goat....

One mans opinion...

Things will get worse before they get better.

-- Helium (Heliumavid@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999.

Isn't there an Earthquake Movie tomorrow (Sun.)?

Think after watching it people will move from So.California??

Nope!!!! Don't think so.

I get this picture of Koskinen sitting back smugly smiling with the satisfaction that he did such a tremendous job at putting people to sleep, that they can now show a movie and none of the walking dead will do anything!!!

-- d.B. (dciinc@aol.com), November 13, 1999.

"Nick [a complex systems failure expert consulting the government played by actor Ken Olin] must stay ahead of the unpredictable Y2K bug as it spreads across the United States threatening everyone, including his own family on the West Coast."

this is the only amusing thing about that movie. so who is our real life hero that will take care of the bug single-handedly?

any one want to put a bet on this that it only takes three days to fix and has a happy ending. maybe that will put america back to sleep so they won't panic.

-- tt (cuddluppy@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999.

A lot of people read the Drudge so it may increase the number watching.

I think we have gotten desensitized to disaster movies and special effects so it is hard to guess what impact it may have.

There have been a few movies I remember in my lifetime that did have impact and caused alot of conversation and reaction. Although short lived. Problem is between now and 2000 is also short lived. Jaws

The Excercist

The Day After

-- Hatti (klavine@tco.com), November 13, 1999.

The question is not why is this movie airing now, but why not more movies sooner?? HWOOD typically goes for this kind of thing, so why not sooner than later?? TPTB need some type of movie exposure to anticipate just how bad things will get.

-- John Carson (aztec69@prodigy.net), November 14, 1999.

AAARGH. Please stop comparing this to other disaster movies. Making a long term life changing decision based on a disaster movie - e.g. moving home, never taking planes - is NOT the same as taking a one-off precautionary action, i.e. panic stocking and clearing your account.

I really hope this film sucks as much as the previews say, so that Joe Blow just turns over in disgust. Please lobby your local broadcasters to run "Win a Million Dollars By Watching Pro-Celebrity Jelly Wresting" against it. :)

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 14, 1999.

From the teaser... "Soon, a nuke plant in Seattle teeters."

Huh?

You know how hospitals make a big deal about the first babies born in the new year? Wonder if anything special is planned for the first Y2K death?

What I expect? The NEWS media will have tie-ins to the movie that will essentially neuter it. Expect Kosky et. al. to be making the talk show scene. [Oprah on the 29th for one] Visual Prozac for all. In spite of that there WILL be enough people taking money out of the bank for banks to justify new regulations like the no-ATM-cash-for-non-customers rule. Finish preps pre-movie. Withdraw early and often.

-- Huh? (been@thistoo.long), November 14, 1999.

Ah, come on. It sounds like a great reason to have your 'sorta DWGI' friends and rellies over. Pop the corn, open the beers and dig it.

Serious GIs need all the help they can get. That's what I plan on doing, anyhoo.

-- OR (orwelliator@biosys.net), November 14, 1999.