They Liked the Naked Middle-Aged Man - Joel Stein

A refreshingly honest column here on a failed television pilot from the view of a creator witnessing it's destruction at the hands of a focus group. His assessment?

Most writers dismiss focus groups as philistines who love sappy, unrealistically righteous characters and cheap jokes. They also think executives are nervous idiots who pick the safely mediocre. And most people outside the industry think that's indeed why television is so bad.

I think it's because making something good is so hard. Most books, movies, plays, albums, product design and restaurants are awful. You just see more bad TV because the medium makes it so easy to browse. My show was bad because I didn't figure out how to write a good one.

Not having witnessed the pilot to ascertain the suckiness or greatness of it, I think it's worth applauding the honesty to admit that not everything we create is a Michaelangeloesque work of art and it often benefits us to just fess up to a "My Bad" every once in a while. Failing in the aim of achieving that greatness means you're pushing your limits. Of course, if becomes habitual, it just indicates the need for a new hobby.