''The Will'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

that lasted only one episode, shown on January 8, 2005. It centers on the "Benefactor", a multi-millionaire from Arizona named Bill Long. Ten of his friends and relatives compete in a series of challenges to win the right to inherit his "prized possession", a large Kansas ranch. The show was created by

Mike Fleiss Mike L. Fleiss (born April 14, 1964) is an American television producer and writer. Early life Fleiss was raised in Fullerton, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley. Career He was the creator, producer, and writer of ...

, who produced '' The Bachelor'' for ABC. ''The Will'' is one of only a handful of series in American history to be pulled after one episode. In the case of ''The Will'', cancellation was due to very low ratings. Despite receiving a heavy promotional push from CBS, the program averaged only 4.2 million viewers during its 8:00-9:30PM ET/ PT time slot, which made it CBS's lowest-ranked show of the week. The following Saturday, the network replaced it with a re-run of ''

Cold Case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...

'', a crime drama. The cancellation defied expectations published in some media that the show would be a hit, and would become a topic of conversation among viewers. The quick cancellation of ''The Will'' was lampooned on an episode of the ABC late night talk show ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' with a montage of clips from the show, and the message "Will Miss You--January 8, 2005 - January 8, 2005." Although it was initially reported that the five remaining episodes could appear on an American cable network, they eventually did air on the

Fox Reality Channel Fox Reality Channel was an American pay television channel. It was launched on May 24, 2005, and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were originally on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network (or produced by Fo ...

not long afterwards, and all six episodes aired in New Zealand beginning in December 2005. In the final episode, Long's fourth wife Penny (widely seen as the show's villain) became the overall winner. In 2005, ''The Will'' was one of several television programs cited in a

class-action lawsuit A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

filed by the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

concerning labor law violations.

Episodes

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Will 2000s American reality television series 2005 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings CBS reality television shows Television series canceled after one episode

Episodes

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References

External links