PC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like they're getting ready to douse it with
> gasoline and toss that cigarette on it....


The TV show "Supertrain". Once again proof that you can't make money on passenger trains.

From Wikipedia:

Supertrain is an American adventure-drama television series that ran on NBC from February 7 to May 5, 1979. Nine episodes were made, including a 2-hour pilot episode.

The series takes place on the Supertrain, a nuclear-powered bullet train that is equipped with amenities more appropriate to a cruise ship. It has luxuries such as swimming pools, shopping centers, a gym, library, medical center, and a discotheque. It is so big it has to run on very broad gauge track.

Supertrain was the most expensive series ever aired in the United States at the time. The production was beset by problems, including a model train that crashed. NBC paid $10 million for a total of three sets of trains, all different sizes.

While the series was heavily advertised during the 1978-1979 season, it received poor reviews and low ratings. The 2-hour premiere was out-rated by a 2-hour special of Charlie's Angels, and received a 21.8 rating and 32 share, ranking it 17th for the week.

Despite attempts to salvage the show by replacing its producer, reworking the cast and the show's genre (even adding a laugh track in the ninth episode, turning the intended action-drama into something that more resembled a sitcom), it went off air after only three months.

NBC, which had produced the show itself, with help from Dark Shadows producer Dan Curtis, was unable to recoup its losses from the high production costs.

In 2002, TV Guide ranked Supertrain number 28 on its "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time" list.