The Ratings Game, is a 1984 cable TV-movie directed by Danny DeVito and produced by David Jablin. Vic DeSalvo is a successful New Jersey trucking magnate with a desire to make it big as a Hollywood producer - but he has no talent. He hawks his scripts and ideas from one network executive to another, but he is turned down at each attempt. Finally, he meets an executive who has just been fired, and to revenge himself, he accepts Vic's script and arranges for a pilot episode to be filmed. The resultant episode is abysmally awful, both in acting and story, but Vic is only inspired to greater... heights. He decides to act as well as write and direct. He throws a huge party to make himself known to "le tout Hollywood", but no-one comes, except Francine , a statistician at a ratings agency. They fall in love. When Francine is passed over for a promotion by her philandering and incompetent boss, she reveals to Vic how the ratings system can be by-passed and results fixed. They conspire to run a scam that will make Vic's programmes the most-watched on television. The scam works and Vic is voted best new actor at a grand awards ceremony.
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| Network: | The Movie Channel |