Congressman Wants A Business Soap

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Texas congressman Jim Collins comes from Dallas, but he's no great follower of J. R. Ewing. He'd much rather see a TV series on John D. Rockefeller. "There are too many soap operas where everyone is having an affair," says the eight-term Republican. "What we need instead are shows providing viewers with constructive incentive."

Collins says the best vehicle for that is public television shows on small business. "I'd like to see public TV produce a program on how little business is the strength of the country, on how it is essential and exciting," he says enthusiastically. Big companies could be featured, too, he adds, as long as their modest origins are emphasized. "Everyone sees auto companies as big," Collins contends. But people forget that these modern-day giants "started out small, with entrepreneurs like Henry Ford leading them to success."

Collins's programming ideas don't include segments on how businesses are run. That, he admits, could be too boring. More inspirational, he says, would be programs on "people, on the dedication of small business owners, on the challenges they meet. A story on the founder of the 7-Eleven stores, which started from a small icehouse and became a retailing milestone, is the kind of thing I'd like to see."

Though such a show is still only in the idea stage, the ranking Republican on the House Telecommunications, Consumer Protection, and Finance Committee has written to numerous foundations seeking money to produce it. Public TV stations and corporations have in fact demonstrated their interest in business programming by funding the new series "Enterprise" (INC., June, page 31), which made its debut on PBS in October. But Collins "hasn't yet gotten any takers."

If his project does get off the ground, does Collins see it grabbing viewer attention? "A profile of an entrepreneur," he thinks, "could be as intriguing as a soap opera." What's more, the programs would motivate youth. "We have to have something on the airwaves that builds for our future," he says. "Right now, all we have is 'Sesame Street."