tentpole

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sat, 2 Jul 2005 00:41:18 +0200, Chris Waigl <cwaigl at FREE.FR> wrote:

>Mullins, Bill wrote:
>>Apparently "tentpole" means "movie" here:
[...]
>>The embargo on reviews for the Tom Cruise tentpole comes straight from
>>Paramount in the U.S. and has been rolled out in Europe by distributor
>>United International Pictures.
[...]
>>http://nonsportupdate.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/958604453/m/5491078011
>
>>From http://www.nobody-knows-anything.com/glossary.html :
>
>*tentpole movie*
>A movie expected to be a blockbuster that will earn most of the money a
>studio makes during a given season, usually summer. The tentpole movie
>is usually the start or an installment in a franchise. /Independence
>Day/ was a tentpole movie; /Godzilla/ was a failed tentpole movie.

Apparently popularized in the mid-'80s by Paramount exec Frank Mancuso:

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New York Times, 4 June 1987, p. C21 (Nexis)
Mr. Mancuso describes "Beverly Hills Cop II" as a "tent pole" movie. Each
year Paramount makes several high-budget films "that because of content,
star value or story line have immediate want-to-see and are strong enough
to support your entire schedule," he said.
-----
Newsweek, 22 June 1987, p. 62 (Nexis)
Mancuso designed the film as a "tent pole," one of a number of projects
meant to prop Paramount up through other, inevitable bombs.
-----

The movie biz probably borrowed the term from TV broadcasting:

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http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561538104/tent_pole.html
tent pole
slot for popular program: the time slot for a popular television program
that is preceded or followed by a weak one ( slang )
[< a graphic representation of ratings]
-----

Nexis has cites for this sense back to 1979:

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Newsweek, 28 May 1979, p. 62 (Nexis)
Turning to tactics, the NBC president painstakingly outlined the rationale
for his fall game plan, explaining that he was applying the "tent pole"
theory of scheduling that marked his triumphal reign at ABC. Basically,
this means slotting a network's strongest shows in the 9 p.m. period in
the hope that they will lure viewers to new shows running before and after
them.
-----
PR Newswire, 22 Apr. 1985 (Nexis)
In TV land, a "tentpole" is a show that is successful for a network on an
otherwise poor rating night.
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New York Times, 27 Aug. 1985, p. C16 (Nexis)
Mr. Tartikoff, describing what he called his "tent-pole positions" of new
programming, mentioned "Helltown," a program about a tough minister played
by Robert Blake, the renovation of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and "The
Golden Girls."
-----

An even earlier TV usage refers to the central characters on a soap opera:

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New York Times (Magazine), 8 Sep. 1968, p. 143
Helen Wagner, the actress who plays the role, calls her "a tentpole
character. Nothing ever happens to Nancy; she's the one the others come
and talk to."
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Washington Post, 17 Aug. 1980, p. L8
Almost every show is built around the "core" family or "tentpoles," as
Carey calls his part. Although it is axiomatic that everyone is
replaceable, tentpoles are the exception. "Tentpoles are irreplaceable,"
says producer Al Ragin. "If one leaves the show, the part is never
recast."
-----
Newsweek, 28 Sep. 1981, p. 60 (Nexis)
When launched in 1963, its male-and-female "tentpoles" -- trade jargon for
the central characters upon whom most plots are hung -- were Dr. Steve
Hardy (John Beradino), the hospital's fatherly chief of staff, and Jessie
Brewer (Emily McLaughlin), its saintly head nurse.
-----


--Ben Zimmer