FAQ for
Network (1976) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Network can be found here.

No. Network is based on a script by American author Sidney "Paddy" Chayefsky [1923-1981].

After Howard Beale was read the "You Have Meddled with the Primal Forces of Nature, and You Will Atone" riot act by Mr. Arthur Jensen (the president of the network's parent company), the tenor of Beale's monologues softened and his ratings started to fall. The network execs, including Frank Hackett and Diana Christensen, wanted to dump Beale because they feared his sagging numbers would take the entire network down with him. However, they could not fire him because Mr. Jensen had taken a liking to the "new" Beale and would not allow Beale's show to be canceled. Unable to fire Beale, the network execs decide the only way to get rid of him is to have him killed: and so they enlist two audience members, including the Great Ahmed Kahn, to assassinate Beale during a live broadcast of his show.

The money-grubbing Veda Forrester [Ann Blyth] in Mildred Pierce (1945) should be enough to raise your hankles. Many find Scarlett O'Hara [Vivien Leigh] in Gone with the Wind (1939) to be infuriating, although some viewers say that they feel sorry for her at the end. Eve [Anne Baxter] in All About Eve (1950) is also high on a lot of people's detestometer.