How ‘Big Deals’ Were Made

When Sony set its sights on Columbia Pictures in 1989, the plot twists were like something out of a movie--a costly one.

The Japanese giant badly wanted Peter Guber and Jon Peters, the ponytailed lawyer and the former hairdresser, to head the studio, which meant buying their production company as well as their services.

When Sony’s chairman reluctantly agreed to their price but insisted on securing a deal for Columbia first, the duo countered with a now-or-never ultimatum. Sony blinked. Its commitments snowballed. After paying full retail for Columbia, Sony met another hitch: the apparent formality of getting Guber and Peters out of their Warner Bros. distribution pact. Sony supposedly slighted Warner’s chief by approaching an underling first, a blunder that spurred a billion-dollar lawsuit. All told, Sony’s ticket to Hollywood ended up costing $6 billion.

Ego, leverage and timing are among the common factors in the high-stakes showdowns that have become turning points in corporate history, as the History Channel shows in an engaging miniseries, “Big Deals: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.”

The series, hosted by Geoff Colvin from Fortune magazine, starts tonight with a 90-minute doubleheader: the Sony saga followed by a look at the sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $100,000 in 1919, a deal that still needs to be discussed gingerly in the presence of Boston Red Sox fans.

One-hour installments follow over the next three nights. Tuesday’s show explores the interlocking deals in 1980 that turned Microsoft into, well, Microsoft, and the fight for control of “I Love Lucy,” which helped change how TV shows are made and distributed. Wednesday’s episode covers Seagram’s controversial gamble on MCA Entertainment and Ray Kroc’s lopsided deal with the brothers who founded McDonald’s. Thursday is devoted to the battle over RJR/Nabisco during the 1980s leveraged-buyout boom.

The production tries too hard at times to stir drama, with insistent music and corny (but mercifully short) reenactments of boardroom faceoffs. Even so, the interviews with central players and historians are insightful, and the Ruth chapter is especially fun.

In Boston, fans say the decision by owner Harry Frazee to sell Ruth jinxed the franchise, creating “the curse of the Bambino.” If that sounds farfetched, the scoreboard says the Yanks have since won 26 World Series championships, becoming arguably the most successful sports team ever, and the Sox none.

Frazee, who saw Ruth as a self-centered distraction, figured he could bolster his whole team by buying other players with the cash. Of course, the Bambino flourished in the New York limelight, clobbering his home run record with 54 the next year in a taste of things to come.

Despite his infamy, Frazee made out financially, selling the Sox a few years later at a hefty profit.

“I have to believe that Harry Frazee knew what he was doing,” said Boston sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy. “He made a bad baseball move in the interest of his own finances.”

In the deal-making game, everyone has their own strategy.

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“Big Deals: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly” can be seen at 9 p.m. today through Thursday on the History Channel. The series is rated TV-G (suitable for all ages).