Acting Sheriff - Reaction To Response

Reaction To Response

The August 17, 1991 airing of the show was its only airing. In a December 1991 effort to raise more than $200 million to finance Disney's network television business, Disney created Zero Coupon Based Rate Adjustment Securities ("ZEBRAS") as promissory notes to be used to obtain money from the investing public. Disney added Acting Sheriff and other television projects such as Lenny, The Fanelli Boys, Singer & Sons, and STAT to the ZEBRAS. Even though Acting Sheriff and the other projects were considered "dead dogs" by some, Disney presented ZEBRAS as a way for the public to buy into programming Walt Disney Television that was started in October 1988 and profiting from possible hits similar to Blossom, Golden Girls, and Empty Nest.

The 15-year ZEBRA zero-coupon bonds carried a guaranteed yield of 4% with a promise of up to a 20% return if Acting Sheriff or any of the other included shows were sold into syndication. The bonds were seen both as innovative and controversial by tying their investment return to the performance of Disney's television shows. With analysts saying the deal was not a good one for investors, the ZEBRAS were not successful. Disney ended their offerings 23 days after the program started, citing falling interest rates as a reason for terminating the ZEBRA program.

Interest in Acting Sheriff largely remained dormant for the next thirteen years. However, in 2004, Acting Sheriff made its way onto the August 16, 2004 television show, The Best TV Shows That Never Were. As one of 40+ reviewed television pilots from a pool of thousands available pilots, clips of Acting Sheriff were used by The Best TV Shows That Never Were show to insinuate that it was one of the worst aired pilots. In reviewing The Best TV Shows That Never Were, the New York Post ranked Acting Sheriff along the lines of the pilot for a "mellow John Denver cast against type as a two-fisted FBI agent in the mountain adventure Higher Ground" and the pilot where Tom Selleck and Robert Urich co-starred in the cop drama Bun-co.