The Big C

I just finished watching the last show of the last season of the television series The Big C on Showtime.  If you are in healthcare marketing, or healthcare in general, it is enlightening beyond belief.

Holy f%#kb@*ls.  Excuse my language choice.

The show completely blew me away and completely took me off guard.

Sure, I knew it was the last show of the last season of The Big C.  What I hadn't calculated upfront was that the last season was four episodes and that there were four seasons ... each corresponding to the four stages of cancer ... with the last show being the loss to cancer.

Holy f%#kb@*ls.  It nailed me.

This is the first tv show that I have ever seen, or really any entertainment property, that tackled cancer head-on, stage by stage.  The downs and the ups, the horrifying moments and the tender moments, the set-backs and the advances.  Every emotion you can imagine, minus the happy ending.

The clincher was when the main character finally got what she wanted ... quite to everyone's surprise, including the viewer.  I won't do a spoiler here, you'll have to see it yourself, in the last episode.

Suffice it to say that watching the full run of The Big C is akin to taking the journey of a cancer patient, step by painful step.  It is television at its absolute finest ... because it shares, informs, motivates, and includes ... all under the guise of entertainment.

Must watch television.  What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
- President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
- Author, The Experience Effect series
- Professor, NYU
- Contributor, Entrepreneur