that a lot of their pilots (pretty much everything but the comedies) were foundering, but until I actually put the list together, I didn't really grasp just how much trouble they're in.Various disasters from last year's development slate have led to quite a few new pilots for fall. I'll be posting clips of everything in the coming weeks, but for now, see below to see who made it and who didn't. I certainly hope their coming agenda has some winners because after last season, all they're really left with are modest ratings-getters and aging used-to-be powerhouses...
There really haven't been a whole lot of surprises with this year's upfronts, but ABC at least tried to shake things up with their pair of bubble shows, but only in that they were more generous than expected. For ABC, it's Network Cagematch: SciFi Edition (oooh!) between V and FlashForward. Turns out, my earlier predictions were correct.
***SHOWS THAT MANAGED TO SURVIVE, EVEN IF SOME OF THEM SHOULDN'T HAVE***
V
I'm a little surprised and a little not. I had predicted earlier that V would survive and FF would get the axe, and although I was ultimately correct, at the end of the day, I had feeling both might be canceled, given V's less-than
-stellar ratings of late. I fell off the V bandwagon a while ago, but now that it's been picked up, I'm more inclined to get caught up on the show. If only it had some characters that I actually cared about... Anyway, I think this pick-up was more than a little influenced by the fact that ABC's docket of new shows from last fall were such failures (for the most part). With the exception of a few comedies, this past year has been largely disappointing for the network. I think picking up V was more about saving face than making money. Plus, given the scheduling strategy for the show, I'm guessing they plan on plugging holes left by even less successful shows. Its ratings have been modest at best lately, but they did see a slight uptick last week. That may have been the final point it needed for a pick-up. It's only been picked up for 13 episodes though, so you can see just how much confidence ABC has...Grey's Anatomy
This one comes as no surprise whatsoever, even if maybe it should. The show's ratings aren't what they used to be, the creative aspects have been hit or miss, and many of the shows breakout stars and original cast members have either hit the road or want to. I gave up on this sucker a couple of seasons ago and have no plans to give it another shot. I'd have taken it out back and shot it a long time ago, but its ratings are some of the best on the network, so it's not going anywhere.
Private Practice
Well, at least Grey's started out as a good show... Private Practice? Yeah, not so much. I suffered through about a season and half of this one and regretted just about every minute of it. I just kept expecting it to get go
od, but instead it somehow got increasingly preachy and after school specialy. I say "somehow" because from where it started, I wouldn't have thought that was possible. It's also way soapier (and not in a good way--note the picture I chose... um, seriously?) than I can handle, so I cut this one loose ages ago (and yet, somehow, still not soon enough). I'd be cutting the dead weight if I were ABC, but the ratings are still strong enough to keep it. Blah. Poor ABC, I don't know what happened... They had a few years of being on top, but somehow everything seems to be falling apart.The Bachelor/The Bachelorette
Hour-long embarrassments to humanity with each passing episode. In a world where For the Love of Ray J gets air time, you had to know these two crap piles would survive. At least they provide hilarious cannon fodder for The Soup week-in and week-out. So in that vein, welcome back!
Modern Family, The Middle, and Cougartown
Truly, this is the only area in which ABC's development slate from last season succeeded. I don't watch The Middle or Cougartown, but Modern Family is prob
ably the funniest, sharpest comedy since Arrested Development. It has also had top ratings pretty much every single night its been on. For once, the creative and the consumer actually see eye-to-eye. Where the hell were all these viewers when the Bluths were struggling to survive? And Better Off Ted, for that matter!?! (Nope, not bitter. Not bitter at all...)Dancing with the Stars
...will obviously be back. I'm pretty sure the only way I'll ever get around to watching the show for real is if Johnny Weir competes next season, but until then, The Soup gives me as much as I'd ever want... and then some. I assume we all saw Bruno Tonioli (and I mean all of Bruno Tonioli) the other day? Wowzers, it was fun to see Joel look more than a little discombobulated by the situation. Awesome.
Castle
One of the very, very few hour-long successes for the network lately, Castle is one of my darlings and I'm thrilled it'll be back. It's nice being
able to root for a show because it's good and not just because you're desperate to see Nathan Fillion find steady work. What a nice change of pace... (What's that? You say I forgot about Drive? Yeah, so did everyone else. But don't you worry, I absoulutely sat through all four episodes just out of Whedonverse loyalty.)Desperate Housewives
...will be back again next year, even in spite of creative decline and Nicollette Sheridan's caterwauling about being assaulted by Marc Cherry. The show is getting pretty long in the tooth and the ratings aren't what they used to be, but it's a solid performer (somehow). I certainly wouldn't have shed a tear if it were canceled, but apparently someone would.
Brothers and Sisters
I watched the pilot as I recall, but that was enough for me. It's yet another of ABC's aging dramas, however, so who knows how many more seasons it has left in it. Quite frankly, if last fall's crop of pilots had been more promising, I think some of these tired, stale shows would be in much worse shape.
***SHOWS THAT JUST... DIDN'T... QUITE... SURVIVE... (by which I mean most of them crashed and burned in spectacularly embarrassing fashion)***
FlashForward
...lost the SciFi battle and was rightfully canceled (among so many others). Okay, this loss is a bit of a shame, but not really. It started off promisingly enough, poised to be ABC's answer to Lost ending and presented
one of the best pilots of last fall. But, after three sets of showrunners, a painfully earnest, self-important, and dour creative angle, and a base concept that really lends itself better to a movie of the week, people just stopped caring. Including yours truly. The show has been having its ass handed to it by its competitor on the CW for weeks. I don't know if you've met TV, but that's an insult. (Even if the show it's up against is The Vampire Diaries, which is awesome, big four shows are almost never beaten by the fare on the red-headed stepchild CW). In the show's defense? The four-month hiatus really didn't help the already slow momentum of the story, but ultimately, I don't think this show had much of a chance anyway. Geez, you'd think a show about a global catastrophe would be enthralling, not tedious. You'd be wrong, apparently.Better Off Ted
It comes as absolutely no surprise, but it still hurts. In all honesty though, the second season was a Dollhouse-sized miracle, so I'm mostly just grateful it survived that long. The anemic ratings, ridiculous
scheduling schema, and show/brand mismatch never gave Veridian Dynamics a real chance. Sigh. You will be missed, show. Sorely missed. Oh, who am I kidding with this "will be missed" crap. I've been missing the show for months and am still wondering if they're ever going to air the rest of it! Note to ABC, AIR THE LAST TWO EPISODES. finally This show had so many great one-liners and laugh-out-loud moments that it's hard to choose just one, but in the end, my parting quote from the show simply had to come from Veronica. "I'm thinking I might need new breasts. These are covered in sadness." So long, awesometacular show, so long...Scrubs
The show that just wouldn't die finally, finally has. After I don't know how many seasons on two different networks, the peeps at Sacred Heart can finally get new jobs and move on with their lives. I only caught this show on occasion, and not at all during the past few seasons, so I certainly won't miss it. From what I hear about Scrubs 2.0: The New Class (i.e. this past season), neither will anyone else.
The Deep End
Wow. Just, wow (the show, not the fact that is was cancelled). This was one of the most painful misfires I've sat through (although, to its credit, I did make it through the whole pilot--an accolade not afforded to all, Miami Medical). Grey's Anatomy + Lawyers = Awful, apparently. Yikes. It won't be missed.
Happy Town
Who's happy now!? Not ABC, that's for sure. This show never had a chance (and never should have been greenlit in the first place) and ABC knew it. I didn't even make it through the pilot. Aside from the fact that the pilot was bad, bad, bad, I
knew the show had no chance, so I wasn't willing to give it much attention. I wasn't too keen on this one the second it stole Amy Acker away from Dollhouse, which was a slap in the face, but then to find that she ventured outside the Whedonverse for a show that's insanely awful? Well, that's just more like when you're stomping grapes on live TV and you fall and make a lot of really inhuman sounds and then the show anchors try desperately not to laugh at you while feigning concern for your well-being... "Gee, Phil, I sure hope she's okay." "Me too, Karen. In other riveting news, kittens were born yesterday..."Romantically Challenged
Has been canceled after only 3 episodes aired. In my opinion? That's about two and three quarters episodes too many. This show's title alone was begging for cancellation, so this comes as no surprise whatsoever. "Comedically Challenged", "Ratings Challenged", "Acting Challenged" (holy hell, ACTING CHALLENGED indeed)... When those are the review titles floating around, you know the end is near. Hopefully this means
Alyssa Milano can guest star on Castle again... you know, a show that doesn't suck.Ugly Betty
You know, I never watched a single episode of this show. Not even the pilot. I hear it was good... Maybe someday I'll give it a shot... No, probably not... (What can I say? I have a very busy viewing schedule as is, and given the number of shows I have waiting for me on DVD, I'm afraid Betty and her braces just never made it onto the list, and likely never will.)
The Forgotten
How's this for sad? The Forgotten was so bad and was cast aside so long ago that I forgot to put it on this list initially... Heh. Same goes for Hank, which doesn't even warrant a heading. Fortunately I'll never have to remember it ever again. Unless of course I end up on some sort of gameshow that focuses on embarrassing amounts of televisual acuity... (No, no, no, that's not my life's ambition at all. Silly rabbits.)
Lost
...is finally coming to an end, but you already knew that. Unlike Ugly Betty, this is a show that I absolutely intend to see one day. When will that day be? Who the hell knows, but at least it's been penciled in (quite an honor, I hear).
No comments:
Post a Comment