Currently on the Bubble: Half the Reasons I Watch Network TV.
Have you noticed an intoxicating scent of fear and desperation in the air recently? When you catch that scent wafting in from the general direction Hollywood, you know we’ve reached the time when the networks have begun to look very, very seriously at their schedules in order to determine which of the shows that haven’t yet earned pick-up notices for their next season actually deserve those notices. This year, the stench is particularly strong, what with the combination of Jay Leno’s new M-F 10 PM show killing five perfectly good spots for hourlong drama on NBC, the general economic situation, and the American public still not really having much of an interest in watching anything original. Keeping in mind, of course, that when I say “the American public,” I’m not talking about you…
“No, Mum, they haven’t officially canceled ‘Eleventh Hour’ yet. I’ll keep you posted, though, shall I?”
Nellie Andreeva at the Hollywood Reporter has put together a piece where she gives a rundown of what shows are still waiting to find out if they’re going to get a pink slip or a terse note saying, “Yeah, yeah, you’ve got another season, now get your ass back to work,” while Hercules over at Ain’t It Cool News has taken the work out of it for you and simply offered up three succinct lists: Likely To Return, Unlikely to Return, and 50/50.
Taking the “Likely to Return” list – “Ghost Whisperer,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Law & Order,” “Numb3rs,” “Southland,” and “Ugly Betty” – out of discussion for the moment, I don’t mind telling you that, between the other two lists, it’s highly depressing to see about half of my TiVo Season Passes get cited. (Not mentioned in the Hollywood Reporter piece is “Kings,” but I agree with Herc that it’s probably been left out because its permanent vacation at the end of its Saturday night death slot run is considered a given.) Regular Premium Hollywood readers will already know that our man John Paulsen has been covering the death knell of several of these shows and established his feelings on what he’d be bummed to see depart, but here are the five shows – one per network, so as not to be greedy – that I’d most like to see earn a reprieve from cancellation:
1. “Medium,” NBC. When NBC held its cocktail party during the January TCA tour, I spotted Glenn Gordon Caron and immediately went up to him, first to offer my praise for “Medium,” which he created, then to ask why in the heck the network hadn’t deigned to give his show its own panel when it was only days away from its fifth-season premiere. (Caron’s appearance at the party was literally the only presence “Medium” had during the tour.) He politely suggested that it was simply down to NBC’s desire to utilize its limited number of panels to their greatest promotional advantage, but to read between the lines, it meant to me that NBC doesn’t really care about “Medium” anymore. Or do they? Last year, it was one of the first shows renewed by the network, and it’s one of the few shows that’s been able to maintain a decent-sized audience in the Monday 10 PM timeslot.
But, of course, the 10 PM timeslot won’t be there next season, which begs the question, “Could ‘Medium’ be as effectual if it’s on earlier?” Well, yeah, it probably could, since the show’s best episodes owe more to psychological creepiness than anything you actually see on the screen, but it occurs to me that this is something that I really haven’t seen discussed very much in the articles about the Leno changeover: the fact that any of NBC’s edgier series that survive into the 2009 – 2010 season are presumably going to have to change their tone at least somewhat to match a 9 PM audience.
But I’m going off-topic.
Let’s hope that NBC does indeed decide to bring “Medium” back for Season 6. I’ll be the first to admit that the show’s tendency to go to commercial immediately after Alison Dubois wakes up in a cold sweat has become drinking-game worthy, but despite being about a woman who talks to dead people and has precognitive dreams, it actually features one of the most realistic portrayals of a family on television. Patricia Arquette, God love her, actually has the figure of a real woman rather than a Hollywood starlet. Sofia Vassilieva has made Ariel Dubois into one of TV’s top teens, Maria Lark is still a hoot as Bridget, and while Madison and Miranda Carabello may not prove to be the Olsen twins of their generation, they’re still darned cute as Marie Dubois. And let’s not forget Jake Weber, who, as Joe Dubois, manages to be loving, concerned, sarcastic, and downright pissed off…all of which are appropriate emotions when dealing with the life he’s found himself in. (But, hey, at least his job finally seems to be going in the right direction.) Throw in Manuel Devalos, Lee Scanlon, and, yes, even the oft-reviled Lynn DeNovi, and you’ve got what’s still one of the most creative and enjoyable series on TV.
2. “Reaper,” The CW.
Even though I know that The CW has basically thrown the show to the wolves in favor of a goddamned “Melrose Place” reboot, meaning that it’s doomed to cancellation and that I should really put “Privileged” here instead (it’s quite good, you know), I can’t just ignore the fact that I love love love this series. I’m reminded of “Jericho,” a show which started strong, got confused part of the way through its freshman season, but then finished stronger than it began and came back for Season 2 with a fucking vengeance.
So why hasn’t it secured better ratings? The biggest problem with “Reaper” is that it doesn’t have the following to be able to pull off an 8 PM timeslot, but when it’s been in the 9 PM slot, it’s never had a good lead-in. It’d be perfect if it were paired with “Supernatural,” but The CW has that whole “Smallville” / “Supernatural” duo working for them, and they won’t dare to screw with that.
I really thought the network was behind a 3rd season, given that they’d scheduled the release of the Season 2 DVD set before the second season had even premiered…get the buzz going as quickly as possible, right?…but as soon as creators Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas signed their deal with another studio, it was evident that the optimism for Season 3 had departed.
I just don’t get it. The trifecta of Sam, Ben, and Sock never fails to make for comedy gold, and Ray Wise has deserved a Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy nomination since the pilot. Maybe it’s just making light of a hellish concept like a guy having had his soul sold to the Devil? I guess we can still hold out hope that we may yet get a “Reaper” movie at some point down the line, at least, but it’s hardly much satisfaction right this second.
3. “Better Off Ted,” ABC.
As noted elsewhere on Premium Hollywood, pairing this creative show with the oft-quirky “Scrubs” was one of the best team-ups ABC’s performed in recent years. There’s talk that the network is enjoying the way the show is progressing, and it’s a given that the cast is cheaper than “In the Motherhood,” so it seems like the odds are pretty good that, if the network is going to save one of its new sitcoms, this’ll be the one to get the nod.
4. “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Fox.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it seems ludicrous that Fox would bail out on this show on the eve of a new “Terminator” film. Maybe they’ll do it, anyway, though…and if they do so and blame it on not getting good enough ratings to warrant the budget, well, you can see that as a valid reason to axe the series. “Dollhouse” is probably cheaper to produce, and they’ve already blown all that money on the show’s completely awesome set, anyway, so why not keep the Whedon-ites in their good graces? Well, frankly, because “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is the better show, with a deeper mythology. I admit that I lost track a bit during the early parts of the season, due to the sheer volume of high-quality Monday night shows, but everyone I know who watches the show has told me how solid it’s been, and it’s definitely impressed me more consistently than “Dollhouse,” so that’s why “Terminator” gets the nod here.
5. “Eleventh Hour,” CBS.
“The Unit” probably deserves this spot more, but I quite like Rufus Sewell, and the show’s blend of action, wit, and unique concepts has proven extremely enjoyable. It’s certainly not up to the standards of “Fringe,” but I’d like to see it get the chance to build for a bit longer before throwing it to the wolves.
You can follow us on Twitter @moviebuffs and on Facebook as well.
Posted in: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi
Tags: Better Off Ted, Dollhouse, Eleventh Hour, Fringe, Ghost Whisperer, Glenn Gordon caron, How I Met Your Mother, In the Motherhood, Jake Weber, Jay Leno, Jericho, Kings, Law and Order, Madison carabello, Maria Lark, Medium, Melrose Place, Michele Fazekas, Miranda Carabello, Numb3rs, Patricia Arquette, Privileged, Ray Wise, Reaper, Scrubs, Smallville, Sofia Vassilieva, Southland, Supernatural, Tara Butters, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Unit, Ugly Betty
I disagree a bit about your Reaper review. Reaper’s ratings prove it’s got a pretty decent solid fanbase. So far, at least 2 million people will follow it live no matter where the CW places it, who they place it against, or how long they take between episodes. Who knows what ratings they would get if not put up against a show that basically attracts the exact same audience?
And also, the creators leaving really doesn’t HAVE mean much IMO, although yeah, it doesn’t look good. But it’s not like the show doesn’t have a ton of people who can’t step up (they do), and lots of shows have lost their creators and gone on just fine – like Lost or Smallville.
Anyways I thought I’d let you know, we are still actively campaigning to save Reaper. It’s cancellation is not official yet, and last year at this time the show was declared dead by the biggies too. It’s a great show. If you want to join, all the links for snail and e-mail, plus links to petitions and voting opportunities are here:
http://community.livejournal.com/reaperdmv/37449.html
Oh, trust me, I *want* “Reaper” to survive…though I guess that’s obvious, given the whole theme of this piece…and I’m totally behind any efforts that may exist to save it, even if the Hollywood Reporter did actually use the phrase, “Over at the CW, ‘Reaper’ is gone.”
I will say, however, that last month, I actively pursued an interview with someone from the cast – preferably Rick Gonzales or Missy Peregrym, since they were the only ones I hadn’t interviewed before – for Bullz-Eye’s TV Power Rankings (the show made it to #4 on our list), and it came to nothing. No-one declined; it just never happened. I’m not saying that means that the network has consigned the show to oblivion, but given that they’ve hooked me up with interviews with Ray Wise, Bret Harrison, and Tyler Labine in the past, it’s clear that, at the very least, The CW doesn’t seem to be as interested in the show’s promotion as it once was.
I’ve been getting pretty turned off by Reaper lately – taking a shot every time Sam apologizes to Andy would be worth (but dangerous) for a drinking game, and the whole storyline with Sock and his Japanese stepsister was just fucking gross. Having to watch some of those sequences while sitting next to my (Asian) girlfriend was very, very uncomfortable.
Yeah, I agree, Zack, the stepsister storyline has definitely been more than a little creepy. It was all fine and well at first, because I can imagine that the whole “my stepsister is hot” thing is something that many a kid has had to deal with, but when they consummated the relationship, I was stunned that they “went there.” Maybe we’ll find out that Sock’s mother’s marriage wasn’t legal and therefore they weren’t really stepbrother and stepsister…? Still doesn’t negate the overall creepiness, though.
Sock and his stepsister “consummated” things??!!…This is why it’s dangerous to become too dependent on your DVR.
I actually liked the fact that they seemed to be sort of dealing with his one track mind — he’s easily my least favorite character on the show because he’s so predictable and sort of unipolar. But now it sounds as if they’re rewarding it. We’ll, I’ll reserve judgment until I actually watch the episodes. Also, I’ve never had a step-sibling, but it seems to me that if it happens after a certain age, it doesn’t really count — but then Taylor Labine could make “Romeo & Juliet” seem creepy.
Great piece. I watch “Medium,” “Reaper” and “Terminator” and would like to see them all return, though I’m not optimistic about the last two. I do wish you would have listed “The Unit” for CBS — I watched the first episode of “Eleventh Hour” and couldn’t get into it. All of these paranormal shows have to live up to “X-Files” and only “Fringe” (of the new shows) really comes close, IMO. “The Unit” got some good news when producer Shawn Ryan was invited to discuss his ideas for Season 5 with the network. (At least there’s an opening there.)
As for Sock and his sister, I’ve never understood why this storyline is considered creepy/disgusting/fucking gross. It’s one thing if you grow up with that person, but here are two twentysomethings thrown into a house together and the only people that care about whether or not they hook up are off traveling somewhere. Even Sock’s stepdad didn’t object to the stepbrother/stepsister thing; he just didn’t think that Sock was good enough for her.
I’ve never had a stepsister, so I wouldn’t know, but it seems to me that there’s a big difference between people that have known each other throughout their adolescence and those that meet when they’re adults. After all, there’s no blood relation, and without the “brother/sister” vibe gained from years of living together as a family, there’s nothing to discourage Sock’s libido. They’re sort of going through the same thing on “Gossip Girl.”
I love TSCC, but better than DOLLHOUSE? There is absolutely no comparison between the two in either complexity or subtext. I love TSCC despite the fact that the story often drags inexplicably. There are stretches that drag for no apparent reason. And Josh Friedman doesn’t seem to have grasped that it is Cameron, not Sarah or John, that most fascinates the fans. DOLLHOUSE, on the other hand, has never dragged and has gotten progressively better as the show has gone along. Still, I’ll say this: I’ve never loved seeing three shows on an evening in my life as TSCC, then DOLLHOUSE, then BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on Sci-Fi. For six weeks, I was in absolute heaven.
Sorry, Robert, but TSCC is FAR better than Dollhouse. I watched the first few episodes of Dollhouse, gave it up, came back to watch a couple of episodes that were supposed to be good and it just never was.
While I agree that TSCC dragged at times, the last half of the season was quite good and the last few episodes were awesome.
Obviously, we’re talking about a matter of taste, but I’m guessing that based on the ratings, there are a lot of people out there who prefer TSCC to DH.
And, by the way, we agree that Battlestar Galactica was amazing television.
Glad to see you give JERICHO a mention, it was my all time favorite show, fans are fighting to bring it back, go to Welcomehometojericho,com to see what fans can do.
I am so happy to see that Jericho is still being mention in many articles. I love this show and I am really hoping to get more seasons back on the air. The fans of Jericho will never let it’s memory die out. We will continue to fight to get it back on the air.
Glad to see “JERICHO” mentioned! We “Jericho Ranger” fans are working hard doing charity work for our troops AND getting our show back intop production!!!Check out the “Jericho Marathon ” on the SCI-FI channel this Thursday !!!!! Rally All Rangers- Recruit More Fans!!! Pass it on Rangers!!!
Guys, I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but I don’t see “Jericho” ever going back into production. Your time might be better spent on other things, like volunteering at a local soup kitchen.
I liked the show as much as the next guy, but it’s time to move on.
They are nuts if the cancel Eleventh Hour. One of my favorite shows!!!
http://www.metaleverywhere.com/
I certainly hope NBC doesn’t cancel “Medium,” which is one of my all-time favorite shows. And now that I think about it, it’s the only NBC series that I make a point of watching each week. “Medium” has a fantastic cast, realistic characters and great storylines. If NBC decides to cancel it, I may have to start a petition to bring it back or hope that Lifetime or another network has the good sense to pick it up.
It looks like “Medium” will be back for another season, at least according to Michael Ausiello.
After you’ve bought safe toys, it’s also important to make sure kids know how to use them. But what you can do is teach kids to be savvy consumers by talking about the products advertised on TV. 4. Live Butterfly Garden. This seems to drop off the top 10 from time to time, but it is a really neat gift idea.