Sunday, October 06, 2013

The First Series Cancelled Is…

Lucky_7_logoThe ironically named Lucky 7 after two episodes. The second episode of the ABC Tuesday night drama had a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic (which we know are the only people whose buying habits count).

The show had ton of problems. It was part of an all-new Tuesday line-up and aired an hour after the heavily touted blockbuster Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The lead-in for Lucky 7 was the new comedy Trophy Wife. Neither Trophy Wife nor Lucky 7 were given a heavy promotional push by the network before the start of the season. It had a cast of unknows.

There’s one other thing, and I’m not sure it’s accurate but I think it leads into something that is accurate. More than one writer has claimed that people don’t like shows about lottery winners. Of course it’s not exactly easy to find shows in the past about lottery winners, but let’s let that slide.A bigger problem for the show as far as I can see is that it’s an ensemble drama where we have very little investment in what the characters are doing. There is a very long history of shows with that sort of premise dying quickly on the vine. Successful ensemble dramas – shows like Lost or The West Wing grab you with dramatic stories and make you want to be involved with the characters. It isn’t easy to do; for all the Losts and West Wings there are shows like Reunion, Six Degrees Of Separation, and The Nine that are dismal failures. An ensemble drama can work if it delivers a cohesive group dynamic with people we like and can identify with quickly, and dramatic situations that people can relate to. Lucky 7 clearly didn’t do this.

ABC’s immediate plan for the time slot is to have reruns of their hit Thursday night series Scandal fill the slot, opposite new episodes of Person of Interest on CBS and Chicago Fire on NBC.

2 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

Yes, but Lucky 7, I've read, had the LOWEST ratings for a network show premiere. People were already disinclined to watch it for the reasons you mentioned.

Despite its flaws, I was watching The Nine and was sad that it was canceled. But I was ticked off that ABC said it would burn off those episodes the following August then reneged on it.

tim gueguen said...

Lucky 7 was being filmed in Hamilton. The gas station set they built for the show actually attracted people thinking it was a real gas station.

Anastasia Phillips, who played Leanne, probably doesn't have to worry about work. She's been the voice over artist for Ikea's Canadian TV ads for a while. She was also the voice of Lo Ridgemount on Teletoon's teen surfer series Stoked.