First Cancellation–Wicked City

ABC has announced that they will be pulling their new series Wicked City after three episodes. For now it will be replaced by reruns of reality series Shark Tank which had held down the time slot while the network waited for the show to debut. Yawn

This makes the series, about a kinky serial killer and his lover set in Los Angeles in the 1980s, the first new series of the 2015-16 to actually be cancelled. The cancellation date of November 13 is the latest date for a cancellation in recent years.

But is it really?

There’s no argument that Wicked City is the first series to leave the air this season and the show that has left the air quickest so far this year (3 episodes), but a number of series have had their series orders reduced. These include FOX’s Minority Report, ABC’s Blood & Oil, and NBC’s The Player and Truth Be Told. With the exception of The Player these shows have had their orders reduced from 13 to 10 episodes (The Player’s order was cut to 9 episodes). Aren’t these effectively cancellations, which would mean that these shows were cancelled before Wicked City?

Well I think that maybe an argument could be made along those lines. I suspect that the networks have definite reasons for reducing orders and letting the shows run out their abbreviated orders rather than being pulled outright in the way that Wicked City was.

TV.Com did an article called 6 Reasons Why Networks Are Trimming Orders Instead of Canceling Shows. The writer lists reasons why he thinks that the networks have opted to trim orders. I think that some (but not all) of what he says has some validity. The six reasons, with on interpretation of what I believe he’s saying are:

1. Face Saving for Networks: Image is everything for the networks and “trimming the order” for a show “sounds” better than saying outright that the show is cancelled.
2. Shows Finish On Their Own Terms: Trimming the order gives the creative team the ability to craft a series finale rather than having the show just end, or worse end with a cliff-hanger.
3. The Bridges Remain Unburned: According to the writer, there’s a power shift going on between networks and creators so that “playing nice” – which presumably means not cancelling a show outright – makes more sense for the networks because “you never know who’s going to be worthy of a second chance.
4. Life (and Money) After Death in Streaming: Basically the idea that even a failed show like Minority Report can have life after leaving the broadcast network – and can generate revenue for the network – on a streaming service like Netflix or Crackle, or some other site that “come up with funny names and pay exorbitant amounts of money for streaming rights to shows.” But they won’t do that if the show only had a couple of episodes before being canned.
5. The Bench is Shallow: There aren’t the reserves of new shows that can be brought in to fill in the blank spot where a cancelled show used to be – which presumably is why Wicked City is being replaced by reruns of Shark Tank instead of episodes of something new – because those shows are earmarked for hiatus periods of running shows, or to replace short-run shows.The irony is that Wicked City was meant to be a mid-season show, which may indicate that the bench is not only shallow but weak.
6. Networks Have Accepted the Grim Realities of Their Futures: For this I’m going to have to run nearly his entire reasoning, so please excuse the profanities – they’re his not mine, although my opinion of the logic in this one can be described with a word he uses in this explanation (you can guess which one): Like a single man approaching his 40s and eating Hot Pockets for dinner for the third night in a row, sometimes it's easier for networks to accept that things are just how they are and it's pointless to try harder. This is the new paradigm, and networks understand they're dinosaurs and the chances of getting a huge hit that can float a network are slimmer and slimmer with each day that passes. Yeah, this is a pessimistic view of things, but it's also the truth. You can only throw so much shit at a wall to see if it sticks before you run out of shit and your arm gets tired. More important for networks right now is to try to devise alternate ways of competing with the expanding TV market rather than spending all the money it takes to find the next Empire. 

So I think he may have some valid points with some of his reasons, specifically (and in order) numbers 5, 2, 3, and 4. The big reason is that “the bench is shallow” but more importantly is that it is rare for a new replacement series to earn ratings that are better than the ratings that the show it is replacing earned. As it is, shows starting in January or later often face an uphill struggle to gain acceptance. Empire, which debuted in January 2015, is a rare exception.

I’d like to offer a couple of options of my own that may have some validity.

1. Trimming the Order is a Flexible Response: Put simply, trimming the order for a show allows the network to reverse or at least modify their decision as to the fate of a show. If, for example, the people who watched Thursday Night Football decided that they’d rather watch The Player on NBC than CBS’s Elementary (or ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder) once football left CBS, a trimmed order would allow the network to react to the sudden upswing in viewers. Not that a sudden increase in audience numbers is a likely outcome. In fact it is increasingly rare in the current TV landscape.
2. Using What You Paid For: As I understand it – and I readily admit that my understanding of the workings of this part of the TV industry is weak – the networks contract for a certain number of episodes. Those episodes are in various stages of the production process, from completed scripts to post production. The networks has paid, or made partial payment, for those episodes. Trimming the order would stop work on new scripts but would allow the completed scripts (that the network has paid for) to go through the production process.

Of course all of this begs the ultimate question: why was Wicked City cancelled when Minority Report, The Player, Blood & Oil, and Truth Be Told had their orders cut? It seems to be a pretty simple answer really. The viewership for the shows that had their orders reduced were bad, no doubt about that, but the viewership for Wicked City was abysmal This chart shows the combined “live” and same day viewership 18-49 demographic ratings and share of Wicked City and the shows shows that had their orders cut. (There’s same day +7 data also available for some shows but not for Wicked City so I won’t include that). All information taken from Wikipedia which in turn uses data from TV By The Numbers. I will give information for the pilot and the most recent show to air, and for comparison sake I’ll include the information for NBC’s Blindspot, which appears to be the most successful of the new series (except Supergirl, for which I don’t have enough data).

		Viewers (Same Day +1)	18-49 Rating/Share
Wicked City	Pilot	3,280,000	0.9/3
	November 10	1,690,000	0.4/1
The Player	Pilot	4,680,000	1.2/4
	November 19	3,410000	0.8/3
Blood & Oil	Pilot	6,360,000	1.4/4
	November 8	3,400,000	0.8/2
Minority Report	Pilot	3,100,000	1.1/3
	November 23	1,520,000	0.5/2
Truth Be Told	Pilot	2,580,000	0.7/3
	November 20	2,110,000	0.6/2
Blindspot	Pilot	10,610,000	3.1/10
	November 23	7,030,000	1.9/6

Compared to the four shows that had their orders cut, viewership for the pilot of Wicked City was worse than Minority Report (which probably should have been cancelled but it ran on FOX) and Truth Be Told (which aired on Friday night, where viewership is lower than the rest of the week). Wicked City’s pilot actually had a lower viewership than the most final episode of The Player.  Maybe the worst part of all for ABC was the 18-49 demographic numbers given that at the network’s upfronts in May “ABC president Paul Lee stated that the show was their highest testing pilot of 2015 among millennials.” This group would represent the 18-35 year-old portion of the demographic, and yet the 18-49 rating and share for Wicked City was worse than that of any of the new shows except the Friday series Truth Be Told. This is the big reason why Wicked City got cancelled instead of having its order cut.

NBC Upfronts 2015-16

It’s that time of year again when the US broadcast TV networks cancel the shows they decided didn’t work last season and unveil the new shows that they believe will sweep up audiences in droves… most of which will be cancelled this time next year.And I’m going to try to write about them at least until I’m overwhelmed by despair about the new season and retreat into watching what I always watch.

As always NBC led off the upfront season although unlike in previous years they chose to introduce their new line-up on a Sunday rather than the traditional Monday. By turns the new offerings are vaguely intriguing, yawn worthy, and disappointing. First the cancellations (some of which were in the “blink and you’ve missed it” category of midseason replacements).

Cancelled
Constantine, State of Affairs, Marry Me, About A Boy, One Big Happy, A to Z, Allegiance, Bad Judge, Parenthood, Park & Recreation, Working The Engels

Renewed (not counting summer series)
Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Grimm, Hollywood Game Night, Law & Order SVU, Biggest Loser, The Blacklist, Celebrity Apprentice, The Mysteries of Laura, Undateable

New Shows
Before Christmas: Blindspot, Heartbreaker, The Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, Heroes Reborn, The Player, People Are Talking
Midseason: Coach, Hot And Bothered, Chicago Med, Crowded, Emerald City, Game of Silence, Little Big Shots, Shades of Blue, Superstore, You And Me And The End Of The World

Fall Schedule by day


Monday
8-10 p.m. The Voice
10-11 p.m. BLINDSPOT


Tuesday
8-9 p.m. The Voice
9-10 p.m. HEARTBREAKER
10-11 p.m. THE BEST TIME EVER WITH NEIL PATRICK HARRIS (until November)
Chicago Fire (starting in November)

Wednesday
8-9 p.m. The Mysteries of Laura
9-10 p.m. Law & Order SVU
10-11 p.m. Chicago PD

Thursday
8-9 p.m. HEROES REBORN
9-10 p.m. The Blacklist
10-11 p.m. THE PLAYER


Friday
8-8:30 p.m. Undateable
8:30-9 p.m. PEOPLE ARE TALKING
9-10 p.m. Grimm
10-11 p.m. Dateline


Summaries

I’ve managed to see the trailers for most of these despite YouTube region blocking so I shall try to summarize largely without Network press releases (except for actor names).

Blindspot begins with a bag left in the middle of Time Square with a tag that says “Call FBI.” Inside is a naked woman (Jamie Alexander) covered with tattoos, all of which are new. “Jane Doe” has been stripped of her memories and has no idea who she is or why her body is covered in tattoos. One tattoo says to call FBI Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) who has no idea why he’s being called in on this case or why his name is written in large letters on Jane Doe’s back, or for that matter the meaning of the tattoos. Over time several things become apparent: the tattoos on Jane’s back represent clues to crimes that they are to solve, and that Jane has considerable skills that she hasn’t forgotten that will help them solve those crimes.

Heartbreaker stars Melissa George as Dr. Alex Pantierre, one of a handful of female heart transplant surgeons in the world. She is also the head of new technologies at her hospital. As usual in medical dramas she is someone who breaks the rules if it can possibly help her patients and is more than willing to try innovative procedures when necessary. Also as usual in medical dramas (particularly medical dramas with female leads) she struggles to balance her professional life with her personal life.

NBC didn’t do a trailer for The Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris, so I’ll have to go to the network press release: “Complete with stunts, skits, pranks, audience interaction, musical numbers, giveaways and unlimited surprises, this show proves that anything can happen, and it can happen to you. Based on the wildly popular British hit Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.”

There also isn’t a trailer for Heroes Reborn beyond a few teasers from the Super Bowl in February which basically announced that the show would be coming back – as a 13 episode miniseries. As I understand it, some but not all of the original cast (including Jack Coleman and Masi Oka) will be returning for the mini-series while new people with powers will be emerging, most notably Zach Levi from Chuck.

The Player starts with an interesting concept. Philip Winchester plays Alex Kane, Las Vegas’s top – and most flamboyant – security expert. Following the murder of his wife, Alex is drawn into a complex game. In a city where people will bet on anything, the ultimate game is betting on whether Alex can stop a crime from taking place, or even survive the tasks put before him. In this “game” the house consists of three people: Alex – the Player, Cassandra King (Charity Wakefield) – the Dealer, and the mysterious Mr. Johnson (Wesley Snipes) – the Pit Boss. If Alex is able to accomplish the tasks put before him, he might just be able to get revenge for the death of his wife.


Comments

One thing I’ve noticed in going over the NBC shows that have been cancelled and renewed is just how few NBC shows I watched in the past season. I watched State Of Affairs and mostly didn’t find it as laughable as I had expected given that it was Katherine Heigl as a CIA agent who advised the President on national security threats. And yet I don’t find myself mourning its passing. I watched Chicago Fire and Chicago PD for quite a while but in the past year or so I’ve basically given up on those as well. Basically the only thing I watch on NBC is The Blacklist.

The biggest thing to note is the near absence of situation comedy in the fall line-up. Not counting the Neil Patrick Harris series, which sounds like it might turn into something of a mess, the only comedies in the line-up are the returning Undateable and the new People Are Talking. It is something of a sign that the only two comedies at the start of the season are both scheduled for Friday night before Grimm. Setting aside the fact that this is the “Friday night death slot” (because after all CBS at least seems to thrive on Fridays) People are Talking at least definitely doesn’t fall into the NBC comedy tradition as exemplified by Seinfeld, Fraser, The Office, Community, and Parks And Recreation. Then again the latter two series didn’t exactly set the ratings world on fire. Moreover last season, when NBC made a major push to do sit coms, the results were pretty disastrous with most of the shows dying a quick and for the most part well-deserved death. Based on the trailer that I saw, People Are Talking seems to be playing things very safe which is far different from the edgy sort of comedy that we generally expect from NBC.

Blindspot and The Player both seem interesting although they also seem to be trying to replicate the success of NBC’s one big drama success that isn’t produced by Dick Wolf, namely The Blacklist. Blindspot is probably closest to what The Blacklist in that there’s quite obviously a massive conspiracy behind the scenes that “Jane Doe” and Agent Weller will have to unravel. The question is whether audiences will have the patience to stick with the show if it is an unrelenting in pursuing the show’s mytharc, particularly when the show is opposite the “simpler” NCIS: Los Angeles and Castle. Initially at least The Player seems likely to be more episodic and therefore easier to access for viewers. Plus it has The Blacklist as a lead in, although the ratings for that show have been slipping, probably because it is going against Scandal and CBS comedies on Thursday night.

I’m not sure what to say about Heartbreaker. The whole thing of the female lead being forced to balance her personal and professional lives is such a cliché. Take that away and I’m not sure there’s enough there for the show to engage its audience. I wonder if this is meant as a placeholder to be replaced, when it inevitably crashes and burns, with Dick Wolf’s latest opus, Chicago Medical.

Finally something needs to be said about the revival of Heroes as Heroes Reborn. I don’t know why it’s happening given how quickly and totally the show collapsed in it’s first run. The cynic in me says that executives at NBC looked at the success of the Marvel movie/TV franchises (including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), not to mention Arrow and The Flash and even iZombie on The CW and said: “We need a superhero show. Okay so we blew it with Constantine but superheroes are still hot. Let’s take another run at doing Heroes. We’ll do it as a limited series, and if it works out maybe we’ll bring it back in 2016 as a full series.” And since I can’t think of a better reason why they revived this, I think the cynical view wins.

Final assessment of what NBC is giving us: there’s very little here that I actually find engaging. There are a couple of shows that I’ll try but I honestly don’t think much of their chances for survival. Nothing here strikes me as a genuine sustainable hit.

Prelude to Upfronts: Cancellations and Pick-ups

Before I started this blog, the whole business of “Network Upfronts” was as foreign as the Greek language to me. All I knew is that sometime in May the US networks would announce their new shows and cancel the unsuccessful ones from the previous year, and then the Canadian networks would pick them over to find the “best of the lot” for us, and conveniently forget that half of the shows that they considered the “best of the lot” were either cancelled by the end of the season.

Upfronts used to be the day when a Network President and his (and they were all men for a long time) would stand in front of the assembled masses of advertisers and the ink-stained wretches from the entertainment media and announce which shows have been cancelled and which have been picked up, and what next season’s TV schedule would look like. The advertisers would then – over the next few weeks – decide what shows they’d make their media buys on, and how much they’d be willing to pay. Meanwhile the entertainment media would, wittingly or not, promote the new shows with information even thought they’d basically only seen the few clips provided by the network at the Upfronts. The key point was that the networks announced all of their changes at their Upfront day.

In recent years things have changed. Networks announce their renewals and their cancellations before the Upfronts – days and sometimes even weeks before – and they’ve taken to announcing shows they’ve picked up in advance as well. In the past I’ve held off from reporting or commenting on these announcements, preferring to wait until a network’s upfront day. I’m not sure that that approach is practical anymore. So what I’ve decided to do is to list the cancellations and the pickups before the upfronts, and comment on the percentage of available time that the proposed new shows will be taking up on each network.

ABC
Cancellations: The Assets, Back In The Game, Killer Women, Lucky 7, Mind Games, Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, Mixology, Trophy Wife, Betrayal, The Neighbors, Super Fun Night, Suburgatory,
Status Unknown: The Taste, Black Box
Picked Up: Dramas – American Crime, The Astronauts Wives Club,The Club, Forever, How To Get Away With Murder, Marvel’s Agent Carter, Secrets & Lies, The Whispers
Comedies – Black-ish, Galavant, Manhattan Love Story, Selfie
Update: Two comedies that I missed: Cristela and Fresh Off The Boat  which were announced at the same time as the renewal of Last Man Standing.

Comments: Eight hours of Dramas, four half-hours of Comedies. I was saddened but not surprised by the cancellation of Trophy Wife. The kids, and in particular Burt, were great and it was fun to see Bradley Whitford playing straight man both to the kids and the women in his life. If this show had a better time slot – like between The Middle and Modern Family instead of after another newcomer, The Goldbergs – I think it could have worked.

CBS

Cancellations: How I Met Your Mother, We Are Men, Bad Teacher, The Crazy Ones, Friends With Better Lives, Hostages, Intelligence
Picked Up: Dramas – Battle Creek, CSI: Cyber, Madam Secretary, NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, Stalker
Comedies – The McCarthys, The Odd Couple

Comments: Six hours of Dramas, two half-hours of Comedies. Only two survivors of the new shows, Mom and The Millers. I think that the limited series nature of Hostages was a bad choice to go against Castle, and Intelligence was just pretty bad. Disappointed that the cut The Crazy Ones, a series with a stand-out cast that I really enjoyed. Unfortunately stand-out cast equals expensive cast, which was probably as much a cause of the show’s demise as the ratings.

FOX

Cancellations: American Dad (moving to TBS), The Cleveland Show, Raising Hope, The X-Factor, Almost Human, Dads, Enlisted, Surviving Jack, Rake
Picked Up: Dramas – Backstrom, Empire, Gotham, Hieroglyph, Red Band Society
Comedies – Last Man On Earth, Mulaney, Weird Loners

Comments: Five hours of Dramas, three half-hours of Comedies. All of the professional TV critics are mourning the loss of Enlisted but I never saw the show (because the premise sounded dumb to me) so I can’t comment. I really liked Almost Human, the “cop and robot” buddy show set in a not totally dystopian future. It wasn’t great but I liked it better than THe Following. So sue me.

NBC

Cancellations: Ironside, Sean Saves The World, Welcome To The Family, The Michael J. Fox Show, Believe, Community, Crisis, Dracula, Revolution, Growing Up Fisher
Status Unknown: Parenthood
Picked Up: Dramas – Allegiance, Constantine, Emerald City, The Mysteries of Laura, Odyssey, Shades Of Blue, State of Affairs
Comedies – A to Z, Bad Judge, Marry Me, Mission Control, Mr. Robinson, One Big Happy, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Comments: Seven hours of Dramas, seven half-hours of Comedy. It is a mark of how far NBC has fallen that I can’t think of one show that they cancelled that I am really going to miss. I know the professional critics and a devoted fan base loved Community with a love that burned like the Sun, but I never watched it, being totally turned off by the presence of Chevy Chase. BTW, there apparently hasn't been a decision on Parenthood because of negotiations over the number of episodes stars of the show will appear in. The network weasels want the leads to do nine episodes of the total of thirteen planned, and they're balking at that idea
Update: While the renewal of Parenthood has not been announced officially, the cast have apparently agreed to a deal which would see them each participate in a reduced number of episodes within a 13 episode season, thus allowing the series to have a resolution.

The CW
Cancellations: Nikita, The Carrie Diaries, The Tomorrow People, Star Crossed
Picked Up: The Flash, iZombie, Jane The Virgin, The Messengers

Comments: Four hours of new series, all Dramas. Yawn. The only show I watch on The CW is Arrow. I suppose I’m sort of surprised that a show about 16th century royalty and religious wars (Reign) got renewed, and I suppose that The 100 is the sort of show I generally like but really, I’ve got nothing.

First Comedy Cancelled No Surprise

It’s We Are Men.

And I’m not kidding that it wasn’t a surprise. There are so many reasons why this show was going to fail that would be apparent to anyone who isn’t a network TV executive that it really is a shock to me that any network would pick it up. Let’s go through them shall we.

1. The central plot device – guys coming together and bonding.
Without resorting to notes I can tell you of two previous series where this central plot device: CBS’s Welcome To The Commodore and ABC’s Carpoolers. The former featured a young man moving into a historic hotel and being taken under the collective wings of the people living there, including the supposedly wiser older man (played in that case by Jeffrey Tambor; in this show it was Tony Shaloub). For the latter I’m going to have to hit IMDb and Wikipedia because memories for failed TV shows isn’t encyclopaedic and this one was gone and forgotten so fast that it would make your head spin. Oh wait, it wasn’t; it lasted 13 episodes. It was just forgotten so fast that it would make your head spin. It was about four guys who carpool together, each with different problems at home. Even reading the descriptions in the Wikipedia article makes me want to turn off my monitor. Suffice it to say that this sort of group of men getting together comedy doesn’t fly very well in the ratings.

2. The other part of the central plot device – Guys trying to regain their masculinity:
If I’m not mistaken we went through a recent spate of comedies that looked at how men were trying to regain their lost masculinity. It was back in the 2011-2012 season, and only one of those shows is still in the line-up. That was the season of such gems as How To Be A Gentleman (the first comedy cancelled that season), Man Up! (which, from looking at the description, is also one of the shows with the first problem – I forgot that this one even existed, lucky me), and the too horrible for words Work It! The only show to survive that trend was Last Man Standing which is still on and is Tim Allen reviving his old Home Improvement series with daughters instead of sons and apparently a lot other similarities that showed up after I gave up on watching this show…about three weeks after it debuted.

3. Show killer Jerry O’Connell: That’s right, I’m labelling Jerry O’Connell a show killer. Take a look at the record. Since Sliders, O’Connell has been a regular on Crossing Jordan, Carpoolers, Do Not Disturb, and The Defenders. Of those series, only Crossing Jordan lasted more than 18 episodes, and that is largely due to the fact that O’Connell’s part wasn’t the lead or even the co-lead. Crossing Jordan was very much Jill Hennessy’s show while O’Connell was the detective who usually worked with her and occasionally expressed romantic feelings towards her. Of the other three series, Carpoolers lasted 13 episodes with O’Connell as one of the four title characters, Do Not Disturb aired 3 episodes (two or three others were made but mercifully never aired), and The Defenders (where he was equally billed with Jim Belushi and was in a semi-dramatic role for the first time since Crossing Jordan), last 18 episodes.

4. A guy in a Speedo: In this case it was Jerry O’Connell, which makes it worse, but really pretty much any guy who isn’t an Olympic swimmer wearing a Speedo is going to make a show a failure. I’m fine with nudity and near nudity on TV – I actually applauded the producers of NYPD Blue for having Dennis Franz bare his butt – but there are some boundaries that just shouldn’t be crossed and a guy in a Speedo - aka a Banana Hammock – is one of them.

We Are Men will be replaced at 8:30 p.m. (Eastern) by 2 Broke Girls which had been at 9 p.m. Reruns of The Big Bang Theory will air in the 9 p.m. time slot for the next three weeks. Mike and Molly will return to that time slot on November 4.

The First Series Cancelled Is…

The 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.

And We Have A …. Loser

The first show to be cancelled – although the network isn’t exactly using the “c” word, but then they rarely do – is……..

MADE IN JERSEY

It ran for two episodes on CBS.

Not entirely surprising really. The show, which starred British actress Janet Montgomery (Human Target, Entourage) as a new lawyer at a prestigious Manhattan criminal law firm, and Kyle McLaughlin as her boss Donavon Stark (the man with his name on the firm). The twist was of course that Montgomery’s character, Martina Goretti, came from New Jersey and was the square peg at the law firm because she went to Rutgers rather than an Ivy League School. Everyone at the firm – except Stark, Martina’s secretary (Toni Trucks), and the firm’s investigator (Felix Solis) treat her like a rube who just fell off the turnip truck despite her experience with the Trenton DA’s office. The show had received generally negative buzz from TV critics from the moment it was announced, although few if any called it the worst new show of the season. Ratings for the first two episodes were far from stellar, particularly by CBS standards. The first episode (according to TV Media Insight) drew 8.81 million viewers and a 1.3/5 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The second episode drew 6.77 million viewers and a 0.8/3 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The ratings in the 18-49 demographic were worse than either of the other two older skewing CBS shows.

The “Earliest Drama Cancellation Poll” is now closed although a winner has yet to be determined, although you’ve got to admit it will be hard for a new show to be cancelled in less than two episodes. For the record the votes broke down as follows:

1. 666 Park Avenue – 4 votes
2. The Mob Doctor – 2 votes
3. Revolution – 2 votes
4. Made In Jersey – 2 votes
5. Chicago Fire – 2 votes
6. Emily Owens M.D. – 2 votes
7. Vegas – 1 Vote
8. Arrow – 1 vote
9. Nashville – 1 vote
10. Beauty & The Beast – 1 vote
11. Last Resort – 0 votes
12. Elementary – 0 votes

The “Earliest Comedy Cancellation Poll” is still open, but be aware that now that the first new show has been dropped a flurry of cancellations is likely to occur. Already renewed for a full season are Ben & Kate (FOX), The Mindy Project (FOX), Go On (NBC), The New Normal (NBC), and Revolution (NBC).

New Polls–Which Shows Will Be Cancelled Quickest

These two polls are pretty simple. All you have to do is vote for the show which you think will be cancelled quickest. The shows are split into two categories: Drama and Comedy. To be considered in this poll the shows have to debut before the end of December 2012 and have been announced at the May Upfronts.

Now for the purposes of these polls “quickest” will be defined as the fewest number of episodes aired regardless of when the show starts. So, if a show that starts in September airs four episodes and a show that debuts in October airs three episodes, the October show is the one that was cancelled quickest. This actually happened last year when Free Agents was cancelled after four episodes but was cancelled before How To Be A Gentleman was cancelled. How To Be A Gentleman “won” because it ended up airing only three episodes.

It is also important to note that what counts is the number of episodes that air, even if the episodes air on Saturdays or some other “parking” time slot. How To Be A Gentleman was effectively cancelled after two episodes in its original Thursday night time slot, but had shot nine episodes. CBS planned to burn off the remaining seven episodes of the show on Saturdays but ended up showing only one for a total of three episodes aired. Had CBS aired three episodes on Saturday night Free Agents would have been the “winner.”

Officially – because Blogger’s polling system requires a deadline – the deadline for these polls will be the end of November 2012. The actual deadline will be the day that the first new show in a particular category is cancelled.

Poll Results–The Biggest Disappointments of 2011-12

When I started the poll of the “Biggest Disappointments of the 2011-12 TV season” I originally didn’t have a shutdown date for the poll. I thought I might let it run until the Emmy Nominations came out and I’d then launch my famous Emmy Polls. More recently I was leaning towards July 1st because it seemed to me that most of the people who were going to vote had voted. I am now pulling the plug effective immediately….because there is news.

In one of the greatest turnouts in the history of the polls I’ve run, 30 votes were cast in this poll. The following options received no votes:

• “Working It getting on the air”
• “2 Broke Girls having stereotyped secondary characters”
• “The Secret Circle being cancelled while lower rated CW shows were renewed”
• “Missing being cancelled”

These options received one vote (3%) each:

• “Ringer not being a better show”
• “The X-Factor not delivering the audience that Simon Cowell (and various “experts”) expected”

“GCB not living up to the hype” got two votes (7%).

“NYC 22 not being as good as the people associated with it” and “Terra Nova delivering neither value or quality for the money spent on it” each received three votes (10%).

The big – overewhelming really – winner was “Unforgettable being cancelled despite the ratings” which picked up twenty (20!) votes or 67% of the votes cast. And just for the record, I don’t vote in my polls but if I had, I’d probably have been the 21st vote. Based on virtually every standard (except maybe the almighty demographic and even that wasn’t clear-cut) this was a show that shouldn’t have been dropped.

Which brings us to the news, and why I decided to pull the poll. On Friday CBS announced that they will give Unforgettable a second season. This preempts negotiations with the TNT and Lifetime cable channels to revive the show. Admittedly the circumstances aren’t the best. The renewal is for a 13 episode run, and the plan is that the show will air in the summer of 2013 but it’s a start, and I have a suspicion that we might be seeing this show sooner rather than later if some of the CBS line-up fails to perform as well as the network expects. After all Nina Tassler said that the big problem for Unforgettable wasn’t “what went wrong” with the show but rather “what went right with the new pilots.” If those pilots turn out not to have been so “right” after all, I hope that the network will be willing to swallow their pride and push the revival of unforgettable forward into the second half of the regular season. (I just wouldn’t bet the farm on it).

I had a couple of comments on the original poll so I might as well finish up with them. Todd Mason corrected me on the name of the creator of NYC 22 (Richard not Robert Price) and added this:

… NYC 22, which (as I've noted on my own blog) managed to be more feckless and lifeless than ROOKIE BLUE (which I hadn't noted never quite admits it's set in Toronto, so obvious is that fact...it's even more blatant than HILL STREET BLUES being set in Chicago).

Being blatant isn’t the same as outright stating the fact, and to the the best of my knowledge (not that I watch the show) Rookie Blue has never admitted that it’s set in Toronto. Then again neither has Flashpoint, though on Flashpoint the crowns and Canadian flags on the uniforms suggest it.

Sadly, TWO BROKE GIRLS was created by Michael Patrick King, the hack behind the hack that is Darren Star, and the comedian Whitney Cummings, who is clever but is willing to go for the easiest imaginable joke, particularly in a sitcom context (hence the quick exhaustion of her other sitcom, WHITNEY... where we had the unusual result that her performance, rather than the writing of a comedian's sitcom, was what saving grace there was).

The thing for me about 2 Broke Girls is that I basically like the show, and am only vaguely bothered by the supporting characters because I’m focused on the leads. Or maybe I’m just an old fart who doesn’t see the racism in most of this.

pattinasse (abbott) wrote:

I would add ALCATRAZ and AWAKE, which both seemed promising. ALCATRAZ was too wedded to its central idea and AWAKE, not enough.

I definitely should have added Alcatraz, probably replacing Working It. Alcatraz was a show I really loved and was ready to review…right up to the moment when I saw the ratings for either the first or second week and knew that it was doomed. Too bad, because it was a fun show, and I’m a sucker for just about anything that Sam Neill does. Awake was a show that intrigued me and I was going to watch it, but then I missed recording the second or third episode and then lost most of what I had when the PVR expander died. I guess I should have also made mention of another show I didn’t watch but which some people felt disappointed about losing: Harry’s Law. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

The CW’s 2012-13 Season

Of the broadcast networks doing original English Language programming the one making the most changes is The CW. With the planned end of Gossip Girl in January the “weblet” will have a new show on four out of the five nights that they program. Five of the network’s six returning shows will have a new day or time – only The Vampire Diaries won’t be relocated. For most networks this would be a massive disruption; for The CW it is pretty close to business as usual.

Cancelled: H8R, Ringer, The Secret Circle, One Tree Hill, Remodeled, The L.A. Complex

Moved: 90210 , Gossip Girl, Hart Of Dixie, Supernatural, America’s Next Top Model, Nikita

Renewed: The Vampire Diaries

New: Emily Owens M.D., Arrow, Beauty And The Beast

Held Until Mid-Season: The Carrie Diaries, Cult

Complete Schedule (all times are Eastern; new shows in capitals)

Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: 90210 (New Day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Gossip Girl (New Time; series will end in January and be replaced by THE CARRIE DIARIES)

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Hart Of Dixie (New Day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: EMILY OWENS M.D.

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: ARROW
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Supernatural (New Day)

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Vampire Diaries
9:00-10:00 p.m.: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: America’s Next Top Model (New Day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Nikita (New Time)

Mamie Gummer plays the title character in Emily Owens M.D. Emily Owens thinks that she’s left behind the cliquishness of high schools. She’s finished medical school and is now a first year intern at Denver Memorial Hospital, where she’ll have the chance to work with world-class cardiologist Dr. Gina Beckett (Necar Zadegan). It’s also the place where her high school crush, Will Rider (Justin Hartley) is an intern. But as fellow intern Tyra Granger (Kelly McCreary) warns her, a hospital is like high school all over again: the jocks are in orthopedics, the mean girls in plastics, and the rebels in the ER. Emily has her own problems; her high school nemesis the gorgeous Cassandra Koppelson (Aja Naomi King) is also interning at Denver Memorial and their rivals again, not just as surgical interns but for Will’s affections. Emily now finds herself having to deal not just with life and death medical decisions but also the social politics of the hospital which are so like high school, but with the help of Tyra and “nerdy-but-cute resident” Micah (Michael Rady) she might be able to grow into a great doctor.

Arrow is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, who was also a major supporting character on Smallville. But this version of the character is not the same one as on Smallville, with different supporting characters and background story. (If you actually follow the comic books this is not entirely out of keeping with the “New 52” reboot – or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.) Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was missing and presumed dead for five years after a violent shipwreck. Then he was found on a deserted island. His devoted mother Moira (Suzanna Thompson), beloved sister Thea (Willa Holland) and best friend Tommy (Colin Donnell) all seem to recognize that his five year ordeal has changed him. He’s determined to make amends for his actions as a boy; in particular he’s determined to reconnect with his former girlfriend Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). But the changes in Ollie’s life go beyond reconnecting with family and friends. By day he behaves like the “old” Oliver Queen, a carefree, careless philanderer accompanied by his loyal chauffeur and bodyguard John Diggle (David Ramsey). By night he creates the persona of “Arrow,” a vigilante determined to right the wrongs done by his family, fight the ills of society and restore his city to its faded glory. This brings Arrow into conflict with Detective Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), Laurel’s father, who is determined to stop the vigilante operating in his city.

Beauty And The Beast is a remake of the late 1980s cult classic. Catherine Chandler (Kristin Kreuk) is a smart, no-nonsense homicide detective. with a past. Years ago she witnessed the murder of her mother by two gunmen who would have killed her if they weren’t stopped by someone or…something. In the years that followed she has become a strong, confident, capable police officer. Working a case with her equally capable partner Tess (Nina Lisandrello) she discovers a clue that leads her to Vincent Keller (Jay Ryan), a handsome doctor who was supposedly killed in Afghanistan in 2002. In the course of the investigation Catherine discovers that Vincent is still alive and is the one who saved her life all those years ago. Mysterious reasons have forced him to live outside traditional society. Vincent has been guarding a terrible secret for ten years; when enraged he becomes a terrifying beast, unable to control his superhuman strength and heightened senses. Catherine agrees to hide his secret in return for Vincent’s insights on her mother’s murder. Thus begins a complicated relationship between two people who are intensely drawn to each other but at the same time realize that their connection could be dangerous to both of them.

AnnaSophia Robb plays a young Carrie Bradshaw in The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to Sex And The City. The year is 1984 and it isn’t the best of times for 16 year-old Carrie. Her mother had just died, here younger sister Dorritt (Stephania Owen) is more rebellious than ever, and her father Tom (Matt Letscher) is overwhelmed by suddenly having to deal with two teenaged girls on his own. Her friends – sweet geeky Mouse (Ellen Wong), sarcastic, self-assured Maggie (Katie Findlay), and sensitive Walt (Brendon Dooling) – make her life bearable, and the arrival of transfer student Sebastian (Austin Butler) brings some excitement to her world, but it’s not enough. So when Tom offers her the opportunity to intern at a Manhattan law firm she jumps at the chance. The grit and glamour of the city excite her, and when she meets Larissa (Freema Agyeman), the style editor of Interview Magazine she’s inspired by the club culture and unique individuals who make up Larissa’s world. Carrie has encountered the great love of her life – Manhattan.

The disappearance of investigative journalist Jeff Sefton’s (Matt Davis) brother Nate is the starting point for mid-season series Cult. Nate had had a string of obsessions, the most recent of which was the assertion that the popular TV show “Cult” was out to hurt him. It was something Jeff could laugh off until Nate disappeared. His investigations lead him to Skye (Jessica Lucas) a research assistant at the show who has become suspicious of “dark happenings” surrounding the show. The fictional show “Cult” focuses on the cat-and-mouse game between charismatic cult leader Billy Grimm (Robert Knepper) and LAPD detective Kelley Collins (Alona Tal). It has developed an obsessed fan base, some of whom take their fixation to deadly extremes. As Jeff and Skye dig deeper into the show’s most obsessed fans they discover that the gruesome plot twists of the show are much more than fantasy for some very unfortunate people.

Comments
There’s something vaguely sad about The CW. This is a network that occasionally has some very good concepts – I love the idea behind Cult for example – but they’ve never seemed to get that one show that breaks though into mainstream consciousness and success that’s even a fraction of what one of the “Big Four” have achieved. Between moves and new shows they’ve managed to revamp their line-up for the season but while it’s not quite “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic,” none of the changes will really make the network break through into some sort of mainstream success.

This year’s new offerings pander to The CW’s two big constituencies: Teen and Early 20s women and comic book geek/genre fans. Look at the network’s history and you’ll see what I’m talking about. For the female fans you have The Carrie Diaries about a 16 year-old falling in love with New York and laying the foundation of what Carrie Bradshaw will be by the time Sex And The City starts (but probably not smoking); Emily Owens M.D., the show that informs us that the “real world” (in this case a major hospital) is just like the social side of high school; and the remake of Beauty & The Beast. (Confession time: when the show originally aired with Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman I really enjoyed it, mostly because of Linda Hamilton but not entirely. Over the years since the show left the air it has come to bother me that the male romantic lead, Vincent, was arguably a serial killer, even though most of the killings were at least semi-justified.) For the comic book geeks/genre fans, joining Supernatural and (arguably) Nikita are the DC Comics based series Arrow and the mid-season series Cult. It’s an odd and interesting mix, but there’s nothing that will gain the “weblet” mainstream attention.

The CW isn’t going to be the top network this year, and probably not any time soon. Their programming strategy is unlikely to produce a hit show, unless the definition of a hit is one set by the network itself. The CW has set its schedule in an aggressive manner, relocating shows in a manner that groups shows by some common thread and will presumably attract a common audience. It’s an idea that a larger more established network probably wouldn’t attempt, at least not so openly. I rather like what they’ve done with their schedule. The problem is that no matter how good the schedule is I doubt that any CW show this season will rise higher than fourth in the nightly ratings, no matter how good it is.

CBS’s 2012-13 Season

CBS announced their new Fall lineup on Tuesday morning. The network, which is dominant in the overall ratings has offered up an interesting mix of new shows and the transfer of two major series to new nights and times. The new line-up manages to near impossible task of being both adventurous and conservative at the same time.

Cancelled: CSI: Miami, A Gifted Man, How To Be A Gentleman, NYC 22, Rob, Unforgettable

Moved: Two And A Half Men, CSI: New York, The Mentalist, 2 Broke Girls

Renewed: How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Hawaii Five-0, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Survivor, Criminal Minds, CSI, The Big Bang Theory, Person Of Interest, Blue Bloods, Amazing Race, The Good Wife

New: Partners, Vegas, Elementary, Made In New Jersey

Held Until Mid-Season: Golden Boy, Friend Me, Undercover Boss, The Job

Fate Unknown: Rules Of Engagement

Complete Schedule (all times are Eastern; New shows – except CSI and NCIS) in capitals

Monday

8:00-8:30 p.m.: How I Met Your Mother
8:30-9:00 p.m.: PARTNERS
9:00-9:30 p.m.: 2 Broke Girls (New Time)
9:30-10:00 p.m.: Mike & Molly
10:00-11:00 p.m.: Hawaii Five-0

Tuesday

8:00-9:00 p.m.: NCIS
9:00-10:00 p.m.: NCIS: Los Angeles
10:00-11:00 p.m.: VEGAS

Wednesday

8:00-9:00 p.m.: Survivor
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Criminal Minds
10:00-11:00 p.m.: CSI

Thursday

8:00-8:30 p.m.: The Big Bang Theory
8:30-9:00 p.m.: Two And A Half Men (New Day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Person Of Interest
10:00-11:00 p.m.: ELEMENTARY

Friday

8:00-9:00 p.m.: CSI: New York (New Time)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: MADE IN NEW JERSEY
10:00-11:00 p.m.: Blue Bloods

Sunday

7:00-8:00 p.m.: 60 Minutes
8:00-9:00 p.m.: The Amazing Race
9:00-10:00 p.m.: The Good Wife
10:00-11:00 p.m.: The Mentalist (New Day)

Partners looks at two lifelong best friends and business partners whose relationship is on the verge of changing. Joe (David Krumholtz) is an accomplished architect who leads with his head not his heart. He’s newly engaged to Ali (Sophia Bush) a beautiful and talented jewelry designer. His partner Louis (Michael Urie) is gay, spontaneous, emotional and prone to exaggerating. Louis is dating Wyatt (Brandon Routh) a vegan nurse who Louis claims is just one promotion shy of being a doctor. The question is how Joe and Louis's business and personal relationship change with the inclusion of these two important new relationships.

CBS enters into period drama with their new series Vegas. A fictionalized version of the career of Ralph Lamb who was Clark County Sheriff from 1961-1979, a time when Las Vegas was experiencing tremendous growth. Lamb (Dennis Quaid) is a fourth generation rancher who just wants to be left alone to run his place. The problem is that the city is expanding and because the city was – at the time – the only place to gamble in the United States, corruption was becoming an issue. When a casino worker is murdered, the mayor of Las Vegas remembers that Lamb commanded a Military Police unit during World War II and appeals to his sense of duty to get him to look into the case. This brings him into conflict with Chicago mobster Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis) who wants to make Las Vegas his own. Lamb is assisted by two deputies, his diplomatic, even-keeled brother Jack (Jason O’Mara) and his charming, impulsive son Dixon (Taylor Handley), as well as by ambitious Assistant District Attorney Katherine O’Connell (Carrie-Anne Moss) who grew up on a ranch next to the Lambs. (The real Ralph Lamb is still alive at age 85. In fact, when he learned that the show had been picked up he called a friend of his who was in Italy – Dennis Quaid.)

Elementary is an American take on modernizing the Sherlock Holmes character. The following is from the official CBS press release (although I am adding the actor names) simply because I’m afraid I might get satirical. “Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare – a sober companion, Dr. Watson (Lucy Liu). A successful surgeon until she lost a patient and her license three years ago, Watson views her current job as another opportunity to help people, as well as paying a penance. However, the restless Sherlock is nothing like her previous clients. He informs her that none of her expertise as an addiction specialist applies to him and he's devised his own post-rehab regimen – resuming his work as a police consultant in New York City. Watson has no choice but to accompany her irascible new charge on his jobs. But Sherlock finds her medical background helpful, and Watson realizes she has a knack for playing investigator. Sherlock's police contact, Capt. Tobias "Toby" Gregson (Aidan Quinn), knows from previous experience working with Scotland Yard that Sherlock is brilliant at closing cases, and welcomes him as part of the team. With the mischievous Sherlock Holmes now running free in New York solving crimes, it's simple deduction that he's going to need someone to keep him grounded, and it's elementary that it's a job for Watson.”

Janet Montgomery plays Martina Garretti in the new series Made In Jersey. Martina comes from a working class New Jersey family and at first glance wouldn’t seem to fit in with the Ivy League educated lawyers at the prestigious New York law firm where she works. However what she lacks in the prestige of her education she more than makes up for with her tenacity and blue collar insight. These qualities plus her ingenuity and resourcefulness get her noticed by the firm’s founder Donavon Stark (Kyle MacLachlin) as well as by her secretary Cyndi Vega (Toni Trucks). With the support of her family including her sister Bonnie (Erin Cummings) she’s able to maintain her New Jersey roots even in the intimidating environment of her New York law firm.

Golden Boy is the saga of the rise of an ambitious young cop to become the youngest Police Commissioner in New York history. While being interviewed about his rise to the top job Walter William Clark Jr. (Theo James) flashes back to his early days on the job. After just three years on the job Clark is able to be promoted to Detective on the Homicide Squad. He’s disappointed to be teamed with veteran Detective Don Owen (Chi McBride) who is just two years shy of retirement. He’d rather be teamed with the “alpha dog” on the squad, Detective First Grade Christian Arroyo (Kevin Alejandro), a cop who is just as ambitious as Walter but without a moral center. Also on the squad are Arroyo’s partner Detective Deborah McKenzie (Bonnie Somerville) a third generation cop who is also the only woman on the squad, and Detective Joe Diacco (Holt McCallany) who is well-connected with tremendous resources. Walter is determined to succeed as quickly as possible and bases his career decisions on that need. In fact the only distraction from this goal is his role as the sole caregiver and support of his sister Agnes (Stella Maeve), a teenager exhibiting increasingly dangerous behaviour.

Friend Me looks at friendship in the age of instant communications. Rob (Nicholas Braun) and Evan (Christopher Mintz-Plass) are two twenty-something guys from Indiana who move to Los Angeles to start cool new jobs. Evan is content to stay at home, web chatting and playing poker online, with his Indiana friends Mike (Darveesh Cheena), Sully (Tim Robinson), and Farhad (Dan Ahdoot) just a mouse click away. Rob however wants to meet people who aren’t just staring down at their smart phones and laptops and so, despite Evan’s warnings that nothing good can come of it, puts up a flyer seeking new friends at a local coffee shop. Some of the replies have potential while others are just disturbing. Suddenly Rob and the reluctant Evan are embarking on a series of the most epic adventures and disasters of their lives.

The Job is the latest reality series from Mark Burnett. Each week new candidates are chosen from across the country for the chance to win their dream job at one of America’s leading company. Lisa Ling hosts and leads the prospects through a number of challenges, from a spot quiz to assess their knowledge of the company to deadline driven tasks while they spend time on the job. In addition there is a rival company waiting to steal any of the contenders with a job offer. When that happens the contender must decide immediately whether or not to take the offer from the rival company or to stay on and try for their once in a lifetime job.

Comments
CBS is in the amazing position where there are few shows that they really needed to cancel. The biggest example of this was probably Unforgettable. If that series had been on any of the three major networks it would still be on the air. After all it won its timeslot handily most weeks. On CBS it was expendable, along with a long-in-the-tooth series with a sometime problem star (CSI: Miami and David Caruso) and a couple of legitimate failures (A Gifted Man, How To Be A Gentleman). They can afford to move not one but two of their biggest shows to shore up weak spots.

For me the new CBS series are a bit of a mixed bag. I think Partners is right in the network’s wheelhouse when it comes to comedies, and should slide in between How I Met Your Mother and 2 Broke Girls like it was built for the timeslot. Similarly I like how when they decided to do a period series it wasn’t about an airline in 1963 or a nightclub with an iconic name, it is a procedural. Vegas is another show that fits what the network has been doing for years. My only quibble is whether it should be on Tuesday night or should have been saved for Thursdays. Finally Made In Jersey fits the CBS approach to Friday like a glove. They have always gone for at least one show that has the potential to draw a female audience. A Gifted Man may have failed but it follows in a line that included Ghost Whisperer, Joan of Arcadia, Close To Home and Moonlight (a show that wouldn’t have been cancelled if anyone at CBS had foreseen the “Vampire” fad that has emerged in the past few years, but that’s irrelevant now).

Not that I think it’s all perfect at CBS. I have great concerns over Sherlock. Admittedly I’m a bit of a “Holmes purist,” but the description from the network gives me the willies…and not in a good way. It seems too “flip” and irreverent. I want to be wrong, but in this case I’m not sure if viewers are going to buy into this in the long run.I’m afraid that in audience terms it might turn out to be more like a previous occupant of the third hour on Thursday nights, The Eleventh Hour, a show that I really liked personally but which didn’t take off with the mass audience. I also have some concerns, although not as grave, about the mid-season show Golden Boy. It will probably work, but the description comes off a bit like a standard procedural wrapped with the gimmick from How I Met Your Mother; a weir mix to say the least.

This is exactly the sort of line-up I expect from CBS. They’re building on their strengths, and when they take chances the chances they take aren’t too radical. And of course this is because they don’t have to take radical chances. As the man said, it is good to be king.

ABC’s 2012-13 Season

ABC announced their new line-up for the 2012-13 season on Tuesday morning. The network made a limited number of cancellations – though it’s worth noting that four of them came from two timeslots (Sunday’s third hour and Thursday’s first hour) – and a small number of new shows. In fact the network has as many new shows waiting for mid-season as they do for the start of the year (five each – three dramas and two comedies). The network is taking a couple of risks – which is admirable – but whether that risk-taking will pay off is the big question.

Cancelled: Charlie’s Angels, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, GCB, Man Up, Missing, Pan Am, The River, Work It, Cougar Town (moving to TBS)

Moved: Revenge, Last Man Standing, Happy Endings, Dancing With The Stars Results

Renewed: Dancing With The Stars, Castle, Happy Endings, Don’t Trust The B---- In Apartment 23, Private Practice, Suburgatory, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Shark Tank, Primetime: What Would You Do?, 20/20, America’s Funniest Videos, Once Upon A Time

New: The Neighbors, Nashville, Last Resort, Malibu Country, 666 Park Avenue

Held Until Mid Season: Body Of Proof, Wife Swap, Mistresses, Red Widow, Zero Hour, How To Live With Your Parents (For The Rest Of Your Life), The Family Tools

Complete Schedule (All times are Eastern; New shows in capitals)

Monday
8:00-10:00 p.m.: Dancing With The Stars
10:00-11:00 p.m.: Castle

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Dancing With The Stars Results (New Time)
9:00-9:30 p.m.: Happy Endings (New Day)
9:30-10:00 p.m.: Don’t Trust The B---- in Apartment 23 (New Day)
10:00-11:00 p.m.: Private Practice

Wednesday
8:00-8:30 p.m.: The Middle
8:30-9:00 p.m.: Suburgatory
9:00-9:30: Modern Family
9:30-10:00 p.m.: THE NEIGHBORS
10:00-11:00 p.m.: NASHVILLE

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: LAST RESORT
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Grey’s Anatomy
10:00-11:00 p.m.: Scandal

Friday (until November)
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Shark Tank
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Primetime: What Would You Do?
10:00-11:00 p.m.: 20/20

Friday (starting in November)
8:00-8:30 p.m.: Last Man Standing (New Day)
8:30-9:00 p.m.: MALIBU COUNTRY
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Shark Tank
10:00-11:00 p.m.: Primetime: What Would You Do?

Sunday
7:00-8:00 p.m.: America’s Funniest Videos
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Once Upon A Time
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Revenge (New Day)
10:00-11:00 p.m.: 666 PARK AVENUE

The Neighbors is set in the gated community of Hidden Hills, New Jersey. Townhouses in the exclusive development with its own golf course haven`t come on the market for ten years. When an opportunity to buy in the community comes up, the Weavers – Marty (Lenny Venito), Debbie (Jami Gertz) and their three kids – buy in. Things seem a bit odd at first. For one thing all of the other people in the neighbourhood have the same names as famous athletes, like Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo), Jackie Joiner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye), Dick Butkis (Ian Patrick), and Larry Bird (Simon Templeman). At their first dinner with the neighbours, Marty and Debbie discover that all of their neighbours are actually aliens from the planet Zabvron, where people gain nourishment through their eyes by reading books, cry green goo from their ears, and where men have the babies. The Zabvronians have been on Earth for ten years waiting for instructions from their home world, but Marty and Debbie are the only actual humans that they’ve ever met.

Nashville stars Connie Britton as Rayna James, a country music legend whose career is starting to slip. Her record label thinks that a tour as an opening act for up and coming star Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettierre) will help boost her career. The problem is that Juliette can’t wait to grab the spotlight from Rayna. Juliette is a disrespectful, untalented vixen and Rayna soon finds herself in a power struggle with the younger woman. Maybe the undiscovered talent of songwriter Scarlett O’Connor (Clare Bowen) will help Rayna resurrect her career. Adding to the tension is Rayna’s wealthy and powerful father Lamar Hampton (Powers Booth) who, although he is estranged from Rayna is still a powerful figure in her life, particularly when he schemes to get Rayna’s husband Teddy (Eric Close) to run for Mayor of Nashville.

The Last Resort starts as a taut military thriller. 500 feet under the surface of the ocean the ballistic missile submarine USS Colorado is operating properly when a message comes to them on a radio channel designed to be used only if the United States has been destroyed in a nuclear war. Their orders are to launch the sub’s missiles against Pakistan. When the Colorado’s commander, Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) seeks confirmation of the order from the White House he is removed from command. When his executive officer, Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) also seeks confirmation the submarine is attacked. Damaged and declared rogue by their own country Chaplin, Kendal and the men and women of USS Colorado seek refuge on an exotic island where they will find romance and the chance for a new life even as they seek to clear their names and return home. Also stars Daisy Betts, Dichen Lachman, Daniel Lissing, Sahr Ngaujah, Camille de Pasis, Autumn Reeser, and Jessy Schram. Robert Patrick also appears in a recurring guest star role.

Malibu Country marks the return of Reba McIntyre to weekly television playing Reba Gallagher. When Reba discovers that here country singer husband Bobby (Jeffrey Nordling) has been messing around on her, she gets a divorce and movers her two children and her sharp-tongued mother Lillie May (Lilly Tomlin) to a home in Malibu – just about the only asset they have left. Despite gaining a new friend named Kim (Sara Rue) and her son Sage, Reba feels out of place in Southern California. Nevertheless she sets out to revive the musical career she gave up when she married Bobby, with the help of her new manager Geoffrey (Jai Rodriguez).

666 Park Avenue is a new drama with supernatural overtones. For residents at “The Drake,” all of their ambitions and desires will be fulfilled, courtesy of the building’s mysterious owner Gavin Doran (Terry O’Quinn). Everything has a price of course, and the people living at the ominous address of 666 Park Avenue are involved in a Faustian contract. This includes the young midwestern couple, Jane Van Veen (Rachel Taylor) and Henry Martin (Dave Annable) who are hired to manage the historic building. They not only fall under the machinations of Gavin and his mysterious wife Olivia (Vanessa Williams) but begin to discover the shadowy supernatural forces within the building that imprison and endanger the lives of the residents of The Drake.

Mistresses, based on the British series of the same name, is the story of four sexy and sassy girlfriends who are on their own path to self-discovery. Alyssa Milano plays Savi, a successful career woman who is looking forward to make partner at her law firm, and to starting a family with her husband Harry (Brett Tucker). Her younger sister Josselyn (Jes Macallan) is totally different; a single woman partying, serial dating and leaning on her big sister for support. Their common friend April (Rochelle Yates) is a recent widow with two children trying to move forward and rebuild her life. Finally there’s Karen (Yunjin Kim) a successful therapist who reconnects with her three old friends after a complicated relationship with a patient goes too deep.

The brutal murder of Marta Walraven’s (Radha Mitchell) husband is the starting point for new drama Red Widow. Stay at home mom Marta’s first instinct is to protect her three young children but for Marta this has a different meaning from what it might have for others. Her husband’s business partners – Marta’s scheming and untrustworthy brother Irwin Petrova (Wil Traval) and Mike Tomlin (Lee Tergesen) – were involved in a drug deal with other mobsters and Marta’s husband paid the ultimate price. The world of mobsters is hardly new terrain for Marta. Her father Andrei Petrova (Rade Sherbedzija) and his loyal bodyguard Luther (Luke Goss) are gangsters too. Marta and her sister Kat (Jamie Ray Newman) always wanted a life without the danger and fear, and it was something that Marta thought she had before her husband died. Now she’s determined to take on both the Mob and the FBI to dig her way out of the underworld,

In Zero Hour Anthony Edwards plays Hank Galliston, the publisher of “The Modern Skeptic”. Hank has spent his career debunking myths and solving conspiracies. His motto has always been “logic is the compass,” but when his beautiful wife Laila (Jacinda Barrett) is abducted from her antique clock shop, Hank is embroiled in a mystery that spans around the world and through the centuries. Aided by two young associates – Rachel (Addison Timlin) and Arron (Scott Michael Foster) – and sexy FBI agent Becca Riley (Carmen Ejogo) Hank not only has to unravel the clues but also to keep the answers from falling into the hands of the man they call “White Vincent” (Michael Nyqvist) in order to find his wife and save humanity.

How To Live With Your Parents (For The Rest Of Your Life) is a new comedy starring Sarah Chalke. Polly (Chalke) is a single mom whose been divorced for a year. The change in her circumstances, combined with the current economy forces her to take her daughter Natalie (Rachel Eggleston) and move back in with her eccentric parents Elaine (Elizabeth Perkins) and Max (Brad Garrett). Polly and her parents are totally different in surprising ways. Polly is too uptight; her parents are too laid back. Polly is ultra-conservative when it comes to sex; her parents are still sexually adventurous. But with some help from her friends, including her best friend Gregg (Orlando Jones), her ex-husband Julian (Jon Dore) and her assistant Jenn (Rebecca Delgado Smith) Polly sets out to get a life, starting with a social life.

When Tony Shea (J.K. Simmons) has a heart attack he’s forced to turn over the keys to he beloved handyman business to his son Jack (Kyle Bornheimer). That’s the starting point for The Family Tools. The problem (of course) is that while Jack is enthusiastic and determined to make his father proud, his past career efforts have been less than successful. Needless to say, everyone expects him to fail, including his father’s rebellious troublemaking assistant Darren (Edi Gathegi) and Darren’s flirtatious sister Liz (Danielle Nicollet) who works at the local hardware store. In Jack’s corner are his Aunt Terry (Leah Remini) and his oddball cousin Mason (Johnny Pemberton).

Comments
ABC has some problems which they need to address. Some of them are fairly obvious. Their hold on the third hour of Sunday night has been tenuous since they folded Brothers And Sisters, with Pan Am, GCB both dying in the time slot. The first hour of Thursday night has been a problem even longer; the last time they had a show last even a full season in the timeslot was…well actually I’m not sure when they had a show run more than a season in that timeslot. In the past three years the time was held by Flash Forward, The Deep End, My Generation, Charlie’s Angels, and Missing. This past cycle of Dancing With The Stars has seen some erosion in the ratings thanks to going up against The Voice. Then too, some of their existing shows are aging, so while things are not as dire for ABC as they are for NBC, I think they do have concerns.

Looking at the new shows that ABC is bringing out, I’m not sure that they’ve really got a handle on their problems. Last Resort looks like it has a lot of action – at least in what I suspect will be the pilot – but while the pilot is vaguely reminiscent of the theatrical thriller Crimson Tide (with Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington) the description of what comes after feels like a mix of Jericho and Lost. I’m not sure what the audience wants in the Thursday timeslot but I don’t think it’s this. And sad to say I think  As to Sunday night, I like the idea of moving Revenge to the old Desperate Housewives timeslot although I might have put it in the third hour instead. The problem for me is 666 Park Avenue. It appears to have a good cast but we’ve seen shows with this sort of supernatural aspect come and go quite rapidly in the past. It’s a risk and I’m not sure it’s one that will pay off for the network. Moving Revenge to Sunday night opens up the third hour of Wednesday night, and I think that the female oriented Nashville is going to do fine there.

I’ve got a mixed opinion on ABC’s comedies. I like the idea that they’re going to program scripted shows on Friday, vaguely reminiscent of the old TGIF shows although aimed at an older audience. I was a big fan of Reba McIntyre’s WB series – the lady has a talent for comedy – and Malibu Country sounds good to me. The Tuesday comedy Neighbors on the other hand seems just plain dumb, and reminiscent of that other great comedy success (sarcasm most assuredly on) Cavemen. People with a modicum of taste should sink this one. The Family Tools is another show which seems weak to me. I don’t thinks it will be as bad as Neighbors has the potential to be and it’s certainly not as offensive as Work It was but the description is hardly attractive. On the other hand How To Live With Your Parents (For The Rest Of Your Life) does sound like a show with potential even if the “conservative daughter-liberal parents” thing is a bit old hat.

Finally, looking at the mid-season dramas I expect the Anthony Edwards series Zero Hour will replace Last Resort when that show falls and – despite the obvious rip-off of The DaVinci Code – I don’t think either Last Resort or Zero Hour will be renewed this time next year. Finally there’s Red Widow. I’m not really sure where this one is going to fit for the network. Is it Revenge set amongst Russian mobsters instead of rich people in the Hamptons, or are they trying to make the sort of hard hitting violent show that other networks are pushing? Whatever the case I’m not seeing it work on a network that tends toward the “light and airy.”

I applaud the efforts that ABC is making to shore up their line-up before things get significantly worse. If NBC back in the day had taken that attitude a few years ago we might not be seeing the collapse of that network and their seeming inability to get any traction when it comes to rebuilding. I’m just not certain that all of the moves that ABC is making are going to be successful. On the other hand enough of them are going to work that it won’t be a disaster.

FOX’s 2012-13 Season

Fox announced their new season Monday morning, and at first glance it appears to be primarily a case of moving some of the chairs around. Only three new series will debut in September – one dram
a and two comedies – but several series will find new time slots. And as always with FOX the mid-season will see even more planned changes. One other thing that is patently missing from FOX’s line-up is the sort of big budget, high profile series that typified the network’s new shows in previous years.

Cancelled: House, Terra Nova, Allen Gregory, I Hate My Teenaged Daughter, The Finder, Alcatraz, Napoleon Dynamite

Moved: Raising Hope (new time), Glee, Touch

Renewed: American Dad, Bob’s Burgers, Bones, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, Fringe, New Girl, The Simpsons, The X-Factor,

New: Mob Doctor, Ben & Kate, The Mindy Project

Held Until Mid Season: American Idol, Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, The Following, The Goodwin Games

Complete Schedule (all times, Eastern, new shows in Capitals)


Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Bones
9:00-10:00 p.m.: THE MOB DOCTOR (The Following at mid-season)


Tuesday
8:00-8:30 p.m.: Raising Hope (new time)
8:30-9:00 p.m.: BEN AND KATE
9:00-9:30 p.m.: The New Girl
9:30-10:00 p.m.: THE MINDY PROJECT


Wednesday
8:00-10:00 p.m.: The X-Factor (American Idol at mid-season) 

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: The X-Factor (American Idol at mid-season)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Glee (new day and time)


Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Touch (new day and time)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Fringe (Hell’s Kitchen at mid-season)

Sunday
7:00-7:30 p.m.: The OT (Animation Domination reruns after Football season)
7:30-8:00 p.m.: The Cleveland Show
8:00-8:30 p.m.: The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 p.m.: Bob’s Burgers
9:00-9:30 p.m.: The Family Guy
9:30-10:00 p.m.: American Dad


The Mob Doctor tells the story of Dr. Grace Devlin (Jordana Spiro) and her double life. A top resident at Chicago’s Roosevelt Medical Center, she’s been hailed as one of the most promising young cardiothoracic surgeons in the country. However she owes a lifetime debt to the Chicago Mob to pay off her brother’s life threatening gambling debt. In her public life she is involved with compelling cases ranging from a toddler who needs heart surgery to the chaos of a crash on The El. In her other role she patches up injured mobsters, removes bullets from dead bodies to destroy incriminating evidence, and even dealing with an aging mobster’s erectile dysfunction. She has to keep her life with the mob secret from everyone in her life; her best friend Nurse “Ro” Angeli (Floriana Lima), her blue-blood boyfriend Dr. Brett Robinson (Zach Gilford), her boss Dr Stafford White (Zeljko Ivanek), her mother (Wendy Makkena) and even the brother Nate (Jesse Lee Soffer) whose debt led her into her deal with The Mob. The only person who really knows the extent of her activities on both sides of her life is the Mob boss to whom she owes her debt, Constantine Alexander (William Forsythe).


Ben And Kate are a brother and sister who couldn’t be more different. Kate Fox (Dakota Johnson) has followed the rules all of her life with one exception. That exception was getting pregnant out of wedlock which forced her to quit college just before graduation. After the birth of her daughter Maddie (Maggie Jones), Kate put her 20s on hold to be “responsible.” She works as a bar manager to maximize her time with Maddie. Her brother Ben is the opposite of Kate. He likes trouble more than she ever did, and has an infectious energy that draws people into his crazy schemes and bad ideas. When Ben arrives to crash on Kate’s couch for a few days he quickly realises that for the first time in their lives she needs his help, because Kate is surviving rather than living. Lucy Punch plays Kates Best friend BJ, a waitress at the bar that Kate manages, and Echo Kellum is Tommy, Ben’s “partner-in-crime” who not only treats Ben as his hero but also has a serious crush on Kate.


The Mindy Project stars former star of The Office Mindy Kaling as Dr. Mindy Kahiri, a talented OB/GYN with a chaotic personal life full of bad habits. She can quote every Meg Ryan romantic comedy – because the girl always gets the guy even in the bad movies – and is determined to become a well-rounded, perfect woman, able to win the perfect guy. This means trying to be more punctual, spend less money, lose weight and read more books. Her work life isn’t perfect either. She shares a practice with several other doctors, including Jeremy Reed (Ed Weeks) who is “the walking definition of bad news, and sometimes shares Mindy’s bed, despite her best efforts to resist. Then there’s Danny Castellano (Chris Messina), a hot headed guy’s guy who not only steals Mindy’s patients but also constantly criticises her for he supposed lack of professionalism to her struggling love life, even though he secretly admires her work. Rounding out the cast are Gwen Grady (Anna Camp) a married lawyer turned “Pilates mom” who has Mindy’s best friend since college, and the practice’s two receptionists, Betsy Putch (Zoe Jarman) and Shauna DiCanio (Dana DeLorenzo).


The Goodwin Games is a comedy about three siblings who are in line to inherit fortune from their recently deceased father. Benjamin Goodwin (Beau Bridges in a guest starring role) felt guilty about not being a better parent to his three children. In an effort to get his children to rediscover their true selves Benjamin arranges with his estate lawyer April (Melissa Tang) to set up a number of challenges for them to win his $20 million estate…an estate that none of his children knew existed. Henry Goodwin (Scott Foley) feels he is the most deserving to inherit. He’s a successful surgeon who feels he’s a role model for his less successful siblings and lets them know it at every opportunity. Chloe (Becki Newton), the middle child had been a math prodigy but turned her back on it to be a “popular girl.” Benjamin’s challenges for Chloe are intended to reconnect her with her old love of numbers. Finally there’s family screw-up Jimmy (Jake Lacy), a small-time ex-con and “dull-witted guitarist” with a big debt to a loan shark. Jake may be a screw-up but he’s got more heart than any of his siblings.


Imagine if the 300 or so serial killers that the FBI believes are currently active were somehow able to communicate with each other, work together, even form alliances. And imagine if one notorious serial killer not only set this up but develops an almost cult-like following among them. This is the premise behind The Following. When serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) escapes from death row and resumes his killing spree, former FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) is brought out of retirement to consult. Hardy knows everything possible about Carroll, but his pursuit of the killer nine years ago left him mentally and physically damaged. The FBI team currently on the case – tough as nails Jennifer Mason (Jeananne Goosen) and razor-sharp Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) – regard Hardy as a liability rather than an asset, but it is Hardy who uncovers the network of serial killers that Carroll has been creating. In the course of the case Hardy reconnects with Carroll’s ex-wife, Claire Matthews (Natalie Zea) who is the mother of Carroll’s ten year-old son Joey (Kyle Catlett). In the past Hardy and Claire were close and she is able to provide insight about Carroll’s moves.


Comments:
A very conservative roster for FOX. The centrepiece of the line-up is the combination of The X-Factor and American Idol together with the Sunday night animation block. that gives them a stable four and a half or five hours for the network to build from. With only three new shows and a careful redistribution of existing shows Fox seems to have built up a fairly safe, although not particularly exciting schedule.

Looking at the shows that have moved the biggest switch has been the move of Glee from Tuesday to Thursday nights. This allows FOX to build up a two hour live action comedy night on Tuesday, and gives Glee the advantage of the X-Factor/American Idol powerhouse as a lead-in. The move of the Keifer Sutherland show Touch to Friday night as the lead-in to the final thirteen episodes of Fringe might be seen by some as sacrificing the show in the “Friday night death slot” as a way of getting rid of the show. Another weakness might be the use of Raising Hope to open the comedy block on Tuesday night. Ratings for Raising Hope with Glee as a lead-in have not been stellar and there is probably reason for concern that it might not be able to anchor the night.


Looking at the new shows, I believe the greatest strengths are the midseason drama The Following and the fall debuting The Mindy Project. My personal opinion is that audiences won’t readily buy into the premise of The Mob Doctor. As for Kate And Ben, it seems to derivative of aspects of shows like 2 Broke Girls and Don’t Trust The B---- In Apartment 23 (and those shows are themselves derivative of The Odd Couple) in which two disparate people are forced to live together by circumstances and find that they can learn from each other or are stronger working together than they are alone. By contrast The Mindy Project seems a bit fresher, blending elements of The New Girl with Bridget Jones’s Diary in that you have a romantic single woman trying to overcome her shortcomings. The Following appears to be FOX’s big project of the season (with apologies to The Mod Doctor which is a show I just don’t think will fly) and it presents a frightening, if somewhat far-fetched, vision. Done right I think it could do well; done wrong it could be a disaster, although FOX is no stranger to those.


FOX’s safe and conservative line-up looks like it should deliver for them both ratings success and stability. It’s not earth shaking, and quite frankly there’s no show in the line-up that thrills me the way something like The Chicago Code did a couple of years ago (or even Alcatraz this past season – yes, I was the guy who liked it). Most of all it is dependent on a couple of key players staying as successful as they have been over the past few years. A sound if somewhat boring schedule.