Every year there new shows are introduced to network line ups. Like darts, network executives shoot the television shows at the viewership-dartboard hoping that some of them will stick. Oddly enough, a show’s success is determined on viewership, which I suspect is based on a number of factors. One of the factors is the night which the show is shown. For example, it is clear that currently NBC has a strangle hold on Thursday nights, a night on which the stack its comedy powerhouses My Name is Earl and the Office.
I am reminded of the lesson of the Family Guy. It started out on Fox on Sunday nights. Then Fox started moving it around both its time slot and nights. Accordingly, a viewership could not gather around the show because Fox did not give it enough stasis to gain a foothold in their lineup. They ended up canceling the show. Cartoon Network then picked up the show in syndication where it gathered the viewership it needed. The shows were the same as they were on Fox. But somehow on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim it flourished. Thereafter, Fox picked up the show again.
There are several shows over the years that I have fallen in love with only to be disappointed when they canceled the show. Below are some shows that for one reason or another were canceled but never should have been.
1. Arrested Development
Before the Family Guy ever got a foot hold in the popular culture references, Arrested Development tapped into the vein. The entire series is funny, each scene wonderfully crafted and brilliant written. However, one of my favorite episodes involves a Charlie Brown Christmas reference.
2. Dead Like Me
This is a show I did not catch until it was too late, mainly because I did not have cable at the time it was on air. This is a Bryan Fuller show. Its premise is decidedly Bryan Fuller. It is about a girl who dies an unnatural death, and, instead of going to Heaven, becomes a reaper, someone who helps souls go to Heaven. The premise belies its comedic genius. All of the characters are wonderfully down to Earth and real, with all of their flaws apparent and forgivable.
3. Wonderfalls
This is another Bryan Fuller show. In this show, the main character whose life is a shambles and cannot decide what to do with her life begins to see and hear objects talk to her. The objects guide her to do things to make things right. Like Dead Like Me, the characters here are real and flawed, but, in their flaws, there are redemption for the characters.
4. Firefly
The mere fact that this was a science fiction show probably made it difficult to survive. I suspect that Fox did not do enough to promote the premise of the show. The show echoed the Wild West that existed in the United States after the Civil War. The show was beautifully done, and the following it did obtain are extremely loyal to it. Later, a movie was released which also was well done.
5. Andy Barker, P.I.
This show show stared Andy Richter. Essentially, Andy Richter played a a vanilla financial consultant who comes to occupy the office of an private eye in a strip mall. Because of this, he is mistaken for a private eye himself. Subtle and understated, this show was hilarious. I don’t even think it lasted a full season.
Besides the lack of network support, the problem with these shows were that they were too intelligent and too subtle in a time when intelligent and subtle shows are scarce. Obnoxious shows like Rock of Love, the Bachelor, and other shows that rely on visual stunts rather than good writing prevent shows like the above from every being established.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment