2009 TV Death Watch

[jonks]

Actually after an absolutely awful first epi, Hank got a lot better.
Oh, well. Good for Eureka. Which chick is on criminal minds?

As for Leno, he is single handedly killing NBC. His low ratings are killing the local news that follows. Then those low ratings are killing Conan who just gave up his lead to Letterman.
The Tonight Show was always a huge moneymaker for NBC. If Conan goes to a permanent second, well, can you say "Comcast-NBC?

And also, NBC runs reruns of its weekly programs on Saturday night (though I think the other networks do as well). And footbal is on Sunday night on NBC.

So NBC really only has 8-10 Mon-Fri available. A whole 10 hours of programming from the network that gave us Hill St. Blues, ER, St. Elsewhere.
And out of the 10 you have the Biggest Loser and Dateline NBC. So its really only 8 hours of scripted tv per week.

Ran this week:
http://nymag.com/news/media/61857/

 

[techs]

Ran this week:
http://nymag.com/news/media/61857/

Yep. Exactly what I have been saying and reading:



And while NBC itself may be flailing, Bravo, with its gay-friendly mix of smart food-and-fashion reality shows and virtual-drag-queen housewives, has soared to new ratings highs this year. So has Syfy: One can legitimately ask why Zucker paid some genius more than twelve cents to rebrand the Sci Fi Channel with a stupid misspelling, but last summer, the channel launched a new drama series, Warehouse 13, that has become the biggest hit in its history. And USA’s booming lineup of escapist dramas—Burn Notice, Royal Pains, White Collar, Psych—is scoring such good ratings that it has become, in effect, NBC’s missing lineup of scripted prime-time shows

Read more: Why NBC Deserves Better Than Jeff Zucker, Jay Leno, and Comcast

 

[TwiceOver]

Soon enough Leno will be completely given up on and Conan will kill the Tonight Show and that will be that for NBC. Probably be able to pool together pocket change and have ATOT buy it.

ABC sucks balls already, so that leaves Fox and CBS to carry the load of good programming. You can count on Fox creating some masterful shows and then cancelling them abruptly. And CBS... Well they, hrm... CBS.

All the more reason to cancel cable lately.

 

[nageov3t]

Soon enough Leno will be completely given up on and Conan will kill the Tonight Show and that will be that for NBC. Probably be able to pool together pocket change and have ATOT buy it.

ABC sucks balls already, so that leaves Fox and CBS to carry the load of good programming. You can count on Fox creating some masterful shows and then cancelling them abruptly. And CBS... Well they, hrm... CBS.

All the more reason to cancel cable lately.

Modern Family is better than anything on Fox imo.

it's my third favorite sitcome on tv right now, after 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother.

 

[oogabooga]

Soon enough Leno will be completely given up on and Conan will kill the Tonight Show and that will be that for NBC. Probably be able to pool together pocket change and have ATOT buy it.

ABC sucks balls already, so that leaves Fox and CBS to carry the load of good programming. You can count on Fox creating some masterful shows and then cancelling them abruptly. And CBS... Well they, hrm... CBS.

All the more reason to cancel cable lately.

Broadcast Network TV programming sucking is a reason to cancel cable?

 

[TwiceOver]

Broadcast Network TV programming sucking is a reason to cancel cable?

Other than USA and maybe (a very maybe maybe) Discovery, possibly Bravo (top chef), there really isn't much there either.

 

[Imp]

RIP Dollhouse, cancellation announced today.

but in happier news, Southland was picked up by TBS.

Mostly ambivalent, almost glad. Still haven't forgiven Fox for renewing Dollhouse over TSCC; loved all of Whedon's previous stuff. Blah blah blah, that show had a higher budget. Now we'll never get TSCC with Dekker's DUI.

 

[0roo0roo]

Mostly ambivalent, almost glad. Still haven't forgiven Fox for renewing Dollhouse over TSCC; loved all of Whedon's previous stuff. Blah blah blah, that show had a higher budget. Now we'll never get TSCC with Dekker's DUI.

yea i was seriously pissed about the dollhouse over tscc thing. i certainly wasn't in any mood to watch doll house..which i thought sucked anyways.

 

[ViRGE]

on related news, along with eastwick getting axed, hank just joined it as outgoing except they aren't even going to air any more hank eps. For those following for eureka, except for the one chick having a couple spots in criminal minds all the eureka actors have had their shows canceled

Yay! The show doesn't start shooting until the Spring, so there's plenty of time to work the characters back in, if the writers want to.

 

[lupi]

Actually after an absolutely awful first epi, Hank got a lot better.
Oh, well. Good for Eureka. Which chick is on criminal minds?

As for Leno, he is single handedly killing NBC. His low ratings are killing the local news that follows. Then those low ratings are killing Conan who just gave up his lead to Letterman.
The Tonight Show was always a huge moneymaker for NBC. If Conan goes to a permanent second, well, can you say "Comcast-NBC?

And also, NBC runs reruns of its weekly programs on Saturday night (though I think the other networks do as well). And footbal is on Sunday night on NBC.

So NBC really only has 8-10 Mon-Fri available. A whole 10 hours of programming from the network that gave us Hill St. Blues, ER, St. Elsewhere.
And out of the 10 you have the Biggest Loser and Dateline NBC. So its really only 8 hours of scripted tv per week.

allison.


and I heard that the local networks are starting to get pissed at NBC cause this leno/conan fiasco is also keeping people from turning to nbc for the 11 news and hitting them hard in the ratings there too.

 

[nageov3t]

the current line with Leno is that he's so cheap to produce that his ratings don't really matter.

I guess it's a double edged sword -- they keep leno and their ratings suck or leno goes to ABC and crushes Conan and their ratings potentially suck anyways.

it's like the suck you know versus the scary unknown suck.

 

[lupi]

that's true, when speaking just of that individual show. But it's now also dragging other show ratings down which isn't going to keep good money coming in from the ads.

 

[shortylickens]

I coulda sworn I posted in here earlier this year expressing my love for Tina Fey, but I guess I didnt.

Anyway, I just got done watching The Late Shift from Netflix and it amazes me how much of the Leno/Letterman story they didnt tell. But in the end it didnt matter too much. Still a good flick though.

As far as NBC goes, it wasnt just Leno making them rich, they had a buttload of stuff like Cheers (which transformed into Frasier), Night Court, Wings and Seinfeld. It wasnt just Leno doing it by himself, thats for sure.

 

[lupi]

SAN FRANCISCO — NBC's "Trauma", the freshman paramedic drama that stirred up controversy in the EMS industry over its less-than-accurate representation of the profession, has been cancelled by the network. The show will complete its 13-episode run, but will cease production after that.

The show, which was reportedly one of NBC's priciest new series, failed to capture an audience — either with the mainstream public or the EMS community. Monday’s episode of "Trauma" drew just 5.8 million total viewers.

Unlike the beloved "Emergency!", the seminal EMS drama from the 1970's, many in the EMS community felt the show did a disservice to EMS professionals by highlighting lurid and sensational — as well as medically questionable — scenarios, including ambulance sex and drunk driving.

The depiction drew immediate criticism from EMS leadership, with both NAEMT and IAFC’s EMS Section firing off letters to the producers of the show protesting the creative direction.

In his letter, the IAFC's EMS Section chair Gary Ludwig called the show "an injustice to the many professionals who work in emergency medical services," before adding, "I would ask that either the show be cancelled or modified to accurately portray the sacrifice of those who perform emergency medical services to comfort and treat those who have suffered a serious trauma or illness."

The show will be replaced by "Chuck" in NBC’s Monday night lineup.




I read in a previous piece that people thought it was gonna get pulled, but this article is from a week ago and I don't recall the main tv news sites posting about it.

 

[lupi]

Syfy has picked up both Stargate Universe and Sanctuary for new seasons.

VIDEO: Robert Carlyle describes new Stargate: "It's darker"

Stargate Universe, which stars Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ming-Na, recently aired its midseason finale and the show's hiatus will extend until April. Season 2 will debut in the fall along with the third season of Sanctuary. Each series has a 20-episode order.

 

[ViRGE]

Syfy has picked up both Stargate Universe and Sanctuary for new seasons.

VIDEO: Robert Carlyle describes new Stargate: "It's darker"

Stargate Universe, which stars Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ming-Na, recently aired its midseason finale and the show's hiatus will extend until April. Season 2 will debut in the fall along with the third season of Sanctuary. Each series has a 20-episode order.

That doesn't surprise me. SGU was going to get a second season the moment its premiere ratings didn't bomb. A 3rd season would be much more questionable, as the rest of the series thus far is much closer to bombing (or at least sharing SGA's "lousy" ratings).

 

[ViRGE]

Scrubs: The New Class and Better off Ted are dead: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=8434

 

[techs]

Scrubs: The New Class and Better off Ted are dead: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=8434

A shame about Better off Ted. I really liked the show but I suspected it had just to much quirkiness to be a hit.

 

[Andy22]

A shame about Better off Ted. I really liked the show but I suspected it had just to much quirkiness to be a hit.

Agree...I really like it.

 

[nageov3t]

Scrubs: The New Class and Better off Ted are dead: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=8434

geez... the new scrubs lasted what, 2 episodes? lol

 

[aircooled]

Modern TV has to be an immediate hit or it dies fast. Cheers or Seinfeld would have never made it in today's TV world. Shows don't get a chance to grow and evolve anymore.

 

[lupi]

I can't believe ted got a chance as a regular show. Never was much of a scrubs fan so can't comment there.

Haven't looked at the guide for this week yet, but expect we are in re-run hell till after the olympics.

 

[techs]

I can't believe ted got a chance as a regular show. Never was much of a scrubs fan so can't comment there.

Haven't looked at the guide for this week yet, but expect we are in re-run hell till after the olympics.

Pushing Daisies was a show I was stunned made it to a regular networks programming. Every so often a network will surprise you.
Years ago, Kung Fu, was also a show that no one thought would ever make it on a regular networks schedule.

 

[rocadelpunk]

I'll be really upset if they cancel friday night lights.

I LOVE that show.

 

[oogabooga]

Modern TV has to be an immediate hit or it dies fast.

I disagree. Sometimes a network will take it's time to kill off a show moving it into different time slots everyweek just to toy with the fans.

Comparing NBC in 2000 to NBC in 2010 is a sad sad contrast