TV Talk Discussion Group

Topic: Shows in danger of cancellation

I've been following the ratings, ad rates, demos, and the like. Now that we're several weeks into the season, the shows that aren't doing so well are becoming pretty clear. Here are the ones that look to be on the shakiest ground.

ABC: Hank, critically drubbed, poor ratings, the weak link in the ABC comedy Wednesday lineup.
Eastwick, the sole Wednesday drama on this network, is struggling. It might get a full season pickup to see if it improves, but it also could be cancelled soon.
the forgotten is shaky on Tuesday night. Again, like Eastwick, could be gone at any second or given a reprieve but must improve significantly if so.
Ugly Betty, ratings dropped big-time with the move to Friday. My guess is that it will be allowed to play out the season and then be cancelled.
Everything else looks safe till end of the season, at the very least. Note that Private Practice is doing quite nicely so far. FlashForward is clearly the most successful new series.

CBS: The new medical drama Three Rivers is bombing out. So is Cold Case, though again, as with Ugly Betty, I think it will probably run the full season and then be gone.
Accidentally on Purpose is the weakest of the Monday comedies. It isn't doing THAT horribly, just badly compared to the other comedies on that night, but if CBS wants to pull a comedy before the end of the season, it seems the most likely candidate.
All other shows seem safe enough. Special note: CSI has suffered a huge drop in ad rates over last year but still is doing enough to stick around. If it drops this much next season, though, watch out. It's showing a lot of weakness right now.

CW: I really don't think anything will be cancelled anytime soon. Melrose Place is the weakest performer, and it's been picked up for 18 episodes already.
Note: Vampire Diaries is a very successful new show.

Fox: Dollhouse is crashing and burning. It's already been pulled from the schedule for November. Looks likely to play out its initial order of 13 episodes in Dec/Jan and then die.
Brothers and Til Death are also bombing out and are in danger. OTOH, one or both could get a timeslot change and live on for a while.

NBC: Their schedule is a disaster, but Trauma, an expensive and dreadful medical drama, is perhaps the most disturbingly bad thing about it. I'd be surprised if this one lived past 13 episodes. It might not even air that many.
Note: The other new medical drama, Mercy, has been picked up for the full season despise not-great numbers itself.

I'm not surprised about Hank being in danger.I tried to see it once and only saw about a minute or two.

Kelsey Grammer should quit trying.He'll always be Frasier Crane for many viewers-and no other program will ever have the same popularity or longevity.

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Based on the few minutes of it I saw,the reviews I've read, and viewer opinions I've seen, it seems to be a pretty bad show. Grammer needs to get something with great writing if he wants people to get past his 'Frasier' image. eom/lisa3

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Posted by: Bertha
Date posted: Mon Oct 26 17:09:56 2009
Message:
I love Eastwick. I hope it is able to pick up an audience because it is an interesting, quirky show.  They need to make the brunette less pathetic, though.

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I like it more than I thought I would. It's lost a bunch of viewers since its premiere, though. :( It needs to improve fast. I hope it does. It's kind of a fun, campy soap. eom/lisa3

Yes, I'm liking it too, for that very reason: It's campy & fun. Reminds me of the original *Melrose Place* and other Aaron Spelling productions. -SpellingAddict

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Posted by: attylaura
Date posted: Mon Oct 26 9:14:26 2009
Message:

Fox can't be shocked that Dollhouse is crashing, they made a lousy decision in deciding to save Dollhouse over Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles.  TSCC was awesome and had a great first year then Fox fiddled with the scheduling and put it on Mondays to start with last year, then, even though it was holding its own on that timeslot, Fox moved it to Fridays to try to prop up Dollhouse.

This is why I don't watch much network TV anymore.  They pull you into a show, only to move it around like a shell game so viewers have to find what night it is on, then they cancel it.

As for NBC, Leno is killing their ratings and killing the possibility of good dramas at 10:00.  Thank God Law and Order SVU is still going strong, it's the only show on NBC I watch, and it just gets better and better.

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You know what my feeling is on the subject of cancellations & low ratings? I hate to say it but I feel like a huge percentage of our society these days is only happy if there's 1) lots of in-your-face shocking subjects & scenes, especially with plenty of violence, and 2) a lotta racy stuff, either going right to the line of acceptability or (what people especially love) going over it. Too many people have gotten bored with well-written, thoughtful and meaningful stories with great actors. They prefer to see models with guns who talk dirty. Plenty of explosions make people happy, too. And don't even get me started on serial killers and murder in general! Society seems to be totally fixated on watching it, though people like to claim they're *basically non-violent.* I feel very alienated from the mass population these days. That includes politics, too. Okay, I'll stop now - I get too darn depressed thinking about this! -SpellingAddict

I feel the same way about Terminator. I just loved that show. Dollhouse, never seen it, don't care. mm3

I think both SCC and Dollhouse should have been cancelled. The ratings were awful. And to be fair, SCC was not doing well on Mondays. Its ratings were pretty poor and it almost certainly would been cancelled if it had stayed on that night. I think it was a much better show than Dollhouse, but it just couldn't make it. eom/lisa3

Hi Spell... I sorta agree with you, except for the fact that so few people watch TV anymore, and I think you have hit upon the reason why! That is why I don't watch much network TV but do enjoy so many of the USA network shows. They are entertaining rather than shocking or horrifying. Have you seen White Collar yet? Bet you really like it, but let me know what you think when you finally get to see it. Thalia

TV viewership has risen, not dropped. Viewership of the broadcast networks has gone down, though, and one large reason has to be the increase in cable channels. Fewer people watch broadcast, but more watch TV in general--the cable and paid channels more than make up the difference. eom/lisa3

Yep. I garbled that lead sentence, by not saying network TV has gone down... but the rest falls in line with what you say. Thalia

I don't watch too much cable, so I always forget what's on there. I meant to check out White Collar and didn't. So I'm an exception to the 'watching more cable' rule. I see that the WC pilot is being repeated on Thurs. night, and maybe at other points. I'll make a note to check it out--your comments about it have interested me. eom/lisa3

I now have it circled in my copy of this week's TV Guide, Thalia, so I'll be sure not to miss it! Yes, let's one of us start a topic about it after that and we'll discuss ... -Spell

I hope the whole series is as good as the pilot which was spot on perfect to me at least. I also really like Burn Notice, and that surprised me because of the violence, but it is the characters that drew me in and kept me watching. Thalia

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Posted by: Elliott
Date posted: Mon Oct 26 9:08:54 2009
Message:

I only watch two of the shows you mentioned... Ugly Betty and Eastwick.

I pretty much assumed UB was done for when I heard it was moving to Friday. That is never a good sign. I still enjoy Betty, but they have made some mistakes along the way. Oh well, it couldn't last forever.

I think I've only seen two episodes of Eastwick. Maybe three, I don't know. It's okay. But since it's ABC, I'm sure they'll cancel it soon. They often don't give good things a chance. I loved, what was it called, Invasion? That was good... then just gone.

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Ugly Betty is my favorite of those shows. I kind of like Eastwick, but viewership has dropped a lot since the premiere. In ABC's place, I think even as a fan, I'd cancel it. I watch Trauma and Three Rivers too, just because they're so bad I like to laugh at them. eom/lisa3

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