Our favorite TV Guide scribe, Mike Ausiello, must have his moles working overtime this week (he should at least provide those moles with a free pizza or something; I'm sure they're all quite hungry); this week's "Ask Ausiello" has the usual set of scoops and spoilers (even one or two with those annoying asterisks he uses), but he also has this one tidbit about the best show no one's watching, Kidnapped:According to Ausiello (look near the bottom of the page), the producers of the NBC serialized drama have been told to stop production after finishing the 13th episode. Considering they were shooting episode seven when I visited the set six weeks ago, that would mean that they are going to wrap up right... about... now. Anyway, there is an "early cancellation" contingency in place that will show the conclusion to the kidnapping mystery, so the writers won't leave whatever viewers they have left hanging like Reunion did last year. It's too bad; from everything I've seen, the show was one of the best of the fall season. But lack of promotion and a crappy time slot -- people didn't want to get started with this show when The Nine was coming two weeks later -- doomed Kidnapped from the start. Maybe NBC should just hold the show now and air all 13 episodes over the summer; I bet they'd get pretty good ratings then.
(UPDATE 10/5/06: Looks like the show is indeed done. Thanks for the link, dinges!)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-04-2006 @ 3:59PM
Scott H said...
I'm sorry to see it become an early ratings casualty. I watch absolutely no crime/detective/police shows, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed "Kidnapped".
The cast has been excellent, from Lindo, Hutton, Delany, and Sisto through the rest of the secondary characters (and I really wanted to see more of Mykleti Williamson when his character recovered!)
The show's production values have been excellent, and I enjoyed having New York as a rich backdrop for the story. I was also impressed by that house (even though your backstage visit made it clear how fake it was).
In most other TV seasons, "Kidnapped" would've been one of the highlights. I guess it says something about how much good stuff there is this year that a show like this could get ignored.
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10-04-2006 @ 4:15PM
cdmc said...
NBC stopped production last Friday (13th episode). They will conclude the series though.
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10-04-2006 @ 4:16PM
Joel Keller said...
Uh, cdmc... except for the Friday part, I just said everything you just said in my post.
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10-04-2006 @ 4:46PM
Buddy said...
It's too bad for the pending cancellation. The funny thing about Joel Keller's article, the show had a crappy time slot. If I'm not mistaken, "Law and Order" had the slot for how long??? NBC used to own Wednesday 10pm. Of course, NBC used to own Thursday night, too. :)
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10-04-2006 @ 4:57PM
Fred said...
There's been a glut of shows with season or (even series-long) story arcs this season, so this news is hardly surprising. But it's still disappointing, and I genuinely liked this show, particularly Sisto and Lindo's characters. I think the show would have had a better shot on cable and/or with a shorter self-contained season. (I'm not the first to remark that a lot of this year's shows would work much better as miniseries.)
Gone are the days of even pretending to try to find an audience on the networks. I guess NBC et al. were tired of being accused of killing shows by moving them around too much. So they've decided to forgo the moving and just kill them straight off.
I'll be happy if "Kidnapped" does get a chance to wrap itself up convincingly.
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10-04-2006 @ 5:19PM
SamMalone said...
"Maybe NBC should just hold the show now and air all 13 episodes over the summer; I bet they'd get pretty good ratings then."
Good idea. Summer broadcast TV lacks new long-arc stories. That would be a good fit.
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10-04-2006 @ 5:40PM
jeff smith said...
This should have been a movie instead........oh wait it was it was called "Ransom". I still enjoyed this show and it probably would have lasted longer on a cable station.
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10-04-2006 @ 5:44PM
Sera said...
It was a shame to see Kidnapped got dropped without really having half a chance to make itself a view favorite. I agree with Sam-perhaps it would have been a better summer short season show..I personally find myself sick of reruns and it would have been refreshing to see something that could potentially hold my interest. I really believe since Friends ended its reign, NBC has struggled to find quality shows. I know a lot of people enjoyed Surface, as cheesy as it may have been, but they cancelled that without a proper ending. What's one more week really hurt when you have nothing else to air?
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10-05-2006 @ 12:43PM
savannah said...
This is an amazing show! The reason, only reason I am watching network TV right now. If it goes - I'm gone - back to cable only programs. How typical of NBC to put on an intelligent program and then get cold feet?! So like them. It has an incredible cast, every episode that has aired so far has had me on the edge on my seat, biting my nails and anticipating every freakin' minute of the program! If you are a fan help us keep it on the air - sign up at:
KEEP KIDNAPPED ALIVE! http://hs.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2210242555
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10-05-2006 @ 1:44PM
Karen said...
What a low-down dirty shame. This show has been one of the highlights of my fall tv life so far. But I wasn't expecting to like it--or even watch it, I confess, and only got hooked because it came on the same Netflix DVD as the "Studio 60" pilot.
But still, it's gotten great critical and viewer buzz: what a sin that NBC won't give it time to find its legs.
There are so few quality shows on television...NBC is really just proving the truth of Wes' rant on the pilot of "Studio 60"--they'd rather run crap like "The Biggest Loser" than "Kidnapped"? I just don't get it. To make the decision SO early, and not give quality a chance to find its level.
What a sin.
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10-05-2006 @ 2:25PM
cammj said...
Savannah, (#9 comment), I would love to sign the petition but when I tried your link they wanted a sign-in and password. Any other way to be heard? Love Kidnapped and agree there's a lot of bad stuff nbc could be cutting before letting that program go!
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10-05-2006 @ 3:23PM
Karen said...
Well, cammj, regarding savannah's link: it's not a petition so much as it is a Facebook group that you can join.
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10-06-2006 @ 5:26PM
Brassy said...
Hey everyone! It's not to late, if we work this week end and hit every site that has anything to do with tv shows and give our replys to them on how much we love Kidnapped, we can save it or atleast maybe get another year of 13 epies.By sites I mean IMDb and tv guide,www.thetalklounge.com,accesshollywood not spaming but asking people to watch Kidnapped on Wed. OR Sat, seeing how thats going to be the new day for kidnapped.And go to the kidnapped web sites and start Down loading Kidnapped epies ( if you can) and look at all the photos for kidnapped, if they see that people are really into this show we might have a chance small as it maybe....also by telling everyone you know to check it out , we may have a chance to raise the rating by this next week epie, but only if we hurry..PLEASE DO THIS OR KIDNAPPED IS AND FOREVER GONE.Thank you !
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10-22-2006 @ 10:26AM
evie said...
The catch phrase ladies and gentlemen is 'critically acclaimed' that pretty well seals the demise of any new show. THANK god no one listed to Michael Ausiello and my favorite show is still on the air. Please, don't hype Jericho, that is the kiss of death.
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10-22-2006 @ 10:26AM
evie said...
The catch phrase ladies and gentlemen is 'critically acclaimed' that pretty well seals the demise of any new show. THANK god no one listed to Michael Ausiello and my favorite show is still on the air. Please, don't hype Jericho, that is the kiss of death.
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