We've been talking about NBC's Bionic Woman every week this season. How the show "has potential" and is "entertaining," while at the same time I think we can all agree it's really disappointing, has been all over the place, and has a lead that has the personality of the flashlight that is currently on my desk. What went wrong?
Brian Stelter over at The New York Times TV Decoder blog has a rundown on what happened to the show, from the pre-launch hype to how the numbers dropped so badly that NBC even took the repeat off of Saturday nights and replaced it with a repeat of Chuck.
According to Stetler: "TV Guide called it "the fall's most talked about new action drama" and NBC poured tens of millions of dollars into promotion. In preseason poll, the show ranked No. 1 in the "would definitely watch" category and in measurements of audience awareness, it scored almost 80 percent higher than any other new show this fall."
It was hyped, though I don't know if TV Guide calling something "the fall's most talked about new action drama" means anything. Did a lot of other action dramas premiere this fall? I think that the attention it got was based on two things: it was from the Battlestar Galactica people and people had nostalgia for the original. That's why it polled so well and the first episode numbers were so good.
Stetler goes on to say: "Then the program premiered. It delivered a solid 13.6 million viewers, suggesting a high level of sampling. But many people never returned: if the show's ratings were plotted on a chart, they would show a dramatic and consistent weekly decline."Wow, that sounds like another hour long NBC drama that was canceled earlier this year.
With the show's increasingly bad ratings, the critical drubbing it takes each week, and now the writers strike (plus the fact that NBC hasn't given it a full season order like they've given to Chuck and Life), I would say this show is definitely not going to se a second season.
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
12-05-2007 @ 3:54PM
Joey Geraci said...
The show is pretty uniformly horrible. The only reason, I repeat, the absolute only reason that the show should be brought back at all (just to finish out the first season) is that I want to see the Starbuck plot given some kind of resolution. The fact that they completely dropped that plot, is so insane it is indescribable. I am still mildly curious about what happens there, along with the strong desire to see some new Starbuck footage before March, even if she isn't technically Starbuck.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 4:07PM
Ari said...
Can i ask a silly question? Why was Michelle Ryan given the lead? Wouldn't it had made much more sense to have Katee Sackhoff be the lead, you know because she can act? Michelle Ryan was completely unable to pull off an American accents while acting. Did she even audition at all? I tried watching for a while but they just made it so hard. But yes, another NBC show to bite the dust, as the hybrid says "all this has happened before and will happen again"
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 4:23PM
mb said...
@Ari -
I agree 100% with you regarding Katee Sackhoff being a better Bionic lead than Michelle Ryan.
Even if Katee was acting a little "over-the-top" with her character, she was still far more interesting than Michelle could ever be.
And on a purely shallow level, Katee's blonde! So was Lindsay Wagner (sort-of).
But I have only watched this show weekly to see how much worse it'll get. David Eick & Company seems to have poured all of the money into promoting this trainwreck instead of getting good writers.
12-05-2007 @ 8:49PM
keithnl said...
Triple bonus geek points for referencing the hybrid
12-05-2007 @ 4:08PM
Nuski said...
I was one of those caught up in the preseason hype, couldnt wait for the show to air. Then when it did, just horrible, I stuck around for 5 episodes and no more, just read the reviews here at tvsquad.
it failed on a lot of levels and if it doesnt return, I wont miss it.
On a side note saw pilot of Terminator : Sarah Connor Chronicles and can I say if u wanna see a strong female character on tv wait till then.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 4:08PM
sammg32 said...
I really thought this show had some potential but now I just dont feel anything for the characters. My dvr hates it so much it has randomly stopped recording it and even after many fights w/ the software, it still wont let me record the show.
I just feel like NBC went half way w/ this show and thought, "it has cool fighting seasons, a hot chick, and a crazy idea. we are ok". The third season of Alias is better then the stuff they are dishing out. Give me Jennifer Garner kicking butt any idea and she doesnt even have a bionic part.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 6:20PM
Katie said...
Amen to that. I haven't even seen this show, but from the first preview, my instant thought was a poor imitation of Alias, of which I was a loyal, TWoP-recap-reading super fan . Judging from all the other comments on the board, it looks like Bionic was simply Alias without a compelling lead...or a discernible over-arching narrative plot
12-05-2007 @ 4:16PM
Jeff N. said...
Poor casting and a slow start(poorly written first episodes) killed this show. Michelle Ryan just was not right for this role. It had a lot of promise. And the only part of it that was remotely interesting was Katee Sackoff as the evil Bionic woman.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 4:28PM
Ganesh said...
the show had such a ridiculous premise: bartender dating a bioengineer for a secret government group gets hit by a car and gets outfitted with the latest in high-tech prosthetics and turned into a superspy. come on! i found myself laughing even as i was typing that description. they could have had it be more like alias, with a more convincing character and context for adventures. this just seemed silly, which is why numbers dropped after that first episode.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 5:17PM
Wii60 said...
Generic consumer electronics store floorworker recieves a email and learns all the government's secrets. He teams up with a hot model and Jayne Cobb to save the United States from people he randomly runs into.
Which show has the most ridiculous premise? I honestly don't know.
P.S. (Chuck actually is a good show)
12-05-2007 @ 5:21PM
Ganesh said...
i agree that it's silly, but chuck is also explicitly a comedy, which is what anything with such a ridiculous premise should be. the problem with bionic woman is that it wanted to be taken seriously.
12-05-2007 @ 4:33PM
Jazzie said...
I lost interest and stopped watching after Isaiah Washington's stint ended.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 4:36PM
Will said...
Too bad. I was hoping it would get better.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 4:37PM
Tim said...
Good. This show is just awful. I stopped watching after two episodes, caught the one where they introduced the CIA hottie, and found it still unwatchable and unreal.
Compare the mess that is Bionic Woman to the much more nuanced, better acted and wonderfully plotted out Journeyman, which deserves a second season.
If NBC won't pick up Journeyman for a second season, I'm hoping another channel will see the promise and give it salvation.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 4:37PM
mandraski said...
This is what happens when you re-introduce a show that nobody really cared about the first time around, even when it had the popularity of the $6 Million Dollar Man to help generate interest.
Next fall, look for the return of Manimal, Carter Country, and Mulligan's Stew, all sure to be bonafide hits, right?
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 7:44PM
Marty McKee said...
You must have been born in the '80s if you think nobody cared about THE BIONIC WOMAN the first time around. It was a ratings hit and an Emmy-winning show. And it sold a lot of tie-in merchandise.
12-05-2007 @ 4:51PM
jun said...
I want this to get cancelled so that, after the final season of BSG, Katee can join the cast of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse." How amazing would /that/ be?
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 5:12PM
Carissa said...
From what I heard, Katee will not be back even if the show is renewed. They failed hard on this one. I loved the original Bionic Woman (sorry Mandraski, but it was not quite on the same par as Manimal, and the other two shows I have never heard of) and was hoping an update with todays technology would be well-done.
The lead actress is horrible. The storyline of her family, job and love interest was beyond horrible and none of the supports outside Katee were up to the job. The best thing about this show so far was that Isiah Washington thought he would get a spin off and was actually killed off instead. He's so high on himself that it made it fun to watch.
Otherwise, a great disappointment. Even the remake of Dukes of Hazzard had a higher entertainment value than this, and that is embarrassing to write.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 5:22PM
Jake said...
I stopped watching after several episodes for several reasons:
1. Michelle Ryan can't act. Her line delivery makes her sound like a teenager. Whatever! She is not even that hot. The spy gal from Chuck is 50x hotter and 100x a better actress.
2. Alias did the spy show better. It was obvious this show wasn't going anywhere dramatically good. Continuity for a show like this is important, and the writers didn't seem to care.
3. Since it was from David Eick, I expected the same intense, cram so much info into one hour that it feels like you've watched 4, quality that you get with Battlestar Galactica. I guess it goes to show that the networks really water down shows while cable lets them shine.
Reply
12-05-2007 @ 5:40PM
Argus said...
This show is like watching exciting toast, and toast is never exciting.
Reply