TVSquad

As much as I made fun of the show, I wanted it to work and still feel it could work. A lot needs to be done to the characters and the scripts. I was never entirely sure what direction the show was going. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be taken seriously or not. Ryan may have worked, but her character didn't.

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Exactly, sitruc. I think Ryan was very pretty, but she lacked personality. However, the lack of well-developed scripts also attributed to that.

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I know everybody likes to put the blame on Michelle (and she WAS horrible on this show) - but in my opinion the producers and writers messed it up. Check out the new British "Jekyll & Hyde" series to see Michelle give a much stronger and more nuanced performance. On "Bionic Woman", she was given shit to work with - I doubt that Glenn Close would've done a more convincing job...

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Blaming an established actress is generally a pretty unbelievable tactic..

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The problem with casting Ryan in the role was that it flew in the face of the new, gritty style of franchise reboots. They made it happen with BSG, and tried to make it happen with Bionic Woman, but Ryan didn't give the edge that was necessary to make the show work. She gives off a pop princess aura through the whole thing. The one thing that made her character interesting, her relationship with her sister, was castrated after the initial pilot when the deaf sister was replaced with the cliched hot hax0r chick. It's hard to feel sympathy at such a plastic relationship.

I still go along with what everyone else has been saying. If Katee Sackhoff had been the main Bionic Woman, the show would still be going.

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I would've kept watching to see if it got better, but the show just wasn't good enough. Passable for the SciFi channel, but a Network such as NBC? Nope.

There were critical errors from the beginning. Michelle Ryan was one of them, but certainly not all of it. Bad writing, poor supporting cast and too much hype were all factors.

The writers, producers, actors and network failed here. It's a shame because this should have been something special.

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Oh well. I'm not surprised, but I'm sad. The show had a lot of behind the scenes instability, and yes OK OK the supporting characters ended up being more interesting than the lead. BUT. If this AND The Sarah Connor Chronicles both get axed, it's gonna suck. I want my awesome girlbots, darnit. Both shows have a lot of promise. Both shows have some big brainpower involved.

Then again, this would free up Katee Sackhoff and Summer Glau to be cast on Joss Whedon's Dollhouse in the future... ;-)

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We are defeated and depressed by watching talented people produce that shit and hire a terrible actress who couldn't handle the role.

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I'd put the blame on weak scripts and a lack of overall direction and focus before I started blaming the actors. Ryan may not have been the best fit for the show but there were enough problems to go around.

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Get ready to hear similar news about Terminator, as it has struggled to find its voice (and its audience) as well.

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Michelle Ryan was definitely one of the many problems that show had, but by no means the only one. She was perhaps the main one though, as she was supposedly the star of a one-star show, and when your one star isn't happening, you haven't got anything. Massive casting blunder. Your one star HAS to pop but she just doesn't have enough screen presence or acting chops for that. So wooden. Sure, the dialogue was terrible, the direction was schizophrenic, the plots nonsensical, but you didn't care about the main character so the show had no center or heart. That is a combination of the poorly written character and the ability of the actress to make you care.

I'm with the majority on this one - with Katee Sackhoff as the star, it probably would have still been a crappy show, but at least you would have had something to enjoy with the main character. Her character was just as poorly written - very inconsistent, but Katee at least made you stand up and pay attention. She has more charisma in her little finger than Michelle Ryan is ever gonna have in her entire being.

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The big problem I have with the series is that it was too dark. I mean Metal Gear Solid 2 dark. It looks more darker when you compare it with the original material.

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I had high hopes for Bionic Woman, especially since I loved the original (yes, I'm that old and still perusing TV sites!). I didn't like the casting of Michelle Ryan, that was true, but the story was the real error. It happened too fast, with very little buy in. In a show like this, it's very important that you have compassion and understanding for the lead, as well as those who got here into this. I felt none. What a disappointment. RIP ... maybe I can finally get the original series on DVD???

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Isn't it just possible than unlike Hugh Laurie, Rachel Griffiths, and others, Ryan's biggest problem was the inability to act AND use a different accent at the same time? That's not a slam on the actress; in the episode where she had her accent, she was a much warmer, more 3D character (within the bounds of the bad script). Maybe it just takes an actor who's made it out of their 20's to be able to act & control their voice simultaneously. Too bad NBC didn't try to actually remake "Bionic Woman" and stick a bit closer to the original character's age, storyline and atmosphere.

I think the Terminator series is in a totally different category. I've really enjoyed it, and I'm not an action fan, and haven't even ever seen the first or second movies (at least not the whole things, start to finish). The show manages to be fun, intense, and actually engage the time-travel and robotics elements of the storyline in interesting ways, as opposed to just having a killer chase after them week after week. I hope it survives.

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This is not the only mention of Bionic Woman's cancelation, but it's the most recent:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117980876.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1

This article came on Feb 13. It lists all of the CBS and NBC pickups, and specifically notes that Bionic Woman was not picked back up, along with Journeyman.

It most certainly does not blame the actress though.

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I really didn't have a problem with Ryan. It could have been Katee Sackhoff as Jamie Summers and it still would have been terrible. The plot was ridiculous, the scripts sucked and having her saddled down with her teenage sister was idiotic.

There was just so much wrong with this show, that blaming Ryan is a transparent attempt by NBC to save face.

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Shame that the writers' strike will have killed several shows, both new and old. Hopefully those writers will not find work. Very egotistical of them. It was an OK show. The writing was not good, and the shows fared poorly because of this.

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