Well, this isn't a big surprise: TV Guide's Mike Ausiello has just found out from FOX that The Return of Jezebel James has been canceled after three episodes. Jezebel James was the first project for executive producer Amy Sherman-Palladino since she and her husband, Daniel Palladino, left Gilmore Girls after the show's sixth season.Reviews for the show -- including mine -- were largely negative; almost all of them cited how Sherman-Palladino's unique writing style and pace were thrown off by the studio audience / laugh track used for the show. FOX obviously didn't have any confidence in the show, because it was airing episodes on Friday nights after cutting its initial order from 13 episodes to 7.
That's the funny thing about TV; no matter how good the talent is that's involved in the show -- and this show, with the Palladinos, Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose, had a lot of talent involved -- things sometimes just don't work. But we know AS-P will get another chance, as will most of the cast. I especially want to see Posey on TV again; she's too good to not put at the center of a quirky dramedy or something like that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2008 @ 7:35PM
Rmpr said...
ASP deserves this for leaving Gilmore Girls and making us Gilmore fans go through that horrible 8th season..
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3-24-2008 @ 8:22PM
Oreo said...
7th season.
And the 7th season was fine, it was the way the storylines were setup that destroyed the show.
3-24-2008 @ 7:36PM
David said...
As a big GG fan, I so wanted to like this show. I so didn't. At all. Hopefully AS-P and DP wont be one hit wonders...
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3-24-2008 @ 7:46PM
Dan Buckley said...
Being a big Gilmore Girls fan I initially had high hopes for this. Until people actually saw it and then heard nothing good about it.
There were several problems with it on various levels. The fake studio audience/laugh track really killed it. Try adding one to Gilmore Girls and you can get the idea. Get any MASH DVD and watch an episode without the laugh track and the enjoyment goes up. Laugh tracks just stink. They tell you what is funny, like I don't know I'm watching a comedy.
The way they shot the show was strange. The apartment was typical sitcom setup no ceiling, harsh lighting, and basic three camera setup. The office had a ceiling, the lighting was more natural, and it was shot more towards a single camera style.
And it just wasn't very funny. Gilmore Girls could be funnier in just one scene then this was in three episodes.
If this hadn't been canceled I would've removed it from my TiVo season pass. I don't even care if they don't air the rest of the episodes. Better luck next time ASP & DP. I'll be there to see what you two come up with next.
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3-24-2008 @ 7:58PM
Rmpr said...
sorry 7th season... I hope this teaches her to be more loyal to her fans..
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3-24-2008 @ 8:14PM
Justin said...
I didn't think the show was half bad--it needed tweaking but it bothers me networks would rather cancel something than work on it. I suppose with throwaway reality programming still bringing in sponsors and key demographics, why work on scripted programming that could be interesting?
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3-24-2008 @ 8:23PM
Oreo said...
They treat their shows like shit and I hope they never work again after the mess they made Gilmore Girls.
Luke has a 12 year old daughter, screw you.
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3-24-2008 @ 8:25PM
Thomas said...
They've made a wise decision cancelling it, but it makes you wonder why they commissioned it, the script wasn't funny and the premise was stupid. Regardless of the talent, nothing was going to make this good.
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3-24-2008 @ 8:46PM
j said...
Had high hopes for the show. But,,,it was alfull.
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3-24-2008 @ 9:13PM
khamel said...
this show was so awful. i loved the two main actresses but the writing was terrible and neither character worked. honestly surprised it lasted past the pilot (which was super terrible).
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3-24-2008 @ 10:04PM
dawn said...
the show being cancelled after three episodes means 0. tv stations today don't have the balls to take risk. furthermore, i'd question the marketing and advertising of the show before questioning the talent of the creators and actors. if people can buy pet rocks, people can damn sure watch a tv show if its marketed effectively.
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3-24-2008 @ 10:40PM
Joey Geraci said...
I think the show should have been given a chance at a couple more episodes. What else are they going to put on Friday nights? It wasn't great, but it could have gotten better.
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3-24-2008 @ 11:46PM
Melissa said...
Aww man. This show definitely sucked, but I was hoping they would work on it...
I thought their dad was pretty funny though. I laughed at a few of his antics.
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3-25-2008 @ 10:05AM
kevjohn said...
I never watched a single episode of Gilmore, but I tuned into the first episode of this show mainly for the lead actresses involved. I should have heeded your warning, because it was nearly unwatchable. Get this horrible mess off the air and try again.
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3-25-2008 @ 12:54PM
ATM said...
I thought this show was OK. I liked Parker and I think they could have had some fun with her character, oh well.
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3-25-2008 @ 4:51PM
Jenny said...
I love Parker Posey, but the writing made her awful! It was an entirely cringe-worthy performance.
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4-24-2008 @ 7:10AM
p7tms said...
I thought they got rid of the show because of the movie coming out about a surrogate mother. It sounded very similar to the plot of this tv show.
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