TVSquad

It's not really possible that every summer premiere on the great American broadcast TV schedule crashed and burned, is it?

But, out of all the original programs that premiered on the major networks after the completion of the fall 2008 season, not a single one got traction.

According to analysis reports, you can take your pick from any of the following shows: Defying Gravity, The Superstars, The Listener, Mental, The Philanthropist, Hitched or Ditched, Merlin and Great American Road Trip. All of them bombed -- each hovering just above a one market share.

In fact, you don't need numbers to prove that the fall crop crapped out. Ask your friend what his/her favorite summer replacement show was. You'll be waiting awhile.

Pulling in anemic ratings week after week, despite a lot of promotion for the series, it's no real surprise that NBC is pulling The Listener off the air. They're leaving it on the air for two more episodes, but come July 30, it's another Law & Order repeat slot.

I made it through exactly one episode of The Listener and then decided that I just couldn't bring myself to care. Despite a dramatic car crash and a missing child, I still found the first episode kind of boring. And Craig Olejnik just isn't very engaging in the lead.

I'm usually pretty patient with a new show, and it's pretty rare that I actively dislike a show right from the beginning. On paper, The Listener should have been the kind of show I do like; I'm a sucker for the supernatural. Maybe NBC was hoping it could be their new Medium, though it looks more like they were just hoping for something to prop up a few hours through the summer.

Update: The post on Grunberg's page was a retweet originally written by someone else. (Apparently, I need Grunny to control my mind and actions!)

Greg Grunberg is reading my mind.

Yesterday, the Heroes actor tweeted a short rant about The Listener, NBC's new show about a paramedic who can read people's minds. As everyone who watches Heroes knows, Grunberg plays a mind reader on his show, which also airs on NBC.

Here are Grunberg's thoughts on the new mind reader in town:

"wht is ths "The Listener" crap. thr's alrdy a show abt a mindreader on tv, its called heroes, & @greggrunberg is all we need."

The producers of The Listener, a new NBC semi-supernatural drama created in Canada, seemingly spent too much time "listening" to moody, do-gooder predecessors such as Medium or Ghost Whisperer. The end result is just a little too familiar to generate much excitement.

The Listener is a rare animal -- a Canadian production from Shaftesbury Films and CTV picked up by an American network for prime time TV. You're left wondering if NBC might have bought a show directly inspired by programs already on the air in the U.S.

It's not uncommon for networks to remake shows popular in other countries. The Office is an obvious direct example in the U.S., and reality shows just change titles as they jump back and forth over the Atlantic.

The Listener looks like CTV wanted to clone the success of the American mini-genre of the average human struggling with a supernatural gift that calls him or her to an extraordinary life. We've seen that plenty in the U.S., but NBC thought we might like to see it again.

NBC is showing a set of international low-budget science-fiction television shows this summer. The network is also moving some of its season finales to June to help Conan O'Brien with his initial ratings when he takes over for Leno on June 1st.

I've heard lukewarm reviews about the BBC's Merlin (a show I've already written about) and I'm glad to get the opportunity to watch it and judge for myself. The Listener is a Canadian production about a telepathic paramedic. NBC is definitely taking a page from the Sci Fi Channel by having a couple of science fiction disaster mini-series to fill some summer programming space with The Storm and Meteor.

I just wonder if the WGA strike had something to do with their choice of programming. It is a lot cheaper to license an international program (particularly when you don't even need to use subtitles) than try to create original programming, particularly if your only goal is to fill timeslots.