cancellation-related stories
Posted Aug 17th 2009 8:10AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Cancellations, Ratings
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.
Continue reading Entire summer TV schedule declared a failure
Posted May 6th 2009 11:03AM by Isabelle Carreau
10 -
Survivor, CBS
9 -
Ghost Whisperer, CBS
8 -
The Bachelor, ABC
7 -
The Unit, CBS
6 - At least one
CSI, CBS
5 - At least one
Law & Order, NBC/USA Network
4 -
Brothers & Sisters, ABC
3 -
Private Practice, ABC
2 -
American Idol, FOX
1 -
Grey's Anatomy, ABC
Want to see the pictures or leave a comment? Click here.Posted May 4th 2009 4:40PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Cancellations, Upfronts, Reality-Free
While they haven't yet made an announcement about other on-the-bubble shows, including
Medium, Law & Order, and of course,
Chuck, NBC's
Ben Silverman has confirmed that
Life has indeed been canceled.
Life is just the latest victim of the
Writers' Strike curse: ABC's
Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and
Dirty Sexy Money are among some of the other series that had their freshman seasons interrupted by the strike that began in November of 07, and won't live to see a third season.
Other second season shows, including the aforementioned
Chuck, along with ABC's
Samantha Who? and FOX's
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are currently on the bubble. The CW's
Gossip Girl is one of the few shows that premiered during the 07-08 season that is definitely going to make it to the 09-10 one.
The strike spooked the networks and advertisers, and we're obviously feeling the effects now, over a year after it ended. What it boils down to is a lot of great shows are suffering-- and Ben Silverman is a dick.
Continue reading NBC confirms: Life is dead
Posted May 1st 2009 5:40AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Cancellations, Pickups and Renewals, NCIS, Chuck, Reaper, Reality-Free, The Mentalist, TV Squad Ten, Dollhouse
Last week,
TVSquad readers made our "
Which shows are renewed, canceled, or on the bubble?" post the most viewed and most commented of the week. Most of the commenters voiced their opinions as to which show should be renewed, and since I also watch loads of TV, it's with no surprise that I wanted to chime in, as well. (Look for my "Series that I think should be canceled" post later this week.)
Here I present you, the 10 shows I think should be renewed. Note that I did not include in this list shows that have been confirmed as renewed by the network (such as
Gossip Girl), nor those that have been officially canceled (bye bye
Pushing Daisies).
If you just want the list, click here.Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Series that should be renewed
Posted Apr 3rd 2009 9:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cancellations, Ratings, Reality-Free
According to industry scuttlebutt,
My Name Is Earl is on the ropes and at risk of being canceled by NBC. Nikki Finke is reporting that it's practically a done deal at NBC, but
Earl could be moving to Fox.
It's not just the lousy Nielsen ratings that have done the shaggy-dog sitcom in, it's also the rising production costs. NBC has an entire line-up that's bleeding in the ratings, so surgery is required. It is very likely that
Earl will get the ax.
Continue reading Could My Name Is Earl jump to Fox?
Posted Jan 14th 2009 3:31PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Cancellations, Reality-Free
Remember last summer, that CBS drama about life in 1976, the music, the fashions, the wife-swapping and key parties? Yes,
Swingtown, the daring drama that flirted with controversial subjects, but was essentially a well-produced soap opera in the tradition of
Knots Landing? Well, after months of no news about the show, we learn today that no news is bad news.
Swingtown has been cancelled.
CBS president Nina Tassler championed the show, but apparently she couldn't save it. At the press tour presentation she talked lovingly about the drama, even patting the network on the back to taking a risk by broadcasting it. But in the end, the good performances, excellent writing, critical approval and cult following it garnered didn't matter.
Continue reading CBS officially buries Swingtown
Posted Nov 24th 2008 11:02AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Cancellations, Eli Stone, Reality-Free
As we reported previously, ABC decided to spin the wheel and cancel three of its shows -- Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and, the big surprise, Eli Stone. Surprise to me, at least, because I felt that Stone was moving in the right direction since its very strong season premiere. With its slightly new direction, continuing character growth, and imaginative visions that placed the show nearly in the realm of 'musical drama,' the show seemed to be heading in the right direction.
But, as usual, my opinion didn't count in the network's decision to axe the show after 13 episodes. It should have, to be honest. Not only because I wield the power of the keyboard and can bring those programming nerds down with a stroke of my CTRL key, but because I speak for the numbers of fans who cherish the show and think it was done an injustice. Not just by being canceled, but being lumped together with
Daisies and
DSM.
Continue reading The case for keeping Eli Stone alive
Posted Nov 21st 2008 12:23AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Cancellations, Pushing Daisies, Reality-Free
Look, this isn't my first time at the rodeo. I knew going into this last year, that the chances of a quirky fairy tale about death having long-term success were slim-to-none.
I've seen the signs; I've known that
this day was going to come. That doesn't mean that I couldn't hope that ABC would decide to keep
Pushing Daisies; my favorite new show from last season. I've held out hope, and today,
that hope was dashed. What's worse, is I can't even focus all of my anger on ABC; some of it is pointed directly at
Daisies creator, Bryan Fuller.
I'm trying to be mature and diplomatic about this, but seriously: Bryan Fuller can suck it.
Continue reading ABC cancels Pushing Daisies, and I hate everyone
Posted Sep 26th 2008 12:02PM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cancellations, Reality-Free
Another new TV show bites the dust.
EW's Michael Ausiello reports that Fox has cancelled
Do Not Disturb. The network won't confirm anything, telling
TV Guide that the critically-panned sitcom is "pre-empted" next week.
This comes on the heels of the show's producers apologizing for
"perpetrating bad television," but asking critics and viewers for a second chance. Guess they'll never get it.
Continue reading Fox cancelling Do Not Disturb?
Posted May 12th 2008 11:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Cancellations, Reality-Free
Last week, it was
Men in Trees. Now the end has officially come for another ABC drama series.
ABC has confirmed that October Road is over. The long and winding road is no more, so to speak. ABC has no room in the fall lineup, apparently, and
a plan to move October Road and Men in Trees to Lifetime never panned out. So all the die-hard fans who've been writing the network and crafting petitions can give it up. No amount of peanuts or blood drives -- oh, wait, that was
Jericho and
Moonlight. The Roadies had a different tack; buy the DVD, donate it to a library to get more people watching and writing to ABC. Despite the sincere efforts, the network still chose to end the road and move on to a newer, different show.
Continue reading October Road hits its end
Posted May 5th 2008 8:42AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cancellations, Reality-Free
I'd like to say I'm surprised by this, but I'm not.
ABC has canceled Men in Trees. Despite being one of the genuinely sweet and funny comedy/dramas on the network -- one that's more rooted in reality than flights of whimsy and pretentiousness --
Men in Trees has struggled to find a home on ABC. It's been shuttled about from day to day, time slot to time slot, in and out of the line up so that it became a gypsy. How were you as a viewer to invest in the romantic adventure that Marin Frist was on in the wilds of Alaska when you weren't sure when the dang show was going to air? A failed attempt
to put the show on Lifetime back in March spelled doom for the show.
Continue reading Men in Trees axed by ABC
Posted Apr 14th 2008 5:21PM by Jay Black
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Sports, Cancellations
The Contender, the boxing reality show that began life on NBC before being canceled and moving to ESPN for the last two seasons,
has been canceled once more. Despite launching a few boxing careers -- and bringing us the fun of Sylvester Stallone air-boxing whenever he watched a fight during the first season -- the show's producers "couldn't come to terms" with ESPN for a fourth season.
The producers expect the show to move to another network, which means that somehow boxing is still considered by someone as a viable form of entertainment. I mean, I know we're in a recession and all, but did the whole world get transported back to 1932,
Island in the Sea of Time style when I wasn't looking?
The best part about the show's continued existence is that
Greg Giraldo can continue performing his classic stand-up bit: "There's a new reality show out there now in which they get together a bunch of boxers and try to find the best one. Remember the show they used to have where they tried to do that? Yeah, it was called
Boxing."
[via
PopCandy]
Posted Dec 18th 2007 1:23PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Festivus
Ah, Festivus! A time of year where we reflect on the months that have passed in TV land and what we would like to see happen in the future.
As you will see, my "All I want for Festivus" list is tainted by the fact I live in Canada. Since I know there are a lot of Canadians reading TV Squad, I decided to not remove these items from my list as I know I'm not the only one out there wanting them.
Without further ado, here is what I wish Festivus Claus will bring me this year!
Continue reading All Isabelle wants for Festivus
Posted May 11th 2007 1:49PM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Cancellations
I always get depressed this time of the year because I know that along with the summer months come the end of all my favorite TV shows. In some cases, they go away forever and I am forced to replace them with lesser quality summer shows. This season, however, I received some truly happy news. Wedding Crashers has been canceled!
I am so over the so-called prank shows that pull the most harmless candy ass pranks. Shows like Wedding Crashers, Punk'd and Girls Behaving Badly are the modern version of Candid Camera. The difference is that Candid Camera did it first and in the early days of TV, it was truly groundbreaking. It is sad that fifty years later someone still thinks that practical jokes make for edgy TV.
Continue reading Wedding Crashers crashes and burns
Posted May 7th 2007 5:23PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Gilmore Girls, Celebrities
One of the big reasons why
Gilmore Girls is not returning for an eighth season is because Warner Brothers and the CW reportedly could not come to terms on new contracts for both Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. So, it's not a big surprise to hear that Graham
is not sorry to see the show go gently into that good night.In fact,
she told Newsweek as much in this week's issue. "I think it's the best decision for the show," she told the magazine. "One of the things Alexis and I wished could be different was the schedule, and it really can't be."
(Update: Graham also spoke to TVGuide.com's Mike Ausiello about the show's end.)Continue reading Lauren Graham not sorry to see Gilmore Girls go
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