Jericho heads off to that big mushroom cloud in the sky
CBS pulled the plug on "Jericho," the once-promising serial that never recovered from a long midseason break.
I hated the show, so I'm dancing a little cancellation jig right now, but I'm sure Gerald McRaney is distraught.
posted by AndyW @ 5/16/2007 07:49:00 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
(Major Dud joke)
This comment has been removed by the author.
That and the fact that McRaney's character died in the season finale.
Welp, this about does it for me... I'm sick and tired of watching network television. There is absolutely NO reason to invest ANY time in ANY show because odds are the nimrod TV execs, who appear to all suffer from severe ADD and lack even one original bone in their body, will pull the plug.
Unless of course it's the 17th iteration of CSI (Detroit, Reno, Grand Junction, Tallahassee), or the 22nd version of Law & Order (Bad People Doing Bad Things, Appeals Court, On the Streets), or ANOTHER season of Survivor, American Idol, or another inane reality TV show like Dancing with the Stars. Pathetic. Worse, people eat that crap up. Says a lot about or society's inability to watch anything with depth, story or meaning.
Done. Sticking with HBO, Showtime and Netflix.
I hope the networks burn in hell.
CBS made a bad mistake
If it was JUST CBS, and JUST Jericho... I might let it slide. Frankly, I was stunned that Jericho made it this long. Even though I enjoyed the show, and I thought the cliff hanger season (series) finale was terrific.
Here are the shows, broken down by network, that were canned this season. Asterix indicates shows the wife and I watched/enjoyed until their demise:
ABC
*Day Break
Six Degrees
The Nine
What About Brian
CBS
3 Lbs.
*Close to Home
*Jericho
*Smith
Fox
*Drive
Justice
The OC
*The Wedding Bells
*Vanished
NBC
Crossing Jordan
*Kidnapped
Studio 60
The Black Donnellys
Eight shows. Thus the reason why I refuse to watch Network television anymore. I don't care how good next seasons' shows sound... why invest time/energy/emotion in ANY of them when chances are an ADD riddled nimrod TV exec will pull the plug inside 5 episodes? I'll wait to see if it lasts a season, gets renewed, lasts another season and THEN rent it on DVD.
And don't think I'm the only one who thinks this way. Network television may have shot itself in the foot with its impetuousness.
Re: impetuousness
I'm not sure what the rush is to pull these shows down - it's not like there are better shows waiting in hiding. It's crucial to have a few mid-season replacements ready for the inevitable bombs, but we are - as eli writes - subjected to the rash nature of the networks in plugging them in immediately (well before mid-season arrives, often to be replaced themselves!).
The history of broadcast television is loaded with monster hits that took a season or two to get their following (Seinfeld). Word-of-mouth and sampling opportunities are required for traction - both take time. Instead, we have initial promo blitz for "premiere event" then immediate judgement. Not healthy.
More recently (and in a much different entertainment climate), The Office was fortunate for its first renewal and has, over the past few seasons, earned one of tv's most passionate followings. If it weren't partly a network vanity project, 30 Rock would've been pulled based on initial ratings, but it's since collected some critical and ratings successes. Both shows are weekly-musts for us.
From eli's list: Daybreak, Wedding Bells, Studio60, and Donnellys all got play at our house while they were alive.
Good points Ethan. While pulling the plug on a show isn't new, pulling THIS many THIS fast... that has to be a new record. As you pointed out, dozens of shows over the years took a season (or two) to get it's legs. Today's TV exec won't allow a show to even get warmed up let alone get it's stride going before it's yanked. Hell, some of these shows are yanked in 3 episodes! How the hell can ANYONE judge how a show is going to do in THREE episodes?!
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