Question: I know that ABC will air the last episode of this season for Commander in Chief [on Wednesday, June 14]. Don't you think that the execs should consider revamping the show and placing it on a new night to gain good numbers? Let's face it, this is a great show, and let's not forget that shows which premiere with 25 million viewers should never be forgotten. When American Idol hit, it lost many of its viewers but then when they brought it back from "break," they brought it back on a Thursday against Without a Trace. I mean, were they trying to sacrifice the show? I'm mad and upset that I don't at least get a second season out of this thing. Aren't you?
Answer: Between the ratings decline and the creative disarray behind the scenes, not to mention the scheduling in the last half of the season, Commander's collapse from early hit to going out with a postseason whimper is a pretty remarkable story. When ABC announced its fall schedule without this show, there was talk that they were
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Question: I know you read no end of armchair network programming, but I'd love to see ABC let Commander in Chief get an actual second shot. As moved around and suspended as this show was, I don't think people lost interest so much as they just forgot it existed. I think if they allowed the DVD to find a bit of an audience, and paired it with Grey's Anatomy on Mondays, it would flourish. And better to work with a show that is already in production than to play the lottery on a new one, don't you think? I know it's a long shot. I just think this was the little series that should have, if only it didn't keep having the rug yanked out.
Answer: I agree that this all represents a lost opportunity for a show that was flawed, though hardly fatally, but I'm enough of a realist to know ABC isn't going to squander a lead-in like Grey's Anatomy (if indeed it moves to Mondays at 9 pm/ET) on a show they've basically already given up on. It's very true that Commander needed to be nurtured. The bes ...
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Reunion. Threshold. E-Ring. Invasion. Emily's Reasons Why Not. Love Monkey. Commander in Chief. Heist.
What do these shows have in common? They all debuted at some point during this soon-to-wrap TV season, yet each saw their run either cut surprisingly short or handicapped by irregular scheduling. Was 2005-06 the worst year ever to sample a new show? Were the networks especially hasty in deciding the fate of freshman series? TVGuide.com consulted a panel of experts with unique points of view to examine this strange little season gone by.
Are New Shows Getting Short Shrift?Jeff Bader, executive vice president of ABC entertainment programming and scheduling, dismisses the suggestion that prime time is a crueler-than-ever proving ground for new series. "
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Question: How often have you seen a show start off mediocre or as a disaster and then become a surprise hit? I can think of only one. Touched by an Angel was written off as dead after its first season and surprised everyone by being renewed. The second surprise came when, after being renewed, it suddenly came out of nowhere and became a top-10 hit. Do you really think Commander in Chief could pull that off?
Answer: Commander in Chief, no. Its best bet would be to be regarded as a possible utility player if the show could be successfully retooled. But a signature hit for the network? That's looking more and more like the longest of long shots. To answer your broader question, there are many examples of shows that struggled at first but went on to become giant hits: Cheers, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Practice. But none of those shows had quite the backstage turmoil that marked Chief's turbulent freshman year.
Also on Commander, Ryan S. remarks: "I personally would really like
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Question: I'm a U.K. fan of Commander in Chief. I've just seen the overnight ratings for the show's return to ABC. I know they weren't as high as they had been in its previous slot, but it was ABC's highest-rated show of the night. Were people seriously expecting the show to get 17 million viewers, like last October, in such a popular time slot? I think it would be a shame for ABC to cancel this show.
Answer: Adopting your glass-half-full approach, I agree it's not quite a lost cause yet for Commander in Chief. The turmoil of this first season is unprecedented, as I noted in my review column, but if ABC were to give the show a second chance, with a summer to regroup and retool, this may yet be an asset. Commander skews older than many ABC shows, as it did from the start, but it also attracts the sort of affluent demographic (shades of West Wing) that can be attractive to advertisers and could help ABC shore up one of its more difficult nights. Such as Thursdays right now, or possibly as
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