How often have you seen a ...
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 the show to be renewed if for no other reason than the way its timeline is in the show, that an election year is coming up. The evilness that is Speaker of the House Templeton duking it out with Mac, I think that could be great television. Just see how excellent West Wing has been with its election episodes driving a very good final season. Your thoughts?"
Makes sense. If Commander in Chief were to be renewed, it would need to be driven by a dynamic story arc, and you couldn't do better than this conflict.
