Question: I've been amazed when people have said in previous Ask Matt questions that they don't want to start watching a show because of the chance it might be canceled. I've lived through the agony of having shows I've cared for canceled. I was crushed when Dark Angel ended mid-story. I was in agony when Firefly ended prematurely and stunned when Farscape was canceled after a gut-wrenching cliff-hanger. And there are many others: Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, Veronica Mars, Drive. Doubtless there will be others. But I don't regret having watched any of these shows. Would my life have been less rich if I had never watched Firefly? Would I be better off if I had never seen Dead Like Me? I understand wanting a beloved show to go on for seven or eight seasons, but I'm grateful even for the brief glimpses into alternate realities that these shows provided. I would have loved to see where Wonderfalls would have gone, but I'm delighted that I got to experience the show at all. So yes, some of ...
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Question: Please give me some good news: that Traveler is coming back. I was treated to eight episodes of twists, turns, suspense and drama. Not to mention all-around good acting! I was happy to see such a thought-out and well-written show. If it is indeed gone, I am sick and tired of networks pulling this. If you don't think your show has the slightest chance of doing well, then please don't put it on the air. I purposefully stayed away from shows last season (e.g., Heroes) because I was afraid they would get canceled before they had a chance to go anywhere (like Drive). As for Traveler, I'd even be happy with another eight-episode mini-arc (next summer?) or a few "movies" to close it out.
Answer: Lots of questions about Traveler since it signed off, but sorry, no good news. It was pretty obvious from the start that this show, being launched outside the regular season, was being burned off, and unless the numbers had somehow gone through the roof (which didn't happen), these eigh ...
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Question: After rescheduling it many times, Fox seems to have put off the last episodes of Drive in perpetuity. Are the final two episodes ever going to be shown on television?
Answer: Doesn't look like it. If the network couldn’t bring itself to burn off the last two hours on the 4th of July or a random Friday night in the summer (the graveyard of graveyard slots), what's left, 3 a.m.? You're better off looking for it online, I'd bet. Or, better yet, simply moving on ...
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A Fox spokesperson tells TVGuide.com that the final two episodes of Tim Minear's Drive — which were originally slated to air July 4, then pushed back to July 13, but ultimately got unceremoniously yanked from the broadcast schedule entirely — are now set to be streamed on MySpace.com/fox and network affiliate sites beginning Monday, July 16.
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Fox's Drive, which was to resurface with its final two episodes on July 4, then had that send-off pushed back to this Friday, instead has been pulled over and off the airwaves for what appears to be a final time. As stated in a July 13/July 20 scheduling update issued by the network, "There are no plans to air Drive's remaining two episodes on Fox."Instead, Fox this Friday will air a Bones repeat followed by the penultimate episode of Standoff (which actually gets to wrap up its run on the 20th).I'll give y'all a holler the instant I hear of any plans to stream Drive's final episodes online.Fans of Nathan Fillion, meanwhile, can take heart in the fact that the actor is returning to his soap opera roots — albeit only for a day — when One Life to Live sends Joey Buchanan's grandpaw, Asa, to that big ol' ranch in the sky on Friday, August 17. See Soaps News for more.
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Amber Heard by Frank Ockenfels/The CW
Ratings bits from...WednesdayFox's last-minute swap of Adam Sandler's Anger Management (in place of the final two episodes of Drive) delivered 3.13 million total viewers — or 1.5 mil fewer than tuned in for Drive's previous (April 23) broadcast. The Nathan Fillion-driven series instead will bow out Friday the 13th. Real nice.... Hidden Palms dropped 500K week-to-week to say a most unfortunate farewell to just 971,000 viewers.TuesdayOn the Lot left another 130 thou on the cutting-room floor, delivering 2.16 mil.... Shaq's Big Challenge (5.03 mil) fattened up its premiere-week numbers by 600,000.MondayTNT's The Closer (7.19 mil) was up 11 percent from the week prior, and bested the 9 pm competition on both ABC and NBC. The season-to-date is up nine percent versus its sophomore run.... Heartland drew 3.45 mil, up 15 percent.POLL: Which from our list of returning drama series are you most looking forward to? Vote here (bottom right).
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Question: I'm excited about the June return of Kyle XY, which blends family drama, teen angst and sci-fi very well. I do, however, think that ABC Family made the right decision in keeping the second season for the summer. The show does address weighty issues, but it has a light touch that makes it perfect summer viewing. It would get lost during the regular season. In light of that, I'm wondering if Fox wouldn't have been better off holding Drive till the summer. The show had narrative issues, but I think a summer viewing audience would have been more forgiving of those problems. A cross-country race just seems to fit an abbreviated summer season. Plus, launching a new show like this so late in the spring season seems awfully counterintuitive. On a related note, what summer shows do you consider to be the best?
Answer: As discussed earlier, I doubt Drive would have worked in the long run in summer, spring, winter or fall. The networks aren't likely to air high-ticket items like this
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Nathan Fillion, Drive
Question: What do you think of Drive's unceremonious cancellation? Fox heavily promoted it and was expecting big ratings. But giving a high-concept show like Drive only a week to catch on, without the benefit of repeats, seems like a complete lack of faith — even if it is a show that can't be cheap to produce. I understand that a Sunday two-hour premiere/Monday regular-time-slot strategy works for an established hit like 24, but why would Fox deny a new show with mostly unknown actors a lead-in like House or American Idol? Now 24's sinking ratings are being blamed on Drive as well, but I'm convinced that's just natural viewer drop-off in a subpar season. I'm not one to swear off any show that doesn't first make it through an entire season, but I can't help ask a few questions: Why wouldn't Fox debut this kind of show in the summer, when it has a greater chance for a slow build, a strategy that worked for The O.C.? What leads NBC to stick with a ratings-challenged, quality show like ...
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Question: I can’t believe Fox cancelled Drive already! They didn’t even give it a fighting chance! Poor Nathan Fillion — first Firefly and now this.
Answer: Yeah, poor dude can't catch a break — and he knows it. At Sunday's Waitress premiere, Fillion joked that working with producer Tim Minear is "the kiss of death…. C'mon, it's obvious!" All joking aside, Fillion was clearly miffed that Fox put the brakes on Drive so soon. "It's unfortunate. I was having a really good time. Just the lines I got to say. I had some great lines." Is he holding out hope that Fox will stick to its promise and run the two unaired episodes over the summer? "I've already seen them," he mock-boasted, "so I'm happy."
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“Everything has meaning. There are no accidents.” — Susan ChambleeUp to the halfway point of the episode, I was originally going to complain that the episode wasn’t living up to the standards of the previous ones. Boy, was I wrong. The first half was exposition that set up major events to come in this and future episodes. Where to begin? How about the Jump Start? I couldn’t understand why everyone had no idea where they were going based on the clues considering that the location was shown on the map in the film. Of course, rewatching that scene revealed something that I missed the first time — rather than representing their actual location (considering they were in Georgia and the map was of Colorado), it was just an example of how the Jump Start works. My concern here is that if it confused me (because I wasn’t paying attention), what about how it would affect the casual viewer who tunes in? Then again, I’m not the brightest bulb in the box, ...
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