Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies by Bob D'Amico/ABC
Could the third time be the charm? Being an eternal optimist when it comes to TV shows I love, I certainly hope so. For the third season in a row, the show I’ve picked as my favorite pilot of the fall season is on ABC, and once again, after two consecutive seasons of my pick failing to make the grade, this show’s projected success is far from a slam dunk. But let me tell you why I believe, despite all logical skepticism to the contrary, that the dazzling “forensic fairy tale” called Pushing Daisies has a shot at making it.First, here’s why my earlier picks didn’t pan out. For one thing, both shows — Invasion in 2005, The Nine in 2006 — had the mixed fortune of being scheduled directly after Lost. (As we’ve learned, the Lost viewing experience is so intense and its fan base so obsessed that it’s pure folly to put any show, especially a demanding one, after Lost.) Both shows were also exceedingly dark in tone, whereas Pushing Daisies...
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Question: I can understand canceling a bad show, one that critics think is horrible and no one watches, but how can a network cancel one of its two shows that actually wins awards? Every person I know who has actually sat down to watch Arrested Development thinks it's hilarious. Shouldn't Fox try its hardest to get an audience for the show?
Answer: While I do wish Fox had at least temporarily tried putting Arrested between The Simpsons and Family Guy on Sundays to see how the show would play in a much more protected hammock, I can't fault Fox in the larger picture for not at least giving the show a chance. The show was renewed twice, regardless of the scheduling and the erratic airing of episodes. The question isn't so much what Fox could have done to try to build the audience but rather what a network's ratings expectations are anymore for shows that attempt something different. If buzz and acclaim were enough, Arrested Development would be set for life. Sadly, it isn't.
For a
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Question: This is regarding shows such as Eyes and The Inside. When a network cancels a show, but doesn't even complete the run of episodes made, is there any reason they don't broadcast the remaining shows in a late-night/early-morning slot so that fans can at least see them? After all, they have paid to make the episodes. Or do you think they hold out to use the unaired episodes as a selling point for any potential DVD releases?
Answer: As I think I've said before, network decisions aren't likely to be made with DVD considerations in mind (as in: "Let's pull the show two weeks early so we can tout the 'never-before-seen episodes' on the DVD"). But I only wish I could explain why some canceled shows have their episodes burned off and others simply vanish. (I thought it was cool, for instance, when Karen Sisco's remaining episodes were played out on cable, albeit on a network owned by the company that produced the series.) Someone once told me why NBC burned off the last remaining
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The "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" doctrine is alive and well at CBS. At least that's the impression you get after spending two days in the network's company as the first of the broadcast networks presenting a fall lineup at the summer press tour.
Although No. 1 in prime time, with the hottest nights of drama (Thursday) and comedy (Monday), they're not especially cocky. They didn't produce the breakout hits of last season (that would be ABC), and they're not likely to this year, either. But who's complaining when you have Survivor, The Amazing Race, CSI and all those other Bruckheimer shows, plus Two and a Half Men, as tentpoles?
Most of CBS' new shows appear solid, and a few even feel unusually fresh for a network that loves its formulaic procedural dramas and standard-issue sit
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