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Date Posted: 13:45:44 10/24/05 Mon
Author: Islandgirl
Subject: Going, going. . .gone??

|BC-TV-HOLLOWAY-1025-COX|
Got this off the AP Entertainment Wire. Comments from me at the end.

***************

Six weeks more than enough for some newly departed shows|
By DIANE HOLLOWAY|
|Cox News Service|
AUSTIN, Texas — It’s report card time for the new TV season. Yep, six weeks have flown by, and four newcomers already have flunked out.
You’ve probably heard that Fox’s ‘‘Head Cases,’’ NBC’s ‘‘Inconceivable,’’ WB’s ‘‘Just Legal’’ and UPN’s ‘‘Sex, Love & Lies’’ have received failing grades and will not be darkening our TV schedules any more.
It’s always embarrassing to be the first to fail, and ‘‘Head Cases,’’ starring Chris O’Donnell and Adam Goldberg, was yanked after only two episodes. It doesn’t get a lot worse than that.
Sometime after the World Series and before the November sweeps — which is just about now — more new shows will be canceled. The networks aren’t going to keep a low-rated series on the air during the first important rating period if a rerun of an ongoing hit will score better.
So far, the only newcomer to be cautiously embraced by viewers is ABC’s ‘‘Commander in Chief,’’ starring Geena Davis as the first female president and Donald Sutherland as an evil-incarnate Republican. The show is ranked seventh in the season-to-date Nielsens, the only new series to break into the Top 20.
Even though there are no big-buzz hits this fall, such as last season’s ‘‘Desperate Housewives’’ and ‘‘Lost,’’ several new series have been given full-season orders, thus pushing them to the top of a lackluster freshman class:
-- ABC’s aforementioned presidential melodrama, ‘‘Commander in Chief,’’ and the fabulous new sci-fi drama ‘‘Invasion’’
-- CBS’ dramas ‘‘Criminal Minds’’ and ‘‘Ghost Whisperer’’ and the sitcom ‘‘How I Met Your Mother’’
-- NBC’s oceanic sci-fi drama ‘‘Surface’’ and the off-kilter sitcom ‘‘My Name Is Earl’’
-- Fox’s riveting drama ‘‘Prison Break’’ and forensic saga ‘‘Bones’’ and (despite an avalanche of scathing reviews) the totally unfunny comedy ‘‘The War at Home’’
-- WB’s campy creep-out ‘‘Supernatural’’
-- UPN’s edgy and warm-hearted (an amazing feat) comedy ‘‘Everybody Hates Chris’’
More than a few newcomers are awaiting bad news. Low or falling ratings and negative or zero buzz are usually the cause of first semester cancellation. That unhappy group includes:
-- ABC’s wheezing sci-fi drama ‘‘Night Stalker’’
-- NBC’s two reality series, the weepy ‘‘Three Wishes’’ and the bland ‘‘Apprentice: Martha Stewart’’
-- Fox’s excessively gruesome crime drama ‘‘Killer Instinct’’ and the under-appreciated sitcom ‘‘Kitchen Confidential’’
-- UPN’s super-stupid comedy ‘‘Love, Inc.’’
A bigger batch of newcomers is somewhere in between passing and failing. They’re not failing badly enough to be canceled but not doing well enough to receive full orders for the season.
The networks, except for weblets WB and UPN, aren’t likely to be undecided about them for long. This middling group includes:
-- ABC’s weak-kneed sitcoms ‘‘Hot Properties’’ and ‘‘Freddie’’
-- CBS’ legal drama ‘‘Close to Home’’ is technically in this category, but it debuted late, so it’s too soon to tell. The sci-fi drama ‘‘Threshold’’ and the awful sitcom ‘‘Out of Practice’’ got a damning-with-faint-praise pickup of three more scripts each.
-- NBC’s Pentagon drama ‘‘E-Ring’’ has stopped its free-fall since switching to an earlier time period, but it’s still not performing as the network hoped.
-- Fox’s fine but difficult to follow serial drama ‘‘Reunion’’ will have a hard time picking up viewers because of its complexity.
-- WB’s late-arriving sister drama ‘‘Related’’ and the groaningly bad sitcom ‘‘Twins’’ might benefit from low expectations by the network.
Generally speaking, viewers are sticking with old favorites this season. ‘‘CSI’’ is still the No. 1 series, with ‘‘Desperate Housewives’’ (despite some critical backlash), ‘‘Without a Trace’’ and ‘‘Lost’’ not far behind.
NBC’s faith in the ‘‘Friends’’ spinoff ‘‘Joey’’ is bound to be fading. In spite of story reconfigurations (Matt LeBlanc’s character is now a star, not a struggling wannabe) and tons of promotion, the show ranks 58th in season-to-date ratings. The show had a two-season commitment when it debuted last fall, which might be the only reason it came back.
Fox is seeing a slump for some of its sitcoms. As much as the critics love ‘‘Arrested Development,’’ mainstream America just doesn’t get it. The Emmy winner, which moved from Sundays to Mondays this season, now ranks 97th.
Also tumbling in the ratings are Fox’s ‘‘Bernie Mac Show’’ and ‘‘Malcolm in the Middle.’’ Both shows are likely to be gone by early 2006.
If you’ve been meaning to check out any of the low-rated new or returning shows this fall, you’d better do it soon.

******

Actually, I don't have much in the way of comments. I guess I'm glad that "Bones" is sticking around long enough for my schedule to calm down and/or for NCIS to go into reruns, so I can start watching it. I hope nobody has a fave show that's on the edge.

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