thePeanutBloggery

What’s In the Spotlight

MIA - Steven Caseman, Tommy Donnelly, and Marin Frist
American Idol’s ratings haven’t lived up to Fox’s expectations, so they’ve pulled the show from their line-up, refusing to elect a sixth idol. Okay, not really, but imagine if it were true.

The quality of dramatic television right now is arguably better than it has ever been with excellent actors starring in well written shows like 24, Heroes, and Friday Night Lights. However, the networks are sabotaging their own success with indefinite hiatuses and abrupt cancellations. Today’s dramatic series require dedication from its audiences. One cannot watch a show like Lost sporadically and expect to know what’s going on. I’m willing to make this commitment to a good show, but the networks need to hold up their end of the bargain as well.

In September, NBC launched a battle cry in the form of the pilot episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, taking the television industry to task for playing to the dumbest common denominator, going so far as having a character refer to reality television as “illiterate television.” Studio 60’s audience was divided. Some saw it as a compelling show that gave its viewers the benefit of the doubt in the intelligence department. Others thought it was pretentious and oddly un-funny for a series about the making of a comedy sketch show. Despite a strong start, ultimately the ratings were mediocre, averaging about seven million viewers (seven million insignificant viewers) for its Monday 10pm slot, so in February NBC shelved it, airing in its place a series that had been waiting in the wings, The Black Donnellys. The ratings have been even lower for this show, and after airing only five of the eleven scheduled episodes, NBC has yanked it and is replacing it with, you guessed it, a reality series, The Real Wedding Crashers.

Studio 60 and The Black Donnellys aren’t alone. Critically acclaimed series The Nine was killed at the end of November when its rating hovered around eight million. The biggest gotcha of the season was when ABC canceled Six Degrees this week for a second time. Equally mind-boggling, Men In Trees was moved from the Friday timeslot where its ratings were good to the Thursday 10pm timeslot where they floundered. In February, ABC put the show on hiatus to air October Road, but they’ve since announced they will hold the remaining episodes until next fall when they’ll air them with the new season. I have my doubts.

Of course, some great new dramas have made it through the season despite poor ratings. Friday Night Lights rarely gets more than seven million viewers, and Jericho hangs out at about eight million. Still, whether either of these shows will be renewed for a second season is still up in the air.

My point? These networks are giving me commitment issues. Why should I get involved in a new show when it could disappear into the ether at anytime? All the successful shows will come out on DVD the following summer, so I guess I could wait until then and watch risk-free. However, if everyone tried this tactic, the ratings on drama series would be so bad, the networks would be all illiterate television all the time.

What They Said

No, don’t call me a hero. Do you know who the real heroes are? The guys who wake up every morning, and go into their normal jobs, and get a distress call from the Commissioner, and take off their glasses, and change into capes, and fly around fighting crime. Those are the real heroes.”
Dwight after protecting Jim by spraying Roy with pepper spray on The Office

What They Played

The Soundtrack pick of the week comes from doomed The Black Donnellys: Death Cab for Cutie’s ‘Brothers On a Hotel Bed’ is available on iTunes.

Primetime Index

Thanks to a high score from Friday Night Lights, this week the index average rises from 7.20 to 7.67.