What a TV season it’s been so far. The networks each debuted a number of new shows, many of them serial dramas, for the 2006-2007 season. They looked very promising and lots of viewers were hooked — more were not. From the beginning of the season, the networks have pulled shows off the air quicker than ever before, leaving viewers with the equivalent of television whiplash. Here are the casualties.
Smith – The Ray Liotta series was the first to go. Smith debuted on September 19th and was cancelled due to declining ratings. Only three episodes aired. The four remaining completed episodes, as well as future episode synopses, were released on the CBS website (subsequently removed), and on iTunes.
Kidnapped – NBC’s big serial drama under-performed network expectations and was cancelled after three episodes and pulled from the schedule after five. Luckily for viewers, NBC released the remaining seven episodes online.
Runaway – One of the new CW’s two new series. The drama about a family on the run starred Donnie Wahlberg and was pulled after just three episodes. Three other episodes were reportedly completed but have gone unaired.
Happy Hour – Fox debuted one of the few new sitcoms in primetime on September 7th. The network aired three episodes in September (before the World Series took over their schedule) and one episode in November. Fox has said that 13 episodes have been completed and may be released on DVD at some point.
The Rich List – This was a game show on Fox that has the dubious distinction of being cancelled after just one episode. The single episode aired on November 2nd and was cancelled along with Happy Hour.
Twenty Good Years – This sitcom starred series veterans John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor, was pulled from the NBC schedule after just four episodes. It’s doubtful that we’ll ever see it again.
Justice – Fox’s courtroom drama starring Alias’ Victor Garber was pulled from the schedule after five episodes because of the World Series. Justice returned in October and was pulled in November after three more episodes. The series returned in December for four episodes and has been pulled from the schedule once more. Twelve episodes of Justice have aired and its unlikely that we’ll ever see any more in primetime.
Vanished – FOX pulled their mystery serial drama after nine episodes. It was supposed to return in December but FOX opted instead to bring back Justice. Luckily (for U.S. fans with high-speed Internet access anyway) the network released the remaining four episodes online. Few viewers felt satisfied with the storyline’s rushed resolution.
Six Degrees – This was the first of ABC’s serial dramas to be pulled in the 2006-2007 season. Six episodes of the J.J. Abrams series have aired. At the time, it was said that Six Degrees would return in January but that doesn’t look very likely at this point.
The Nine – ABC then pulled another serial drama after just seven episodes. The Nine was a character drama that focused on a 52-hour bank robbery/hostage situation and its repercussions. ABC has said that it will air the remaining six episodes in 2007 but there are no firm plans to return the series as yet. Seven episodes are available on iTunes
3 lbs – The Stanley Tucci medical drama was moved up from a midseason replacement show to replace CBS’ cancelled Smith series. It lasted just three episodes before being cancelled itself. Those three episodes are available on iTunes while CBS has said it will release unaired episodes on their website.
Show Me the Money – The William Shatner game show seemed to be a success initially but its popularity declined at warp speed. Six additional episodes were ordered and then quickly cancelled. Five episodes have aired to date.
Help Me Help You – Ted Danson’s new sitcom about an egotistical therapist and his patients was recently cancelled after nine episodes. Four episodes are unaired. Help Me Help You was replaced by episodes of fellow sitcom Big Day but that show looks like it’s headed for cancellation as well.
Day Break – The Taye Diggs dramatic series was heavily hyped by ABC and brought in to take the place of Lost until it returned in February. Unfortunately, Day Break was pulled after six episodes. ABC planned to air the seven unaired episodes online but that was reportedly delayed due to music licensing issues. Now, it seems Day Break has been purged from the ABC website completely. We’ve started a petition. Will fans ever be able to see the resolution to the deja vu series? Time will tell so stay tuned!
There was a comment made in jan. 07. tv is really bad now. you can’t count on your favs being there when you need them. who is in charge of cancelling. and what is the criteria?
Okay…so you took off Justice…what were you thinking? We are stuck with Extreme Makeover, Cold Case (not a bad show, just Lilly looks like she needs some blood in her veins) Deal or no Deal, geez…Justice was a great show. Victor had found his niche! The coolest thing was finding out what REALLY happened at the last! Brillant! I guess producers got stuck in THE OFFICE, fell down and hit their head, then went to SCRUBS, in need of medical attention, when UGLY BETTY came to rescue them, Moonlight “drew” some blood, (Maybe that’s what happened to Lilly)then that’s when… Read more »
Whatever happened to “Windfall”. I liked that show.
Nobody mentioned “Drive” on Fox. That was a pretty good show. Who won the competition? What happened to the kidnapped wife?
I’m glad “All of Us” was cancelled, but I would like to see “Half and Half” come back on. Who did Mona choose??? Cancelling “Lost” wouldn’t be such a bad idea. “October Road” actually held my interest. Whatever happened to “Thief” and “Heist”? Those were good shows! I miss “Heist” especially.
Does anyone know what happened to the Traveler?
Can anyone please let me know if October Road and What About Brian are cancelled effective Fall 2007? I can not find anything on it.
2 words:
THE CLASS.
An awesome show. The new friends even. I was truly interested in those characters. Booo CBS and Booo also to FOX for Happy Hour.
How do Networks get there Ratings?… It would be nice if they would used the internet for fan feedback. Let us rate each episode and the series as a hole (Oh wait there are many site that do that now). Even look at how many people seeding and leaching it on the P2P networks. That does show witch shows people wont to watch. Type the name of the series in Google and Yahoo within ” “. See how many fan sites show up. Why are the Networks just killing shows without moving them to a different time slot or day… Read more »
I don’t think the networks give any of these shows enough time. You see four or five episodes and then they cancell. What’s up with this kind of mindset. I was really a fan of crossing Jordan, it was different from the other crime shows. Can anybody tell me how you can cancel after 4 episodes. And the other thing is they just take the show off and no body knows why. There’s got to be a better way of handling this.
I cannot believe you are cancelling Raines. A terrific show. Glad Medium made it…I think NBC needs to re-think the choices. Just how many reality shows are necessary? The actors, the writers and producers of Raines do a great job. Too bad this choice was made.
I really don’t think there is a surefire method to determine how well a show is doing. The Neilson ratings seem based upon the likes and dislikes of those few who have a box in their homes. Networks pit new shows against older “proven” shows in the hopes they will draw viewers away. I have digital cable tv and I use a splitter to feed two VCRs (more technology going the way of the dodo bird). I watch one show in any given time slot and tape up to two more shows I can watch later.This way I have the… Read more »
I just located this thread and wanted to add my voice of support to Justice and Smith. I eagerly waited for both of these shows to premiere and immediately loved them. They were both non-standard. They made you think and kept you interested. It is such a shame to have them both gone so quickly. I wish the execs would give shows more of a fighting chance. BTW, I hate how they’ve broken up the television program seasons, too many shows get lost in the shuffle and it just plain sucks. Rant over.
what about brian? that’s the only show I liked on channel 7. and there are way to many reality shows on all channels-supernanny & wife swap for instance are so dumb-channels should keep shows like nine, 3lbs, 6 degress, etc. these shows were on and off so fast I never got to see any of them. and stop showing reruns in the middle of the season–seems like the length of the series on any show is getting shorter and shorter. I could go on and on and I’m sure alot of people agree with me.
Re: Everwood I loved this show and watched it from its premier. It was cancelled because when the WB and UPN merged into “the new CW” they had to cut basically half the shows out. It came down to Veronica Mars vs Everwood. Everwood lost. I hate Veronica Mars. And I agree with all the crappy TV that is on yet good shows get cancelled pretty much every year. Did that show The Lottery get cancelled? It must have because I haven’t heard about it since it aired the first maybe 4 episodes. 2.5 Men is a horrible show, along… Read more »
agree w/ Jim. I haven’t forgiven FOX for how they treated FIREFLY. It was good enough for another studio to make it into a major motion picture, but not good enough for Fox TV. Utterly ridiculous. It’s still the best half-season of television I have either seen via broadcast or own on DVD.