The ABC TV show about what happens in the future apparently doesn’t have one. FlashForward has been cancelled after one season.
FlashForward begins as the world’s population blacks out for 137 seconds and they “flash forward” to see visions of their lives six months in the future. The series’ ensemble cast includes Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Zachary Knighton, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Brian F. O’Byrne, Courtney B. Vance, Sonya Walger, and Christine Woods.
The series debuted in September and attracted a 4.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 12.47 million viewers. With a lot of buzz, it seemed like ABC had a hit. For week two, the ratings dropped to a still very respectable 3.7 and 10.73 million.
But then viewership just kept falling, hitting a low of a 2.1 in the key demo and just 7.1 million viewers. Then, ABC pulled the series for three months. The spin was that they would relaunch FlashForward after the Olympics.
The network gave the return a significant amount of promotion but it didn’t help. FlashForward’s ratings were even worse and they just kept dropping. They’ve gotten so bad that The CW has been beating them in the demo.
To no surprise, ABC has cancelled FlashForward after one season of 20 episodes. The series finale will air in two weeks, on May 27th.
What do you think? Did FlashForward deserve a second season? Could ABC have saved it? If given the chance, how would you wrap it up?
Image courtesy ABC.
It seems like every time I get hooked on a new show it’s cancelled – they don’t even try a new day or time slot so it looks like they didn’t even want to try & keep it. I don’t see how they cancelled this series but kept V – that’s better?
How does ABC take an already announced ‘troubled’ program, bring it back after a 3 month hiatus, and then put it on Thursday nite at 8 pm opposite ‘Bones’ & ‘Survivor’, and expect it to flourish? They killed the program intentionally, or they’re just really stupid. The demographic for those programs is just too close… there just wasn’t enough to go around for FlashForward to get established. I usually watch Castle & V. I won’t watch ABC anymore.
Once again, ABC demonstrates its stupidity (and complete disregard for its viewing audience) by cancelling the single most intelligent show on TV. First they sabotage it by putting on “Olympic Hiatus,” and then compound the problem by sticking it in one of the most competitive time slots. Before they dismiss this excellent series, how about trying a different night? At the very least, they should allow enough time to wrap things up (and not in the rushed, incoherent manner they ended Life on Mars (another debacle from the same programming morons at what used to be a quality network). Nice… Read more »
This was a great, clever show. I don’t think the show should be cancelled. The networks just don’t give new shows enough time to build a fan base. I think one of the of the things that hurt them was the break during the Olympics. Hopefully NBC will do what is right and bring the show back!! All I have to say is that this isn’t what I saw in my Flash Forward.
So V gets a second season and FlashForward doesn’t. Not a very good decision in my opinion. FlashForward is the only show I watch on ABC.
I love this show! I agree that the timeslot is not the best. I usually pause the show as soon as it starts so I can get my kids in bed. Maybe Sci-Fi or TNT could pick it up. Such a great show. You can’t predict anything that is going to happen next! I can never wait for the next week’s show. How can they wrap this whole thing up in 2 more shows. BOO ABC!
If dvrs don’t count then this is the stupidest decision in along time. I love the shw but cannot watch it during the time slot. Flat out there has never been another show which has this concept. None. Seeing a totally new concept in TV is amazing. Totally dumb to throw that out.
I thought the show picked up after its hiatus, the two-hour return was extremely compelling with that Lost-esque character driven plot with a tantalizing performance by Dominic Monaghan. ABC was looking for a show to carry the mantle of Lost, and I think that is why they cancelled it. Nothing could ever compare, and with such similarities in writing style, it was doomed for failure. I think ABC should focus on a more original show and stop worrying on a show to carry on after Lost since that series is immortalized and will gain popularity after its ending (hopefully).
I don’t believe this , I really like flash forward!!!
Whatever
This is another example of why it will be difficult to make a production in the future that requires a good storyline and a cast of real actors. It seems that reality TV shows are taking over because they are cheap to make and have no value after the fact because they are usually useless banter that has no substance. Aside from the contest shows, which are a whole different story, network TV is doomed to mindless works that can be produced on a low budget by an inexperienced staff. Horray for streaming Internet and video on demand, this is… Read more »
I really loved this show, I just hope the story is played out.
My guess is that this show costs more than ABC wants to continue to spend on it. Sorry to see it go. It started off slow but has been getting better and better. Sorry to see yet another clever show gone.
IF ABC has any sense it will change its mind and give Flash Forward another chance. The long break in the story during the olympics and the inibility for the network to make the dates of the story match the air date hurt it, not the story itself. It is an awesome premise and it is so different than shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice which are just regurgitation of other shows on other networks. Flash Forward is truely unique and people actually have to use their mind to watch. Show reruns during the summer to get more of… Read more »
I am an avid viewer of Flashforward– I feel that the writing was superb and the acting better than I’ve seen in a long time–I am very upset they are cancelling it–another situation that the bottom line is money rather than producing a quality show !!!
A great show very bad time slot, I look forward to the show each week so sad to see it being canceled. Wish ABC would find a new time slot and try it again and don’t stop in the middle of the series.