Shawn Ryan, the co-creator of Last Resort, wasn’t shocked that the show was cancelled by ABC but it’s still disappointing. In a recent interview on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, Ryan shared his thoughts.
He said, “Our ratings had really been on the cusp or a little bit below the cusp for a few weeks now so [the cancellation] didn’t come as a huge shock. We were all hoping for a bounce but, the funny thing is there’s so much data now on viewership that you can always find some thing that looks good for your show. For us it was, ‘Hey, were doing better than that timeslot’s done for a couple years even though we’re not doing well overall.'”
“It’s a brutal timeslot. we’re up against Big Bang Theory which is the number one comedy on TV, we’re up against X Factor, we’re up against NFL football games on the NFL network which draws a lot of men and a lot of men like our show.”
Ryan concluded, “So, it wasn’t a huge shock but it’s still a big disappointment. I would compare it to, if you have a relative who becomes terminally ill and you know it’s coming but there’s still a shock when it happens.”
Why did ABC put Last Resort in such a tough timeslot? Ryan said, “The first point was [ABC says] ‘We gotta put something there; we don’t go dark at 8pm on Thursdays…’ They had had some initial success three years ago with FlashForward. That premiered big and eventually cratered, but at least they got an audience at the beginning — an audience that was a little more male. They thought [Last Resort] was a big, bold concept that would attract people. They were worried about putting something that was a little more normal, that it would get swamped and disappear.”
He feels badly about the cancellation, mostly because of the crew. Ryan shared, “It’s really disappointing for the people who work on the show, the crew, who work on a weekly paycheck. The fact is, I’ll still be able to feed my family though I’m crushingly disappointed creatively that we won’t be able to continue the story. And yet I’m very clear that there are people who are now going to be out of a job in a few weeks with this decision and these are people who were working 14 or 16 hour days on behalf of the show and I feel very bad for them.”
What do you think? Were you surprised that Last Resort was cancelled by ABC? That the show didn’t get better ratings?
It’s all about money, folks. No audience, ads don’t get seen, well, you know the rest. Too bad there isn’t a better way.
I enjoyed the show very much. First class all the way. If I missed it on Thurs night I caught it on my DVR or On Demand. I don’t know if that show or any other gets credit for viewership if not watched in it’s original time slot. A real shame that it is gone.
Abc finaly got a decent show and their putting the cabosh to it already
loved the show…..I would DVR it and then watch after everyone went to bed so as to have no interruptions….such a pleasure …and now it’s gone…so sad
YES , IT SUCKS SO MUCH THEY CANCELLED THE SHOW I LOVED IT I WATCHED IT EVER THRUSDAY! BIG DISSAPONTIEMNT THERES NOTHING GOOD ON AND WHEN THEY BUT A SHOW THE CANCELL IT LIKE TARENOVA
You have tremendous taste in television shows! Both Taranova and Last Resort made me incredibly erect. Needless to say I turned flaccid at the news of their cancelation. Hopefully, one of these days the broadcasting companies will realize that these shows are visual viagra to us enlightened viewers instead of pumping our televisions with fecal matter. Blessings to you, STAY HARD!
Icarus
You know that scene in the Social Network where the tech kid creates a web site to compare girls on the campus? Imagine something like that with TV shows and compare Last Resort with any others that are on today. How many would there be better? I can think of maybe two.
I can barely wait for all this timeslot TV nonsense to be over with and we can all watch what we want when we want it online. Then we would’t have to compare dramas with comedies or sport events or bloody reality shows.
one last point
I wanted to watch revolution for the same reason … different and unique …. I am still watching it but compared to Last resort … so much inferior with the wrting and acting and story telling …. And for that show to be picked up for a second year and last resort not ,,,, a crime
I really liked the show and am disappointed that it is being cancelled. Couldn’t they try it in another time slot??
[…] Shawn Ryan, who recently discussed the cancellation (here and here), tells TVLine that the cancellation notice came down in time for he and the writers to tweak the […]
Who wanted another show that goes on and on without an ending like Lost. It would have made a great movie.
I thought it was a great show, well written and well acted. Both my teenage sons liked it as well. Very disappointed it has been cancelled. Too bad they couldn’t put a show as good as this, with this great cast, in a better time slot.
I think the show is a winner. The marketing… a looser! Heck, i didn’t even know about the show until its 5th episode! Frankly, I thought it could have been a major motion picture event, or even a mini-series with a TV sequel. Andre Braugher was at one of his best! I think he far out-shined the other actors. Frankly, i kept wondering if the crew would ever get off the island (kind of like Gilligan!), and if they did what would they do? I also think the submarine tech was amazing. Do we really have any of that stuff… Read more »
One of the reasons the show did so poorly is how angry the Navy is at how it is portrayed and a huge military audience was lost because of it. Additionally the “submarine” shots were horribly wrong and grossly innacurate. The only “submarine” feature that could possibly be considered worse is Crimson Tide. So to answer your question we have and do use some of that tech….but the real thing is not hollywooded up.
Can not believe it. There is something to it more than just the rating numbers.
Don’t know if I really want to know the real reason.