I've now seen the first hour of Ugly Betty's new season. I like that they're finally moving Betty up in the world and I didn't really miss Christina all that much. Still, this concept is so tired. Mark's acting has gotten almost forced. Amanda is just wacky, not funny, and Wilhelmina's daughter looks like a robot. Definitely the final season, unless the studio forces ABC into another 13 (which could definitely happen- they probably forced ABC into this season).
Originally posted by mushu_jj: I've now seen the first hour of Ugly Betty's new season. I like that they're finally moving Betty up in the world and I didn't really miss Christina all that much. Still, this concept is so tired. Mark's acting has gotten almost forced. Amanda is just wacky, not funny, and Wilhelmina's daughter looks like a robot. Definitely the final season, unless the studio forces ABC into another 13 (which could definitely happen- they probably forced ABC into this season).
I doubt that's what happened as MacPherson runs both the studio and the network. Under your scenario, he would bascially be forcing himself to produce and air more episodes.
In the end, this will be its last season and I'll be surprised if the show dosen't gett pulled by mid-sweeps for airing out during the summer.
Originally posted by mushu_jj: I've now seen the first hour of Ugly Betty's new season. I like that they're finally moving Betty up in the world and I didn't really miss Christina all that much. Still, this concept is so tired. Mark's acting has gotten almost forced. Amanda is just wacky, not funny, and Wilhelmina's daughter looks like a robot. Definitely the final season, unless the studio forces ABC into another 13 (which could definitely happen- they probably forced ABC into this season).
I doubt that's what happened as MacPherson runs both the studio and the network. Under your scenario, he would bascially be forcing himself to produce and air more episodes.
In the end, this will be its last season and I'll be surprised if the show dosen't gett pulled by mid-sweeps for airing out during the summer.
I think they'll be patient. Its start was delayed. It didn't get a good amount of promotion needed to move a sinker to Friday of all places and ABC Fridays will likely pick up in the coming weeks anyway (both WS and SN did that last year). However, Feb. sweeps may be another story.
It's definately the last season for UB. ABC has already sold it into syndication to TV Guide so there is no reason for it to continue for additional episodes. If it continues to lose ratings out of Supernanny, than it will get pulled. Wife Swap would do just as well at a fraction of the cost.
quote:
Originally posted by Zedman2:
In the end, this will be its last season and I'll be surprised if the show dosen't gett pulled by mid-sweeps for airing out during the summer.
The original Columbian telenovela ran 169 episodes--I think those were half hour eps (multiple eps shown every week), so around 85 hours of programming.
So in fact, UB has been on the air longer than the much more enduringly popular original series (which ran from 1999 to 2001), and if it finishes out this season, will run about the same number of hours.
Why are American fans of a given TV show so CLINGY? Why can't we let go? You tell the story, you get off the stage, THE END.
Originally posted by pisher: The original Columbian telenovela ran 169 episodes--I think those were half hour eps (multiple eps shown every week), so around 85 hours of programming.
So in fact, UB has been on the air longer than the much more enduringly popular original series (which ran from 1999 to 2001), and if it finishes out this season, will run about the same number of hours.
Why are American fans of a given TV show so CLINGY? Why can't we let go? You tell the story, you get off the stage, THE END.
Because of syndication purposes. Its why shows are made in the first place (at least it seems that way these days). I would argue that Betty's creative juices are still flowing, but not at anywhere near the level they were in season one. Its time for it to end.
Syndication isn't the whole explanation--for one thing, please recall that some of the greatest syndication perennials ran fewer than five seasons/100 eps. Star Trek is the most obvious example--three seasons, 79 episodes, and it'll be in syndication when you and I are mouldering in the grave.
I think these days the primary reasons for shows lingering on long past their sell-by date are--
1)Networks are less confident of finding new hits, and are thus reluctant to let go of anything that performed well in the past, even briefly.
2)They invest so much in show development and promotion now, particularly one hour dramas--they rarely make a good return on that investment in the first season. So they really don't like shows with intentionally limited runs, because if the show is a hit, they want the option of keeping it around, and squeezing every last bit of juice out of it.
3)If the showrunner is somebody with a lot of clout in the entertainment biz (like JJ Abrams), they don't want to risk ticking him off, and losing out on that really hot concept he might come up with in the next few years.
But the end result of all this is that nearly all shows end badly, and have lots of worthless filler eps, and TV becomes an endless wasteland of same-old same-old.
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