You just proved my point. ABC used its promotional properties to launch V. It launched well. Subsequent viewership depends on shows themselves. You know, like how Castle has developed a stable audience of its own. Gotcha!
It's not a stable audience if it needs said promotional property and almost no competition to remain 'stable' below 2.5 in the demo, mushu. Particularly not when it's a scripted one hour drama that repeats horribly. But again you acknowledge this is all about me. 'Gotcha'? Really?
The problem of network tv these days is that they focus too much on creating shows that feel familiar rather than creating shows that have their own voice.
I personally think "Dirty Sexy Money" could have been a great show if they had not tried so hard to make the tone of the show similiar to the tone of already existing shows. Season one of the show was trying too hard to be a mixture of "Brothers & Sisters" and "Desperate Housewives" and was pretty underwhelming/boring therefore, even though it had potential. The actors were great and the concept was promising. They realized that it didn't work, so they tried to change it into a big night-time-soap which is when the show really fell apart, as it turned into a convoluted mess where characters behaved like caricatures of themselves and where action drove the characters instead of characters driving the story. In interviews the writers always compared the show to something else ("we want it to be like this show or that show"), when they really should have asked themselves the question of what they want the show to be, not what other show they want it to be like.
I do agree, that it would be nice to see more original programming. And you're right, I'm sure the reason that re-makes get made is that there is some built in familiarity with the project.
It reminds me of the years long trend (which is still happening today) of turning popular theatrical movies into TV shows. With few exceptions (MASH, Alice, etc) the vast majority of those shows end up failing. We'll see how Parenthood turns out...
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Originally posted by pisher:
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I think there were reasons to re-make it. Visually, there was a lot to do to update the look of the show, thanks to special effects which have come pretty far since the 1980's.
I don't think that's ever a good reason to update a show. EVER. I'm still pissed at George Lucas for updating the special effects on Star Wars. It's not about technology, it's about STORYTELLING.
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Also, story wise (and I was a big fan of the original mini series) I thought the original was a bit heavy handed at times.
You've got it backwards--the 80's V was a campy sexy lark. This one is a ponderous full-of-itself drag.
Why not just do a new show based on the same general idea? Why chain yourself to an earlier concept? Well, basically just to get your pitch listened to, and good sampling for the pilot. The people who sold this remake got paid--it was ABC that got swindled. It's their job to anticipate new trends, not repackage old ones.
Remakes should comprise a VERY small percentage of shows and films--right now, they seem to comprise more than 50%. And that percentage keeps growing.
Originally posted by TV is me: I do agree, that it would be nice to see more original programming. And you're right, I'm sure the reason that re-makes get made is that there is some built in familiarity with the project.
It reminds me of the years long trend (which is still happening today) of turning popular theatrical movies into TV shows. With few exceptions (MASH, Alice, etc) the vast majority of those shows end up failing. We'll see how Parenthood turns out...
Parenthood could be the first remake of a TV series, based on a theatrical movie AND be a double failure.
V could certainly better, but it's still doing well enough. IMO, this hiatus is actually a good thing for the show. It'll allow viewers not to get tired of it, but instead anticipate its return in March. IMO, ABC will really need to shell out the extra advertising dollars to promote its return this midseason. And, they probably need to air it with Lost. If they want the show to last past this season, it'll need some help.
Meanwhile, why did ABC pick up 5 more episodes of The Forgotten? Those ratings are not good at all. I can't even imagine what it would be doing without a sizeable lead-in. Meanwhile, the halfhour drop for NCIS:LA is somewhat concerning. And, it's demo is surprisingly low. Even with 15 million viewers, it's still a timeslot hit. And The Good Wife - how much lower can the demo get? Is it that boring that not a single young person will watch it?
And clearly with Leno, they need to try harder to keep viewers around the entire hour. Tuesdays are its best night, and they need to take advantage of that by booking bigger stars or doing better bits on the night. Since Taylor Lautner clearly didn't help on Monday, they should have tried him last night, promoted him, and watched their ratings rise.
Originally posted by Junim: Yeah, Melrose is dead.
Sadly, I have to agree. Pity because it's my guilty pleasure, ah well no point in really getting invested in the show.
Do stop watching. It a good show.
After the mystery of sydneys death is solved. This show will become even more uninteresting
I think last nights episode was one of the best. I think the show has gotten better and now that the bitch is back i think it will be even better. Don't give up yet
Not bad for a Christmas Special before Thanksgiving.
Hopefully V increases soon. I thought the show would suck, but I love it! Hopefully episode 3 is good as I DVR'ed it last night!
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Looking back, I can't think of a single show that benefitted from a pairing with Lost. Lost tends to have an audience that is independent of everything else.
Sorry but I also have to disagree with the pairing of Lost and V. I don't think it's a good idea based on their previous history. ABC tried a sci fi night with Lost and Life On Mars. The idea was that two male skewing sci fi like shows would work well together. Unfortunately, the flow never happened and I don't think ABC would like to try that again. I think that V and Lost need to be on two seperate nights.
The best idea in my opinion is Lost Wednesdays at 10 PM. It fills up a spot that is weak and will be a good end cap to the night. It also could bring some attention back to the comedies before it. With V, I would move it to Tuesdays at 9 PM once Idol cuts down to an hour in March (around top 10 when it goes to one hour). I would have Dancing with the Stars Tuesdays at 8 PM (I don't think there will be much of a cross between the two audiences) and Happy Town would replace The Forgotten at 10 PM. Before The Olympics I'd run Wife Swap or True Beauty or comedy repeats/Better Off Ted/Scrubs and The Forgotten. I think relaunching the night in March makes more sense since there is a break for The Olympics and it ends up being only about four weeks of programming.
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Originally posted by Julie: And, they probably need to air it with Lost. If they want the show to last past this season, it'll need some help.
Originally posted by WlcmZapataTexas: Looking back, I can't think of a single show that benefitted from a pairing with Lost. Lost tends to have an audience that is independent of everything else.
Sorry but I also have to disagree with the pairing of Lost and V. I don't think it's a good idea based on their previous history. ABC tried a sci fi night with Lost and Life On Mars. The idea was that two male skewing sci fi like shows would work well together. Unfortunately, the flow never happened and I don't think ABC would like to try that again. I think that V and Lost need to be on two seperate nights.
The best idea in my opinion is Lost Wednesdays at 10 PM. It fills up a spot that is weak and will be a good end cap to the night. It also could bring some attention back to the comedies before it. With V, I would move it to Tuesdays at 9 PM once Idol cuts down to an hour in March (around top 10 when it goes to one hour). I would have Dancing with the Stars Tuesdays at 8 PM (I don't think there will be much of a cross between the two audiences) and Happy Town would replace The Forgotten at 10 PM. Before The Olympics I'd run Wife Swap or True Beauty or comedy repeats/Better Off Ted/Scrubs and The Forgotten. I think relaunching the night in March makes more sense since there is a break for The Olympics and it ends up being only about four weeks of programming.
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Originally posted by Julie: And, they probably need to air it with Lost. If they want the show to last past this season, it'll need some help.
They tried pairing Lost with "Invasion" Back in 05 but it didn't work out.... obviously since its no longer on
I root for ABC since they are the one network that takes chances with unusual shows. I thought the concept for The Nine - the bank robbery show, Invasion and Daybreak (I think it was called that), they just moved too slow.
I really liked the mini series/show where the 2 Ivy League guys get framed for a terrorist bombing. It turned out one of the kids dad framed his own son. My kids and I were really into it. But we were the only ones watching apparently. I think it was called the Traveller - although that name doesn't make sense so it may be wrong.
They were lucky with Lost, I heard it was greenlit by an exec that was given his termination notice so as a big FU to the Network, he greenlit the most expensive Pilot ever.
Posts: 92 | Location: Seattle | Registered: 05 November 2008
