To cancel or not to cancel, that is the question!

Is it just me, or has the television industry gotten really brutal over the last few years?

I remember the days when tv shows began in the fall, had a short break during the holidays, then wrapped up just as summer was starting. I looked forward to watching episodes again as they would repeat during the summer or watch episodes of Happy Days or something. And before you ask, no I’m not THAT old, they used to air it on what is now the CW in the early 90’s and I loved it. Anyway, now we have mid-season replacements and countless reality shows that make the old tv season a thing of the past.

Now granted, I don’t blame the networks for finally realizing that having new shows on year-round makes them a lot more money than repeats but it’s become an absolute war to keep shows on the air, even those that have already proved themselves successful. A flurry of renewals and cancellations over the weekend is the latest example.
I think the most highly anticipated verdict was Fox deciding to renew Dollhouse. I thought for sure it was a goner, but they’ve given it 13 more episodes. I hear part of the decision was looking at Hulu and DVR numbers which, duh, get with the times – of course those count! Sadly, according to the Ausiello Files, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been canned. I’d hoped they’d wait to see how Terminator Salvation did this weekend before they made a decision but I guess not. He’s got a full run down there of what’s staying and what’s going if you want to give it a look. Some might even change by the time you’re reading this.
Besides deciding what stays and what goes, some networks are even prepared to pick up what others decide to leave behind like giant tv-show-eating vultures. And don’t forget, if your favorite show only lasts one season, there’s 10 brand new shows waiting take it’s place. If all else fails, there’s always Happy Days.

5 Responses to “To cancel or not to cancel, that is the question!”

  1. Dhaise says:

    It only makes sense to start looking at all the available numbers. The entertainment industry is always late to that party.

    I’m not particularly excited or thrilled about Dollhouse. If it wasn’t Joss’ name on the title, people wouldn’t have cared. The show had an interesting premise, but failed to live up to it in at least 8 episodes, and every episode had worse ratings then the one before it-not a good sign. When 75% of your run is pointless,your show is pointless. I’d have rather had a Faith Spinoff or a continuiation of Firefly or Angel honestly.

    TTSCC was doomed to a poor timeslot and I think it had a lot more potential personally. I’m sorry to see this one go while dollhouse sticks around, but on a pure numbers playing field it makes sense.

    Entertainment across the board had gotten so incredibly lazy the past few years, it takes shows,movies and comics experimenting to start making things interesting again. Dollhouse got a stay of execution, but we won’t see a season 3 unless things improve across the board.

  2. Laid Off says:

    I have to say I’m curious about the impact that Hulu, and streaming Netflix has had on viewership. Has it increased viewers? Decreased? Had no impact whatsoever?

  3. jason says:

    I’m just glad Castle is coming back. That was my big worry this year.

  4. With most networks having lower ratings this year then the pre-strike 2007 season lots of more marginal shows are being renewed, as most networks have decided to go for steady mediocre ratings vs bringing on new shows that aren’t going to do so well with most viewing down across the board.
    Personally, several of the shows that I like fall into this category with Chuck, Dollhouse, and Scrubs.
    Finally, I don’t want to be a link whore or anything but http://www.tvbythenumbers.com tracks all this information, great site for all this kind of info.

  5. Randy says:

    Well, it’s about time they started counting the people who DVR the shows and watch them later. It’s time to get with the times.

    Of course then there’s people like who me who DVR 5 or 6 episodes of a show and never get around to watching them.