QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ Mar 27 2008, 03:02 PM) I found this on The Digital Bits today, it sums up my feelings pretty well.
QUOTE Jericho fans have heard the news by now. CBS has cancelled the beleaguered series again, after fans had convinced the network to give it a second try. Apparently, ratings for the brief second season were even worse than the first season. You know, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm about done with network TV. The fact is, viewership for the networks has been declining for years. The only thing surprising about that is that the network executives have the nerve to wonder why. Cable is a big factor, of course. About 80% of what I watch is on cable at this point and the reason is simple: That's where all of the most intelligently written and original dramas and comedies are. I'm frankly sick to death of reality TV, and the writer's strike didn't help network viewership either. But here's THE big reason why we've given up on network TV in our house: We're tired of being asked to watch and support shows that the network ends up canceling after a single season, or sometimes even after a single episode! Almost every time Sarah and I find a network show that either (or both) of us even remotely like, the network pulls the plug. Jericho, Quarterlife, K-Ville, Lipstick Jungle, Journeyman, The Black Donnellys, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Traveler, What About Brian, Invasion, Over There, E-Ring, American Dreams, Star Trek: Enterprise, Ed, Boston Public, Sports Night, I could go on and on and on (those are just a few we liked - there are MANY more). Another favorite, Friday Night Lights, is in danger of getting canned. It's not worth tuning in anymore, because you can't count on anything you see sticking around for more than five minutes, and it's just too damn aggrivating when they disappear. And the way these panicky network executives juggle their schedules, even when the show IS still on the air, you never know when it's actually gonna be on. It's better, and easier, to just wait for the show to arrive on DVD so you know you can actually watch a few of them at a time. An all-time classic series like The X-Files would NEVER have a chance in today's TV climate. The X-Files didn't get popular until well into its second season, but Fox would never have the patience to stick with it that long today. Shows get pulled on cable too (The 4400, Deadwood, Farscape, etc), but the so-called "major" networks are by far the worst offenders, and I think most people - especially anyone under 45 - is just done with them. CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and the UPN/WB/CW whatever the hell it's called are steadily becoming obsolete. And the networks have no one to blame but themselves.
Jack here: I miss 'Farscape'. It was cancelled well before it's time.
That sums it up really well for me too!
After how the Sci-Fi Channel messed with Babylon 5, then dropped the axe on Farscape and another show just getting started there, I wasn't too happy with them. I was going to start watching Stargate a couple of years ago and, oh look, now it's gone, too. Finally, I just stopped bothering with that channel althogether. I don't think I've watched it in three or four years.
And yeah, network is even worse.
I don't watch a lot of TV but it seems like a good bit of what I do watch gets shot down.
It's one sucker punch after another.
