Friday, November 19, 2010

NOW IT'S JUST "THAT SINGING SHOW WITH RANDY JACKSON:" Y'know how Adam joked earlier this week that with all the changes to Idol this season, Fox should consider retitling it "The Musical Talent Show That Airs On Fox Tuesdays and Wednesdays?" Well, even that's out the window with Fox's new midseason schedule. Of note:
  • Glee has had enough success that it's anchoring Tuesdays on its own, followed by Redneck Baby Endangerment (AKA: Raising Hope), and new comedy Mixed Signals.
  • Until Idol starts, Wednesdays are home to Human Target burnoff (too bad, because it's a lot of fun and the changes they've implemented this season seem to work fine aside from the abandonment of the original opening theme), then it's home to Idol and a new half hour comedy with Christian Slater, because when you think funny? You think Christian Slater.
  • Thursdays, Idol tries to fill the reality vacuum left by Survivor and take on Big Bang Theory, Community, and whatever ABC winds up putting there (since My Generation tanked, it's been an oddball mix of Grey's repeats and specials), with Bones moving to 9 PM. Something of an odd choice to give Bones, which has had a solid, if never ratings-huge, run the powerful leadin of Idol.
  • Fridays--Fox has sent Fringe to its death in the legendary death slot occupied in the past by Firefly, The Good Guys, and Dollhouse. This raises an interesting question--between this and the flops of Morning Glory (which was actually not bad, even if the end had been blatantly reshot and made only limited sense) and Undercovers--are we over J.J. Abrams?

12 comments:

  1. The Pathetic Earthling8:49 PM

    Remember the end of Shogun where Lord Toronaga kept setting fire to Captain Blackthorn's ships because he didn't want to give him up?  Until JJ Abrams makes some more Firefly, all his shows ought to be doomed to destruction.

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  2. The Pathetic Earthling8:50 PM

    Uhm, did you see the new Star Trek movie?  No, I'm not over JJ Abrams.

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  3. Wow, that really, really sucks about Fringe.  My wife and I have been devoted to it since day 1.  (And we were Dollhouse fans also.)  There is a limited number of shows that we both really enjoy, and Fringe was probably at the top of that list.  Kind of knew it was coming though -- I don't think I know anyone else who watches it.

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  4. J. Bowman11:15 AM

    Does that mean The Good Guys is moving to a good time slot? Because that show is plain old dumb fun.

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  5. The Good Guys will finish its 19 episode run (including one in a couple of weeks that reunites Joshua Malina and Bradley Whitford), but no additional episodes will be produced this season.  Highly unlikely Fox picks it up for another season, but it's an almost perfect fit for USA (jokey, procedurally, not overly starry, filmed in a lower-cost market, and from Matt Nix, who's showrunner of their biggest hit), and I wouldn't be surprised to see it shopped there.

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  6. J. Bowman11:49 AM

    As long as it stays on Hulu.
    It's like Sepinwall's theory of early Psych - it's not the greatest thing on TV, but I get drawn in by the awesome opening credits song. Also, it has a TWW alum.

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  7. Fringe's current timeslot is brutal as well. Hopefully the high dvr numbers for fringe will help save it, since those will be unaffected by the move. It's a shame if it gets canceled now as this season has been great.

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  8. Paul Tabachneck12:06 PM

    I just saw my first episode of the Good Guys today, and wow.  That is fun to watch.

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  9. Paul Tabachneck12:07 PM

    Hear, hear!

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  10. Dan Suitor1:50 PM

    Sepinwall has posited the theory that Fringe is now in the Chuck mold, in that whoever's going to watch it is already watching/DVRing it. It's been averaging a little less less than 5 million viewers with good demo numbers and large figures. If it can do 4.2 to 4.5 live on Friday, that's WAY better than a 4.8 on Thursday because of the context.

    Also, and this is totally anecdotal, I feel as if this season has been cheaper than seasons past. Fringe isn't a cheap show to make, but it's pretty obvious they've cut back this season. Most of the recurring sets in Earth-WTC are pretty clearly done with green screen, and beyond that most of the cases have had to do with humanoids. Call it"Star Trek syndrome", or whatever you like, but it means they haven't had to put the CG/effects work into the more fantastic creatures.

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  11. Adam C.2:59 PM

    We watched it religiously in Season 1, then less so in Season 2 (when it was first moved opposite The Office), and lost the thread sufficiently that we didn't bother starting to watch Season 3.  At some point, we'll have to track down the Season 2 DVDs and get caught up, and then maybe we can catch up on enough of Season 3 that the move to Fridays actually helps us out.

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  12. Yeah, the move may help it a bit, since it's no longer opposite the Office and Grey's (which has generally been really good this year).  As I understand it, Fringe has become REALLY serialized this season and kind of insane with the parallel worlds stuff.

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