Cancelled TV Shows on the Web

[JiriHrdina]

One of the best new shows this year was one called Kidnapped. The premise was pretty straightforward - standard kindapping story with all the usual characters - the veteran police guy, the rogue investigator, and a cast of evil dudes. But it had a tremendous cast that elevated the show - Delroy Lindro, Jeremy Sisko, Dana Delaney, Madchen Amik (mmmmmmm), and countless others.

Anyhoo it was cancelled early on but NBC producers told them they would let them finish off the story in 13 episodes - all to air.

Well that changed too and after 6 eppys it was pulled completely.

But NBC then did something pretty cool. They started to post the shows not broadcast on nbc.com, allowing fans to see how the storyline ended.

So if you were a fan of the show like me, you can actually see how everything turns out, unlike usual when shows get cancelled and you don't get that resolution.

Hopefully this is a trend we will see more of, as I hate it when a show hooks me and then vanishes.

[Looger]

what i'd really like to see is complete and total webshows, pay-per-view, and skip the limitations of airtime so that all kinds of cult favourites could continue.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Looger

what i'd really like to see is complete and total webshows, pay-per-view, and skip the limitations of airtime so that all kinds of cult favourites could continue.

Thats the future. Everything will be on demand. As it should be. There is so much crap on TV right now. We have more choices than ever, which seems to make me more picky than ever.

[SeeGeeWhy]

That is a great idea!

If the web based views are high enough, do you think networks could be convinced to print a DVD set of such shows?

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

That is a great idea!

If the web based views are high enough, do you think networks could be convinced to print a DVD set of such shows?

I don't see why not. The key is that the shows have to be produced - then they will look to find anyway to get the material out there.

And that's probably what makes this is a unique case. By the time the show was permantely pulled, they had already produced the rest. So you might as well get it out there. This was a really expensive show to produce (one of the reasons it was cancelled) so once you have those shows in the can, you try to recover whatever costs you can.

I saw the other day that NBC's "Men Behaving Badly" is now available on DVD. Basically they will put any crud on DVD that they have in their library.

In other TV news - PLEASE start watching Friday Night Lights so it doesn't get cancelled after this season.

[fanforever1986]

This thread can't be finished unless Arrested Development is talked about.

Not sure if this has been mentioned on here yet, but CBC is now airing it from season 1. Damn I hate fox.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by fanforever1986

This thread can't be finished unless Arrested Development is talked about.

Not sure if this has been mentioned on here yet, but CBC is now airing it from season 1. Damn I hate fox.

Why hate fox? They gave a show with putrid ratings more time than most networks would.

We can debate if it was marketed properly, but I'd also point out that the amount of press and love the show received from major publications such as Entertainment Weekly, definately exposed the show.

People knew about the show
People knew the show was acclaimed
People didn't watch the show

Don't blame Fox. Blame the people.

[fanforever1986]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Why hate fox? They gave a show with putrid ratings more time than most networks would.

We can debate if it was marketed properly, but I'd also point out that the amount of press and love the show received from major publications such as Entertainment Weekly, definately exposed the show.

People knew about the show
People knew the show was acclaimed
People didn't watch the show

Don't blame Fox. Blame the people.

While the ratings were low, people in the business couldn't stop talking about AD. I believe it even won a few awards. THe reason i hate fox is they represent the scum of american culture.

[ZDogg]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Don't blame Fox. Blame the people.

They never consistently played it on the same day.
They never consistently played it each week.
I think they even played 3 new episodes in a row vs Super Bowl or something crazy like that...

How can you not blame FOX???

This was my favorite show... now i'm relegated to watching more reality ****. Thanks FOX! Keep making American Idol cause it gets better each time...

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

In other TV news - PLEASE start watching Friday Night Lights so it doesn't get cancelled after this season.

My brother just raves about that show. Says he can't wait till it is on, and he is sad when it is over. But I still won't give it a chance. I watch so much sports that I can't be bothered to watch any network shows. For instance the Flames will be playing the same night as Friday Night Lights. I'm not missing the Flames game, so Friday Nights Lights goes out the window. Then your an episode behind.

I love the HBO shows. There excellant, and don't have the censorship that the Network tv shows have. As well they replay throughout the week so I can PVR it late at night and not miss any of the game if there is some overlap.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by ZDogg

They never consistently played it on the same day.
They never consistently played it each week.
I think they even played 3 new episodes in a row vs Super Bowl or something crazy like that...

How can you not blame FOX???

This was my favorite show... now i'm relegated to watching more reality ****. Thanks FOX! Keep making American Idol cause it gets better each time...

I don't blame Fox because first - they had the guts to greenlight a show like this. Most networks won't even look at a show like Arrested Development. Fox did, produced it and let it air for 2 seasons.

It is frustrating when shows are moved around, but it never could find its audience. Its best shot was on Sundays, but it couldn't hold viewers from its lead in shows.

Simply put - America didn't like the show. I think it will be one of those shows we look back on 10 years from now and realize that it was ahead of its time and influences the direction of the TV comedy.

But for now, not enough people liked it.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Another show that I thought was interesting is Day Break. It was actually slated to be a 13-episode mini series but ABC pulled it after five or six episodes. They said they were going to put the rest of it online but haven't yet.

[worth]

The problem is advertising. If it's on demand, you can skip advertisments if there were any by fast forwarding. In order to compensate, they would have to charge you to watch a tv show.

Advertisers don't like PVR's because people just skip all the ads. If you can't FF, you have to watch the ads.

[Frank the Tank]

Greg the Bunny is all the reason you need to hate FOX. DAMN YOU TO HELL FOX!!!

[RougeUnderoos]

Arrested Development was a very hard show to like because you have to know what was going on from the beginning. You have to "get it". It is really a weird story and if you don't know the backstory it's just a bunch of nonsense.

When it was actually on TV I tried watching a few times and I thought it was ######ed. In the last little while I've seen seasons 1 and 2 in the proper order on DVD and I think it's the funniest show by a longshot since Seinfeld. If I had tried to watch it not from the beginning and started at, say, the "nevernude" episode(s) I would have thought it was stupid and changed the channel.

[burn_baby_burn]

The problem with TV is that when a show is a hit, like CSI for instance. We see everybody copy it. There is nothing unique out there. And if something is unique. A lot of networks don't have the patience to let it find an audience. If CEO's don't keep ratings high, they will get canned. So it is risky to take a chance. But it leads to alot of boring TV. Plus there is so much choice out there. That if a show doesn't dazzle you right away. You will switch the channel and never go back.

[Eastern Girl]

Originally Posted by worth

The problem is advertising. If it's on demand, you can skip advertisments if there were any by fast forwarding. In order to compensate, they would have to charge you to watch a tv show.

Advertisers don't like PVR's because people just skip all the ads. If you can't FF, you have to watch the ads.

But they are starting to compensate for this by putting 15 ads before movies in theaters, through more product placement, through more of the little ads like the CBC does having the broadcasters announce shows during hockey and other shows, things like that. It's getting irritating really quickly because I don't have PVR and already have to sit through an abundance of ads. Now, I get a ton more so advertisers don't miss the PVR'ers.

Anyways, to get back on topic, Kidnapped was a good show. I lost track of it though, I just assumed it had been cancelled. The episodes that are online, can we watch them in Canada?

[Eastern Girl]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Arrested Development was a very hard show to like because you have to know what was going on from the beginning. You have to "get it". It is really a weird story and if you don't know the backstory it's just a bunch of nonsense.

When it was actually on TV I tried watching a few times and I thought it was ######ed. In the last little while I've seen seasons 1 and 2 in the proper order on DVD and I think it's the funniest show by a longshot since Seinfeld. If I had tried to watch it not from the beginning and started at, say, the "nevernude" episode(s) I would have thought it was stupid and changed the channel.

That's a pretty good point. I hadn't really considered it. There were definitely a lot of "inside" subtle jokes, a lot of jokes where in future episodes they went back and built on them. For instance, the blue paint all around the house and Tobias' cutoffs. I could see that being a reason for people not really watching or getting it.

[fanforever1986]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

The problem with TV is that when a show is a hit, like CSI for instance. We see everybody copy it. There is nothing unique out there. And if something is unique. A lot of networks don't have the patience to let it find an audience. If CEO's don't keep ratings high, they will get canned. So it is risky to take a chance. But it leads to alot of boring TV. Plus there is so much choice out there. That if a show doesn't dazzle you right away. You will switch the channel and never go back.

No one will ever attempt to copy lost...

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by fanforever1986

No one will ever attempt to copy lost...

Already did. Its called Jericho.