T U E S D AY, O C TO B E R 2 4 , 2 0 0 6NYT TV Coverage: Same Old Song Becomes A"Trend"I've been reading it for 30 years: network executives just don't have thepatience they used to have and shows are getting pulled quicker andquicker.</p><p> Now the New York Times has spotted this "trend" andexample number one is the CBS drama "Smith." They get it wrong bothways.</p><p> First, anyone could give lists of shows nurtured (like "The Office"and "Seinfeld") and shows canceled quickly from the beginning of TVto today.</p><p> If anything, the trend in the last ten years -- thanks to cableTV and the explosion of available shows and the lowered ratings for allof primetime -- has been INCREASED patience by the networks forselect shows.</p><p> The key word there is "select" -- some shows stay on theair simply because the head of the network really likes them.</p><p> Others getpulled completely.</p><p> Some series show signs of life and hang on for twoor three seasons; others become hits.</p><p> Others don't make it to seasontwo.</p><p> There is no trend here and the cancellation of "Smith" -- whichdropped precipitously from week to week, with even the people whotuned in turning off the set after the first half hour -- is no sign ofanything but a flop.But then the NYT tries to give examples of networks sometimesshowing patience this season and they get THAT wrong.Still, those results were not so different from the experience ofseveral other new shows this fall — most of which are still on theair. “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” has seen its ratings andviewers fall each week, from 13.4 million viewers for its firstepisode to 8.6 million for its fourth. “Vanished,” on Fox,“Kidnapped,” on NBC, “Brothers & Sisters,” on ABC, and“Jericho,” on CBS have all seen their audiences fall from week toweek.Actually, ALL of those shows are still on the air (something theyclarified in the next sentence.</p><p> But they're hardly examples of patience."Kidnapped" has been canceled, with the network saying that thestoryline will be wrapped up in 13 episodes instead of 22.</p><p> The show hasbeen moved to the graveyard of Saturday night. "Vanished" was movedto Friday and is canceled in all but name only.And "Jericho" -- far from being a show that the network needs to showNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: NYT TV Coverage: Same Old Song Be...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/nyt-tv-coverage-same-o... 1 of 37/28/09 4:51 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyAaronMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: NYT TV Coverage: Same Old Song Be...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/nyt-tv-coverage-same-o... 2 of 37/28/09 4:51 PMPOPSURFING.COM: NYT TV Coverage: Same Old Song Be...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/nyt-tv-coverage-same-o... 3 of 37/28/09 4:51 PM
