EW is reporting that ABC has Renewed V citing rising ratings. I personally would be shocked if those ratings hold without Lost leading it in, but the execs know what they are doing, right? Right?
Well at least at some level ABC must know what they are doing. They’ve also canceled FlashForward. The “home for the tragically written off Lost” is closing its doors. No reasons were given, but if pressed I’m sure the execs would point to the lousy ratings and general crapitude of the show. I guess being big in Belgium isn’t going to carry you all the time.
EDIT: Heroes also just got the axe. More info here. -SG John
V is going to be a mid-season replacement. – Sci-Guy-Jim
By Sci-Guy-Jim
May 14th, 2010 - 9:35 am
I’m surprised V survived given that its ratings drop off was even steeper than FlashForward’s (they’ve had fewer episodes to bleed viewers); I can only put that down to ABC not wanting to cancel all of its first year dramas.
I know you guys have absolutely panned FlashForward each time you talked about it, and most of the criticism was absolutely true, but I tend to agree with Todd VanDerWerff over on the AV Club: it was a swing and a miss show – most of the time it struck out, but particularly in the recent run of episodes it did feel like it was trying. Out of the two, I’d prefer it to survive without hestiation, but I guess I’m glad there’ll be at least one science fiction programme on the networks next year, and fingers crossed they can take a good look at what doesn’t work with V and change up a gear or five.
May 14th, 2010 - 10:23 am
Lost was like Seinfeld in that it is lucky it found its legs before getting s-canned. I don’t think either V or Flashforward has found its legs. I am critical of both shows because I think they both made the mistake of trying to take a movie plot and stretch it into a TV series. This harks back to Prison Break, which lasted a few seasons.
I can agree with you, Martin, in that I think Flashforward was starting to find its way out of its hole, where V is digging itself a deep one right now. Making the dopey Tyler Evans character (Erica’s son) a central part of the show has turned it into a 90210 sort of distraction when there is so much more there they could be doing…or maybe there isn’t, because looking at the SFX they are down to a 1985 Dr. Who budget.
Any cancellation is sad, but I think they gave Flashforward all the time it needed to show what it was made of, and it just didn’t. I still have hope for V, if they would just kill off Tyler and give Erica something to be really pissed off about.
May 14th, 2010 - 11:40 am
I’ll bet that FlashForward ends on a cliffhanger, even though for the creative team the writing has clearly been on the wall since the hiatus (I mean in terms of ratings and the chances of renewal) and they should have been willing and happy to structure it as a one season show. To be fair, they would not be the first group guilty of this.
I completely agree with you about the Tyler character, John, but I don’t think he’s the biggest of the show’s problems – it’s structurally hampered because it’s based on a small team who don’t really have any kind of direction or goal, fighting against an overwhelming force who haven’t done much that’s demonstrably evil as yet. I’m behind a few episodes so this may have come been revealed, but they’ve got a V who is a good guy, yet they still haven’t asked him what why the Visitors are here. That’s such lazy writing.
And while the digital sets may have sounded like a great idea at the time, I bet the drain on their FX budget is really making the producers regret that decision. Oh, and they look rubbish anyway.
May 14th, 2010 - 12:01 pm
V’s writing is sloppy. But I think the same of FlashForward
V needs to find its direction. It ended its 4 show starting run pretty nicely with a lot of plot movement, but since it came back has settled into a rather boring rut.
I was excited at first about the potential. But up to now it has been a big disappointment.
Similarly FlashForward started off Strong. Actually much stronger than V. Big concepts, and a lot apparently at stake. The show so badly wanted to be intelligent, thought provoking, and poignant. But it just can’t do it. The simple fact that they spent the first few weeks wondering if they could change the future shows that the writers take us for fools – they would have known within a day…
it has since deteriorated into a series of cliched hand-wringing scenes punctuated by the occasional ridiculous plot development. I quit it a while back, maybe it has gotten better?
I probably would have done the same with V, but it is on right after Lost.
May 14th, 2010 - 12:02 pm
and to be fair, I think we did Like FF at first, and said it was one of the shows that “mattered”
May 14th, 2010 - 12:30 pm
I have actually found Flash Forward more watchable over the last few weeks than I found V to be. I’m come to believe that Flash Forward was at least attempting to move the story along, while I still have no clue where they are trying to go with V.
I know they are saving it for the “big reveal,” but why, oh why, can’t they just tell us what the Visitors really want from Earth?
May 14th, 2010 - 2:31 pm
Another problem with that Mike is that the longer they hold off on the reveal of what the Visitors want, the more impressive it needs to be. Another problem that’s inherent to V is that the Visitors are using the tiresome ‘human emotions are a weakness’ line, which we’ve seen a fair bit of in various films/TV recently, and in a show like V they should be quite the opposite – they should be over the top, and I think it would be a more fun and entertaining show as a result.