Swamped with a new project or two, so a quick link roundup. Fall TV is moving into the middle innings...no serious winners or losers, but everybody seems to agree that it's been pretty underwhelming. Yes, Pushing Daisies got a pickup (yeah...yeah), and in my opinion Chuck and Life (more on this show soon) are pretty solid, but I do find my attention wandering. This LA Times article (free registration) notes viewers overall are down another 11 percent from last year, thinks Heroes needs a lifeline, and sees general sluggishness in tee-vee land all around...while this MSN article is a little less kind.
Broadcasters have no one to blame but themselves, contends one analyst.
"The networks haven't delivered the compelling new shows that viewers get excited about," said Shari Anne Brill of ad-buyer Carat USA. She recalled instant, buzzed-about hits "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" from seasons past.
With the top networks delivering a combined 40 million weekly viewers to advertisers, broadcasting remains a potent platform, said Marc Berman, analyst for Media Week Online. But the medium is only as strong as its programming.
"Did the networks really put on anything that people said, 'Wow, I have to watch this?'" Berman said.
As far as new shows go, the answer is a resounding no.
That goes for the general public, but what everyone in the biz is watching are the WGA/AMPTP talks as the strike date rapidly approaches. And what you should be reading is The Artful Writer and Craig Mazin's insightful opins and timely updates.
Go for the posts, and stay for the comments.
That's all I got. Happy Halloween. Dress up and go play, but keep an eye out for the trick or treatin' kids on the road.
6 comments:
Personally, I think Heroes has improved since the beginning of the season. Then again, the end of last season wrecked my expectations of anything immensely worthwhile. . .so my low expectations have been met. Woohoo!
Journeyman is turning into a very pleasant bit of television for those of us at the Mad Pulp Pad.
Reflective storytelling and just enough meta to keep people guessing how this is all happening.
Oh, and Moon Bloodgood for the win.
I found the two-episodes-in-a-row meta fakeout kind of annoying (oh, here's someone who can help; no he can't, SNAP! Oh, here's someone else who might have a clue; no he doesn't SNAP!). Some space between the two fake outs would've been less annoying, in my opinion.
I don't know exactly why but Heroes has completely faded to the back burner for me...the 'gimmick' wore off or something.
And yes Bill, Journeyman is solid...it's just I seem to have a hard time committing to more than an hour of drama a night, and Chuck tends to win out over Journeyman (or I watch the beginning of JMan and then need to do something else and move on).
It's like Tuesday and Bones and House...I do still like House and watch it but find myself only catching about half the Bones eps for the same reason.
Wednesday is Life.
Thursday is...um, nothing really (Mad Men back when)
Friday and Sat is catch up on taped shows or movies or real life...
Sun is Dexter.
If anyone cares.
Lex -
The only thing I can say to you is that they said they couldn't help. If Journeyman has told us anything it's "all is not as it seems."
Will -
I am so sorry that you have chosen Chuck over Journeyman...
and situations like these are why DVR's were invented.
Yeah, Bill, I'm there with you on the what-they-say-isn't-necessarily-the-truth. I'm just annoyed by having it happen twice, really close together.
I think it's mostly a matter of personal taste, and that it won't deter me from watching. A little more subtlety (like, say, the whole "Bad Wolf" aspect in Doctor Who season 1) and style could've rubbed me better.
Just making an opinion on something small and to clarify where the rub is for me. Everything else about the show keeps me there enthusiastically, and something that develops later could totally change my opinion.
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