Biz News: Everything Cancelled

"Looks like the fall of the do-over is over-and-done."

Well, not quite: Chuck has stabilized into okay ratings, and Private Practice's falling ratings are being given the strongest medicine possible: a tie in with Grey's and the timeslot of the soon to be over thematically similar ER. Both shows are likely to come back in '09.

Also, you didn't mention the other bit of news: Life On Mars being given just enough rope (four more episodes) to hang itself. It airs two more episodes in its usual timeslot and then comes back on 1/28 after Lost. Note that, assuming no preemptions (which, again, I am doubting), LOM won't even make it out of March sweeps, but it will give ABC time to see what LOM comes up with when they run out of material from the original show. I am doubtful this makes it to '09.

Speaking of which, the score card for the other storyline of Fall 08, the foreign remake:
The Ex-List: Canceled.
Eleventh Hour: Unknown. (It wins the hour in total viewers vs. everything else, but its ratings are low by CBS standards. The lack of any commentary by CBS on the show suggests to me that the future isn't rosy, since they too have run out of original version material to work with.)
Life On Mars: Barring massive improvement, won't make it to April.
The terrible Kath & Kim and Little Britain USA? Given a whole season and a second season, respectively.
Yeesh.

I, for one, will mourn Pushing Daisies, simply because it was a refreshing breeze of whimsy on a landscape that needed whimsy. But I understand and respect the decision by ABC, although I think the show, like many cancelled shows with passionate fanbases, deserves a proper finish.
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When I am made commissioner of all television, any show that lasts at least one year will have the opportunity to make a double-normal-running-length finale to wrap up storylines, and finish what the show started. Consider it a "closing cost" and a potential way to recoup some revenue thru DVD sales (since you're unlikely to sell DVDs of a series that was never really given an ending). Pushing Daisies deserves that, Veronica Mars STILL deserves that....it's time for TV to give viewers closure.
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Besides production costs, is there ANY reason for shows NOT to do this? I mean, you could even run the "finales" over the summer, when TV is a wasteland and its hard to get eyeballs on the screen -- you'll at least get the eyeballs of hardcore fans anxious to see some type of ending.

I agree with the wrap it up included in shows that last a year, would these be exempt from the year or do two part years make a whole?

The bummer is that these were three different types of shows and I liked them all quite a bit, I'm used to losing a few fun ones but this is tragic. Thank gawd for Chuck. And Life, did life start last year? And Gossip Girl of course.

Too bad about Dirty Sexy Money. I was gonna start watching it as soon as someone uploaded it all to youtube. XD (Don't hate me; I don't have Netflix and our videostores don't have it. . .)

As long as Cruose isn't cancelled I'm good, but I doubt it will be because of all the effort they put into the show. At least, that's what I hope.