Major broadcast networks can’t be trusted with sci-fi, fantasy or horror shows

The recent cancellations of “The Crossing” on ABC and “Timeless” on NBC reaffirm my belief that the major U.S. broadcast networks can’t be trusted with shows from the science-fiction, fantasy and horror genres.
So many such genre shows get canceled in their first season, ending on cliffhangers, that it’s gotten ridiculous. If they’re lucky, they can eke out a second season before getting the axe, such as “Timeless” and Fox’s “The Exorcist.”
The major broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are still living in the linear TV age while most people have moved on to on-demand viewing.
Meanwhile, cable and streaming networks have learned the value of smaller, more committed fan bases for shows. For instance, “Lucifer” was canceled by Fox after three seasons, but resurrected by Netflix because of its passionate fan support.
No fan base is more fervent than the geeks who watch sci-fi, fantasy and horror shows.
Thank goodness for the CW, the smallest broadcast network, which has built its schedule around genre shows. I’m a huge fan of post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama series “The 100,” which the CW has nurtured over five seasons, with a sixth planned.
The worst offender among the broadcast networks for canceling genre shows after one season is ABC. “The Crossing,” a drama about refugees from a future war who travel back in time for a better life, is the Disney-owned network’s latest victim.
Other short-lived genre shows on ABC in recent years have included “Time After Time” (2017), “The Whispers” (2015), “Forever” (2014-15), “666 Park Avenue” (2012-13), “The River” (2012), “No Ordinary Family” (2010-11), “The Gates” (2010) and “FlashForward” (2009-10).
What distinguishes ABC from other networks is that it had a hit genre show in “Lost,” which lasted six seasons from 2004 to 2010. Since then, the network has kept plugging away, trying to find the next “Lost.”
Rival network NBC tried to make the next “Lost” for a few years, but gave up after canceling a bunch of genre shows in a row. It gave single seasons to “The Event” (2010-11), “Awake” (2012), “Do No Harm” (2013) and “Believe” (2014) and two seasons to “Revolution” (2012-14).

Photo: Poster for “The Crossing.” 

Two years on Twitter

I signed up for Twitter two years ago Friday.
Since then I’ve posted 2,128 tweets, most of them retweets of interesting news articles.
I haven’t posted many standalone comments on my observations and thoughts. Mostly I’ve just used Twitter as a news feed and to publicize my professional and blog writings.
I recently spent some time sorting through all those tweets looking for representative samples of my standalone comments over the last two years. What follows is a few of them organized by subject.

First tweet

Signing up with Twitter to see what all the fuss is about. (April 22, 2009)

Family observations

Embarrassing parent moment: my kids, 5 and 7, in the car singing along with Rihanna’s song “S&M.” (March 26, 2011)

What song will Enrique Iglesias be singing when he’s old and fat?: “Tonight I’m Loving Food” - joke my son, 7, came up with. (March 18, 2011)

My preschool daughter needed words starting with “i” for school today. She came up with ice cream, iguana, iPhone and iPod. (Nov. 16, 2010)

Watching the Notre Dame football game Sat., I asked my Dad if the ND leprechaun had a name. He suggested Tony. Where’s his sitcom deal? (Oct. 12, 2010)

Just got back from taking my daughter, 4, to the Disney On Ice princess show in Bridgeport, CT. Good father-daughter bonding event. (Jan. 1, 2010)

My son Christopher, 6: “I wish I was Santa Claus.” Why? “Because then I’d only have to work one day a year.” (Dec. 20, 2009)

Daughter is princess. Son is a Star Wars Clone Trooper. For Halloween, of course. (Oct. 31, 2009)

At son’s insistence, tonight watched “Star Wars: Ep. 1: The Phantom Menace.” It was as bad as I remembered. Of course, my son, 6, liked it. (July 6, 2009)

Father’s Day: Watched Empire Strikes Back with my son. Bonded over Darth Vader’s “Let’s rule the universe as father and son” bit. (June 21, 2009)

TV show cancellations free up my fall schedule

I could be watching four hours less TV a week this fall thanks to the cancellation of several shows I watch.
Walt Disney Co.’s ABC this week officially cancelled the interesting, though flawed, sci-fi drama “FlashForward.” Disney earlier canceled its well-regarded, syndicated movie review program “At the Movies,” which I love. Plus, I’m losing ABC’s “Lost,” which is ending its six-year run this month. That’s two and a half hours of Disney programming I won’t have this fall.
The other lost hour and a half of programming comes from the cancellation of Fox’s action series “24” and Comedy Central's politically incorrect comedy “The Sarah Silverman Program.”
Maybe I should fill those hours with a new hobby.

2009-10 TV season in review: Lost, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries stand out

The 2009-10 TV season is winding to a close this month, starting with season finales for two of my favorite shows – “The Vampire Diaries” and “Supernatural” – airing Thursday.
For my money, “The Vampire Diaries” is the best new show of the season. It’s attracting solid ratings for the CW, but doesn’t get much respect from critics. That’s likely because the critics passed judgment on the show based on the first few episodes, which were admittedly weak. And then they stopped watching.
I kept with it and am glad I did. It’s a terrific Southern gothic soap opera that keeps adding layers to its characters and is building a dense mythology. At its heart, “The Vampire Diaries” is about two vampire brothers (one “good” and the other “bad”) in love with the same human girl. But there’s a lot more going on here than “Twilight”-esque teen angst. “The Vampire Diaries” keeps the shocking revelations and plot twists coming at a brisk pace. It’s a gas.
“Supernatural” is another CW show about two brothers, demon hunters Sam and Dean Winchester. This season they’ve been battling Lucifer and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I love the show’s combination of horror and humor. This was supposed to be its final season, but “Supernatural” has been renewed for a sixth season. I hope that’s not a mistake. Too many shows outstay their welcome.
Other season finales I plan to watch include “House” (Monday May 17), “V” (Tuesday May 18), “30 Rock” (Thursday May 20); “Lost” (Sunday May 23), “24” (Monday May 24) and “FlashForward” (Thursday May 27). For a complete list of season finales, check out EW.com.
“Lost” is racing toward its finale after six seasons and it's going out at the top of its game. The trippy sci-fi drama defies easy explanation.
“30 Rock” is still a lot of fun, but comedies have never been appointment TV with me.
Fox’s “House” and “24” are both past their freshness dates. Now in its eighth season, “24” has already been cancelled. Though it might return as a feature film. “House,” which is in its sixth season, should set an end date before it starts to stink.
Two new ABC shows that started promisingly – “FlashForward” and “V” – both took turns toward mediocrity and suffered.
“FlashForward” had a great premise: The world’s population blacks out for 137 seconds and they “flash forward” to see visions of their lives six months in the future. But miscasting (milquetoast Joseph Fiennes in the lead role), bad scripts and plodding pacing crippled the show. It almost certainly will be canceled, according to TV Series Finale.
Alien invasion show “V” had a great pilot, but went downhill from there. Now it’s pretty silly – a resistance force of five people vs. thousands of visitors from outer space. Please. And why hasn’t someone just skinned an alien and shown the world that they’re lizard people under their cloned human skin? Problem solved.

Photos: Title shot from "The Vampire Diaries," and Winchester brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) from "Supernatural."

‘FlashForward’, ‘V’ on the bubble

I have a knack for picking shows to watch that end up getting cancelled after a season or two.
This is mostly because of my taste in eclectic and sci-fi/horror/fantasy shows. Also I tend to watch broadcast networks, which don’t have the financial resources anymore to support unusual, lower-rated programming.
ABC’s “FlashForward” and “V” are two freshmen shows I like that are in danger of cancellation. Both are flawed, but entertaining nonetheless.
A couple of weeks ago, Walt Disney Co. canceled the excellent syndicated movie review program “At the Movies” during its first year with new hosts Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott.
With ABC’s “Lost” ending this season, I’ll have more time to watch all the movies on my Netflix list.
One surprise was the CW’s renewal of “Supernatural” for a sixth season. I love the show, but it’s building up to a series finale this season with the apocalypse and war between heaven and hell. I’m not sure another season can top that. Sounds like a pure business decision to renew it.
The only remaining show on my must-see list is the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries,” which has matured into a terrific show.

Fall TV season summary: ‘Vampire Diaries’ a pleasant surprise, ‘Jay Leno’ a flop

One month into the fall TV season, “The Vampire Diaries” has been the most pleasant surprise. Meanwhile, NBC’s experiment with “The Jay Leno Show” has gone awry.

‘The Vampire Diaries’

The series premiere of “The Vampire Diaries” on the CW was a little shaky. Early episodes dragged. Pacing was slow. The writing and directing were on the level of your average teen drama.
Since then, the makers of the show have amped up the action, added depth to the characters and thrown in some neat plot twists. “The Vampire Diaries” has become an epic, southern gothic “Dark Shadows.”
The show is about two vampire brothers who compete for the affections of the same young woman and cause turmoil in a small town.
The show is by no means perfect. It lacks realism (a town with that many strange deaths is going to attract outside attention) and its writing can be pretty bad (please, let’s lose the diary motif and narration). But “The Vampire Diaries” is still a compelling show.

‘FlashForward’

ABC’s “FlashForward” is not as good as I’d hoped it would be, but its central mystery is so fascinating that I’m hooked for now.
The sci-fi drama suffers from occasionally cheesy dialog and hammy acting. But the big plot turns, such as tonight’s ambush of the Mosaic team members by unknown assailants, are thrilling.
“FlashForward” is about the aftermath of a worldwide disaster in which the human race loses consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. While unconscious, people see a vision of their lives six months into the future. What or who caused the blackout? Was there a reason why it occurred? Can people change the future in their visions? All intriguing questions.

Returning favorites: ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Dollhouse’

“Supernatural” is my favorite show on network TV right now. The CW show about two brothers who hunt down demons, ghosts and ghouls is now in its fifth and last season. And it’s a doozy.
Lucifer has been released from hell and Armageddon has broken out. And it’s up to Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, to try to stop the end of the world.
Joss Whedon’s trippy “Dollhouse” on Fox continues to deliver the goods. But unfortunately it looks like a candidate for cancelation with ratings dipping in its second season. (See article at EW.com.)

‘The Jay Leno Show’ a missed opportunity

A lot of people hate Jay Leno. They find his jokes lame and his shows pedestrian. NBC’s five-nights-a-week primetime experiment just gives them more fodder.
I happen to like Jay Leno. He’s an affable guy and can be a sharp interviewer. But his new show is a stinker.
To turn things around, he’s going to have to play up the variety aspects of the show. It shouldn’t all be about Jay. He should be introducing talented new comedians and musicians to a nationwide audience. Leno should quickly dump the bits that aren’t working, such as “10 at 10.” His show should strive to have one good bit a night that can go viral online to promote the show.
There’s still time to retool the show to make it work. But Jay’s going to have to rely on others to help carry the show.
On the horizon, I’m still looking forward to watching “V” on ABC and “Day One” on NBC.