Question about TV shows of the past decade.

Yeah, a lot of shows did seem to be cancelled quickly. Kinda makes me nostalgic for the days of DuMont (who seemed to give even the most uncommercial shows a decent chance). That's one of my biggest issues with 2000s TV is the quick abrupt endings of many shows! Even decade has a few but the 2000s really went overload on it!



"It's Bucket 'o Nothing! Surprise your friends, amaze your family, annoy perfect strangers!"

i think there are various reasons for this...

as we all know, reality shows have incredibly low budgets, therefore commercial spots are cheaper. it takes less to turn a profit for these types of shows. i've noticed lately that networks seem to put a more expensive show behind a block of shows that wouldn't neccessarily appeal to the same demographic. i've begin to wonder if this is done on purpose to kill a slightly expensive show's chances of picking up viewers.

i think something that isn't being taken into consideration sometimes is that with the appearance of dvr and dvd box sets, people tend to wait until later to watch their favorite shows now (in particular, if they are serials like "lost" or "24"). this means ratings are artificially lower. networks see that a show is only pulling in 10 million viewers (as opposed to the 15 million) and panics. i really wish networks wait until the 2nd season before making rash decisions about cancelling a program. a lot of times, shows don't find an audience until after the first box set or two has been released.

There were tons of great shows canceled too young before this decade but many did get to last longer or get some hype to build them up while other truly great ones got the worse possible timeslots and were brutally slaughtered.

and that is why i wish "UPN" was still around, they'ed give most of there shows a 1-4 seasons run or 6-13 ep. 'mynetworktv' is not even trying to get that market?

Sherlock I'm glad you mentioned the DVD thing. I think that is crazy for current TV shows to get a DVD. That is taking away the whole purpose of watching it on TV. Once people get the DVD they will care less about watching it on TV. The shows they should be releasing on DVD are the ones from 90's, 80's, and beyond. Hawthorne is already on DVD in the show is just now in its 2nd season.

^you have got to be kidding.

IMO DVDs of tv shows gets people to catch and watch shows when they probably couldn't otherwise.

There are probably a few shows airing right now that are on because the DVDs sold so much!

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BLACK JESUS: "Rode Into Town On An Ass....YO MAMA'S ASS!"

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How old were you in the 90s? I ask because, yes, shows were cancelled left and right in the 90s, just like they are now. Maybe they weren't cut after only two episodes like Lonestar was, but it still happened. Maybe you were too young to remember, and you only remember the "hit" shows.

One of the most notorious examples is My So-Called Life. This was a brutally honest show about a teen girl and her friends, family, and love life, which was cancelled mid-season. It later got very popular when MTV was showing reruns of it.

I'm going to pick a random year - 97 - and list the prime time network shows that premiered that fall, and how well they did.

Alright Already (WB) - cancelled after one season
The Tom Show (WB) - cancelled after one season or mid-season
Ally McBeal (Fox) - hit show
413 Hope Street (Fox) - cancelled after 10 episodes
Between Brothers (Fox) - cancelled mid-season
George and Leo (CBS) - cancelled after one season
The Gregory Hines Show (CBS) - cancelled mid-season
Michael Hayes (CBS) - cancelled after one season
Cracker (ABC) - cancelled after one season
Nothing Sacred (ABC) - cancelled mid-season
The Visitor (Fox) - cancelled mid-season
Brooklyn South (CBS) - cancelled after one season
Timecop (ABC) - cancelled after nine episodes
Dellaventura (CBS) - cancelled mid-season
Dharma and Greg (ABC) - hit show
Hiller and Hiller (ABC) - cancelled mid-season

I'm going to stop there. There's a few more shows that premiered, including Veronica's Closet, a modest success for a few seasons, and a few other shows that were certainly cancelled. So out of all of these shows that premiered in September of 1997, almost all of them did not make it to a second season. You may not remember any of those shows (I certainly don't) because no one watched them, and that is why they were cancelled. Maybe 97 was a terrible year for TV, but more likely, this is how it always is. The main difference now seems to be that networks are willing to ax a show with unaired episodes, whereas back then they would at least show the partial season that has already been filmed.