ABC’s former watercooler show is losing viewers weekly and having a heavyweight like Idol move into the same timeslot is not good news. FOX’s new project Lie To Me will move to 8 p.m. Wednesdays. The Tim Roth vehicle has more than held its own against Lost, so it makes sense FOX would want to see what it does without any big competition.

I’m a Tim Roth fan, but sheesh. Taking into account Psych and The Mentalist, Lie to Me gives us three TV shows on the air right now about a guy that can tell who the criminal in the room is just by looking at them. Yet  somehow shows like Sarah Connor can’t draw an audience. Dismayed sigh.

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2007 Winter TCA Tour – Day 6

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It’s getting harder and harder to keep tabs on that pesky island we love so much. But Entertainment Weekly reports that Lost will return Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. Not only does that bring Lost back to its old Wednesday stomping grounds, it sets up a showdown with Fox juggernaut American Idol.

Before the two-hour premiere event, ABC will air a one-hour special recapping the first four seasons of Lost. I wish much good luck to the writer that will have to condense four seasons of this show into 56 minutes. With Battlestar Galactica returning in January as well, it’s going to be a very busy beginning of the year. Lost fans, do you like the move back to Wednesdays or were you just getting used to the Thursday slot?

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In a TV landscape littered with reality shows, revamps of old hits and spinoffs of current ones, Jericho was a much-needed respite from the same old-same old. So why is tomorrow’s episode the series finale? Here are a few reasons:

1. They Canceled It Once – Yes, it’s true that CBS brought the show back after one of the most passionate campaigns in history. They should be lauded for doing so as they could have greenlit CSI: Secaucus. But Jericho’s ratings this year never equaled even last season’s highs. That means thousands of once dedicated viewers weren’t going to give CBS another chance to let them down. And you can’t blame them for that.

2. Lack of Promotion – If you’re going to give a show another shot, make a big deal about it. We should have been hearing at least as much about Jericho as we do about Two and a Half Men or the Young and the Restless. What Jericho’s viewers were able to accomplish last season doesn’t happen. We should have heard a lot more about it. The latest Survivor castoff shows up all over the place and that show doesn’t need the publicity half as bad as Jericho did. Bringing a show back from the dead but never taking the steps to get it off life support is counterproductive.

3. Hard for New People to Get Into – Lost and Battlestar Galactica have the right idea. You begin the new season of a sci-fi show with a recap show that allows anyone to pick up on the first few seasons. In Jericho’s case, that wouldn’t have been hard.  NBC and Sci Fi Channel ran Heroes marathons. And yes, I get that Heroes is a runaway hit show. As it was, anyone trying to get on the Jericho bandwagon now got treated to a well-written, well-acted and well-directed show that was nearly impossible to follow.

4. Too Many Cheaper Alternatives – I don’t mean to keep bashing reality TV. I actually love shows like American Idol. But dramas cost lots of money and it’s too easy to put on a show like Big Brother that can draw better numbers for a fraction of the cost.

5. The Writers’ Strike – It’s hard enough to keep a show’s momentum going when it hasn’t been canceled. Ah well, at least it will have a full second season -  wait, it won’t. Would Jericho have gotten the boot even with a 22-episode second season? There’s every reason to expect it would have. But the strike was just one more thing that went wrong for a show with such great potential.

We can still hope that some other network picks Jericho up. Perhaps with a fresh start and a full season commitment the show can truly blossom. TV needs more imaginative, inspiring shows like Jericho.

Photo Credit: ©2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

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