Moonlight’s Old Time Slot Is Open Again
October 29, 2008 by brian
Wow, that was fast. Fans of vampire drama Moonlight are firing up the “I Told You So’s” after CBS announced the cancellation of The Ex List. Buddy TV says CBS may air some of the unused episodes but this Friday in the 9 p.m.CT timeslot, it will air an NCIS rerun.
Its last episode drew a measly 5.65 million viewers. In the interest of keeping stats for genre fans, it’s worth keeping count of the number of failed shows in this slot. We will even do so in the style of a famous TV vampire. That’s one! Ah ha ha!
Photos: Eric McCandless/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Did You Check Out The New Shows?
October 10, 2008 by brian
SFUniverse readers, did you take a gander at Life on Mars or Eleventh Hour? Has anybody looked at the British versions of these shows? I wonder how long a show like Mars can sustain its coma-based plotline. That seems like one you can only squeeze a couple of seasons out of. And in fact, the British version ran only two seasons.
In contrast, there should be no reason a show like Eleventh Hour can’t go on as long as there are new mysteries for Dr. Jacob Hood to solve. That is, of course, assuming people watched it tonight. We’ll have those numbers soon. CBS has to figure they can’t go wrong with two hours of Jerry Bruckheimer TV.
Bruckheimer’s CSI franchise is one of the reasons that CBS is on top of the TV heap so I suspect his show will be given every opportunity to succeed.
CBS Breaks More Genre Fans Hearts
May 13, 2008 by brian
I would not want to be an exec at the Tiffany Network right now. If Jericho fans send peanuts, I don’t even want to know what Moonlight fans are going to send. Sci-fi, horror and fantasy fans are always on pins and needles this time of year but 2008 has been harsher than normal.
Canning Jericho and Moonlight in the same season is going to move CBS to the top of fans’ hit lists, past perennial culprit Fox. Congrats guys, you dodged the New Amsterdam bullet thanks to CBS who has volunteered to take some heat for you.
I can’t wait to see what other exciting, innovative shows CBS has in store for us. I loved Jericho’s replacement show, Secret Talents of the Stars. If you missed it, well, you were just like everyone else with a television in America.
Photos: Eric McCandless/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS and Comcast Working on Jericho Deal
April 8, 2008 by brian
Another day, another rumor about the fate of cult hit Jericho. Though CBS has canceled the show twice, there’s a great deal of speculation that some network might step in to please Jericho’s intensely dedicated fanbase.
The New York Times reports that CBS Paramount Network Television is in talks with cable provider Comcast about ways to bring back Jericho.
It cites two sources who asked to remain anonymous. As with all developments regarding Jericho and its future, SFUniverse will keep you posted.
Save Jericho - Again
March 25, 2008 by brian
The diehards at Jericho Kansas.com are already hard at work trying to find the recently canceled drama find a new home. Here’s the tips they’re offering:
Please be polite in your letters/cards, and if you choose to call then be extra polite. The negative phone calls/letters are hurting the effort to secure a future for Jericho.
CBS Axes Jericho - This Time for Good
March 21, 2008 by brian
In a disappointing but not at all surprising decision, CBS has canceled post-apocalyptic drama Jericho for the second time in as many seasons. After its cancellation last year, rabid fans sent the Tiffany Network some 20 tons of peanuts. That was a salute to an offhand remark about peanuts a character made in the season finale.
“The March 25th episode of Jericho will be the series finale,” CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said in a statement. “Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more.”
After the overwhelming response from fans, CBS ordered a strike-shortened seven episode second season. Ratings never returned to even the numbers they achieved last year. In a move not unfamiliar to genre watchers, producers taped two season finales. One is open-ended, one wraps up loose ends but reportedly still leaves enough material for another network to pick up the show. Keep your eyes fixed on SFUniverse for ongoing coverage of this TV development.
Jericho’s Numbers Up - Were They Enough?
February 27, 2008 by brian
One of the best shows most of America isn’t watching scored its best ratings of the strike-shortened season Feb. 26. The question now is if they will be enough to earn it a third season, a decision that could come as early as next week.
Jericho earned a 4.3 overnight rating but at least some of that is attributable to NBC’s decision to air internet-born drama Quarterlife instead of usual workhorse Law and Order:SVU. Quarterlife didn’t earn a quarter of the ratings any of the numerous Law and Order spinoffs would have. Jericho executive producer Carol Barbee had previously termed the Feb. 26 episode “make or break,” but she can’t very well do that every week. In short, the lackluster competition and heartfelt pleas of Barbee may have created a sort of “perfect storm” not likely to repeat itself.
Fans of the drama, which has been canceled once but earned a reprieve after a campaign from its diehard supporters, are used to playing the waiting game.
©2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved
Feb. 26 Jericho Pivotal to Show’s Future
If you’ve been meaning to get around to watching Jericho, there really is no time like the present. The post-apocalyptic drama’s future depends on it. In an interview with Sci-Fi Channel’s Sci-Fi Wire, the show’s executive producer Carol Barbee termed the Feb. 26 episode “make or break” for the show.
“I think this next airing will probably tell the tale,” Barbee said in an interview at WonderCon in San Francisco on Feb. 24, referring to the upcoming Feb. 26 episode, “Jennings & Rall.” “Our numbers have been OK, [but] not great. Our [demographic] has been very good; they’ve been very happy with that. But we’ll see. … If we trend up this week, I think we’ll look pretty good. If we don’t trend up, or if we stay the same, I think we’ll have to wait and see what they want to do with us. I mean, they’re going to air all seven; it’s just a matter of how they feel about producing more.”
Barbee said if CBS opts not to pick Jericho up, she’s confident it will find another home on cable. She listed the Sci-Fi Channel, which currently airs Jericho reruns, as a potential suitor. New episodes of Jericho air on CBS Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET. Reruns of the first season air on SCI FI Mondays at 10 p.m.
Moonlight Executive Producer Bows Out
February 22, 2008 by brian
There’s another big shakeup on the set of the CBS vampire drama Moonlight. The Hollywood Reporter is well, reporting, that showrunner/executive producer Chip Johannessen is no longer with the show.
Executive producer Joel Silver and his writing team will take over for the four remaining episodes in this strike-shortened season. This isn’t the first high-level departure for the show, as Johannessen’s predecessor David Greenwalt left the show over the summer.
Jericho Explodes Onto DVD in June
February 20, 2008 by brian
There aren’t a lot of details available yet, but CBS has announced that Jericho’s abbreviated seven-episode second season is coming to DVD June 10. A lot of the content on that DVD will probably depend on whether CBS decides to renew Jericho after its short run this year. Things like a “Series Retrospective” would go a long way toward filling out what could be a pretty short DVD otherwise.


