I was halfway through writing a bit about Fringe when the news broke that it'd been renewed.
Here's the bit, as was:
"So I'm just a Scotsman with a thing for speculative fiction. In the grander scheme of things, however handy you guys might find the reviews I write, or any of the rest of it... I don't really matter a whole lot. My little opinion pony isn't going to change the world.
Here's the bit, as was:
"So I'm just a Scotsman with a thing for speculative fiction. In the grander scheme of things, however handy you guys might find the reviews I write, or any of the rest of it... I don't really matter a whole lot. My little opinion pony isn't going to change the world.
"Certainly American network television execs could give a happy hootenanny what I have to say. I could beg and I could plead, for all the difference it'd make. Perhaps I'd stand a better chance of convincing a few TSS readers to do, in turn, what they can. So.
"Because after bowing so strongly its first week back from hiatus, demoted though it had been to the Friday night network television death slot, Fringe has been on a downwards spiral since, sliding further and ever further down the ratings rabbit hole. Till last week, when fewer people than have ever watched Fringe before bothered to tune in..."
But just when I thought Fringe was out, or as near as dammit, they pulled it back in!
Good for them. Fox: I salute you.
However, I'm not so sure this is quite what Fringe needs, either. What Fringe needs is a renewal along the lines of that which Lost received when its mid-series ratings struggle threatened to shut the production down. Two seasons of 16 episodes, say. Just so we can be sure we'll hear this tale told right through to the bitter end.
But you know, Fox just bought another year of my favourite currently airing TV show; I should be over the effing moon. I am, a bit. I'd just as soon not feel all this all over again next year... same time, same place. You know?
Still and all. Three cheers! :D
But just when I thought Fringe was out, or as near as dammit, they pulled it back in!
Good for them. Fox: I salute you.
However, I'm not so sure this is quite what Fringe needs, either. What Fringe needs is a renewal along the lines of that which Lost received when its mid-series ratings struggle threatened to shut the production down. Two seasons of 16 episodes, say. Just so we can be sure we'll hear this tale told right through to the bitter end.
But you know, Fox just bought another year of my favourite currently airing TV show; I should be over the effing moon. I am, a bit. I'd just as soon not feel all this all over again next year... same time, same place. You know?
Still and all. Three cheers! :D
Oh, the Friday night death slot... I remember you well. Fringe was lucky to have picked up another season, but if Fox keeps it in that time slot, there's a good chance that it won't survive to see another.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite shows on the air, NBC's Chuck was on the bubble after the second season. It aired at 8pm on Monday nights, which is every bit of a network death slot when you are forced to go up against the likes of How I Met Your Mother & The Big Bang Theory on CBS and House on Fox. Through a lot of fan support, the show managed to secure a third season and has moved into its fourth. The show was critically acclaimed and loved by fans, but NBC was willing to let it die in a shitty spot than move it to a time slot that might help out ratings. It got lucky, but the time slot still hasn't changed and its ratings fall below the threshold at times. There remains that feeling that the show isn't safe and that the plug can be pulled at any time.
It sucks when a show you really like is on the bubble, but it is even worse when the network puts the show in that position and prefers to just sit there, refusing to jack shit while it slowly dies. Throwing the show another season and keeping it in the same slot that's killing it is a lot like throwing a drowning person a punctured life raft with a slow leak.
Fox and NBC, I don't think either of these two will ever get off my shitlist. Well, maybe if Fox brought back Firefly...