Moving on to Fox, which has quite a few shows with unannounced futures including Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, New Amsterdam, Canterbury’s Law, Back to You, Don’t Forget the Lyrics, Moment of Truth, Return of Jezebel James, ‘Til Death, Kitchen Nightmares and Unhitched.
Since the lack of Fox announcements has so many shows “on the bubble” I’m going to do a more wholesale analysis than I did with the 3 CBS shows earlier.
Selected Fox Shows Ranked by Season to Date Adults 18-49, and Season to Date Viewers
| STD Adults 18-49 Rank | Show | STD Adults 18-49, Live+SD (000) | STD Viewers, Live+SD (000) | STD Viewers Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | MOMENT OF TRUTH | 9,317 | 16,484 | 4 |
| 6 | TERMINATOR:SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (renewed) | 5,802 | 10,690 | 8 |
| 10 | NEW AMSTERDAM | 4,615 | 11,161 | 5 |
| 11 | PRISON BREAK | 4,592 | 8,156 | 14 |
| 14 | BONES | 4,241 | 8,867 | 11 |
| 15 | KITCHEN NIGHTMARES | 3,817 | 6,245 | 22 |
| 16 | DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS | 3,763 | 8,160 | 13 |
| 19 | SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER | 3,495 | 9,145 | 9 |
| 20 | UNHITCHED | 3,283 | 5,179 | 29 |
| 22 | TIL DEATH | 3,072 | 6,232 | 24 |
| 23 | BACK TO YOU | 2,977 | 6,494 | 20 |
| 24 | COPS 2 | 2,970 | 6,475 | 21 |
| 25 | AMW: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK | 2,788 | 6,240 | 23 |
| 26 | K-VILLE (cancelled) | 2,681 | 5,886 | 27 |
| 27 | COPS | 2,582 | 5,757 | 28 |
| 29 | CANTERBURY'S LAW | 2,242 | 7,716 | 16 |
| 34 | NEXT GREAT AMERICAN BAND | 1,562 | 2,879 | 35 |
| 35 | RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES (cancelled) | 1,383 | 3,182 | 34 |
| 36 | NASHVILLE (cancelled) | 1,249 | 2,482 | 36 |
Guaranteed Return [UPDATE: Both these shows are RENEWED for Fall 2008.]
- Moment of Truth has been Fox’s bona fide hit this season. Lots more lie detector tests are on the way.
- Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles wasn’t a home run, but it was a solid double as Fox’s 6th best show for 18-49s.
Likely Return
These shows are in the top half of Fox’s line up in either adults 18-49 or viewers, and seem likely to be back.
- Prison Break [UPDATE: Renewed]
- Bones [UPDATE: Renewed]
- Kitchen Nightmares [UPDATE: Renewed]
- Don’t Forget The Lyrics [UPDATE: Renewed]
- Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? [UPDATE: Renewed]
Toss Up
These two half hour comedies are right on the borderline. They didn’t perform very well, but they’re likely cheap to make which could save them.
Back to You- 5/9 UPDATE: Fox has cancelled Back to You
- ‘
Til Death– 5/9 UPDATE: Fox has renewed ‘Til Death
Not Enough Data
- Unhitched initial episodes indicate Back to You and ‘Til Death level ratings. If that keeps up, it might survive. [UPDATE: Cancelled]
New Amsterdamposted some good early numbers due to Idol, but how far will it continue to fall? 5/12 Update: New Amsterdam has been cancelled by Fox.
Stick a Fork In Them
- Canterbury’s Law has a short track record, but it’s a very bad one. [UPDATE: Cancelled]
Return of Jezebel Jameslevel ratings got Nashville yanked in a hurry last fall. [UPDATE: Cancelled]
3/24 Update: Jezebel James has been removed from the Fox schedule.
Fans, what do you think will happen?
________________________________________________________
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Bring back UNHITCHED.
The writing is funny and the cast is great.
I would like to see it continue!
Woohoo, go “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”! Best show on Fox! I can’t wait for season two!
Bring back NEW AMSTERDAM.
Great new show. Great writing and great cast.
I am concerned about the ratings though?
It has been moved around a lot. I would like to see how it does with some continuity.
Terminator, in addition to a full second season, needs: a Season One DVD release, re-runs on FX over the summer, and a targeted marketing campaign.
It’s not a straight up action series, it’s sci-fi drama that has a good dose of action, and large story arcs and themes. There’s a difference. They keep marketing it like it’s T2, and that’s a mistake. I think they’re too high off Idol to remember how to market smart sci-fi.
The fans who like both types of series end up being pleasantly surprised, but the people who show up for all action get disappointed, and the people who wanted more of a sci-fi drama (or are curious about a sci-fi drama) – a show they could really invest in the characters – never tune in. Add in FOX’s dismal history of canning good shows, the writer’s strike, and the deluge of reality TV, and you also have a lot of viewers who would normally watch but have been driven away from TV entirely. It’s going to take a little creativity from FOX to get them back, but it is possible.
The show has a pretty invested core audience, even if it is on the lower side of what makes executives and advertisers happy. But they only had 9 episodes – 7 really, if you consider the premier was almost a two-parter and the finale was shown as two episodes back to back (which, incidentally, was not even planned as a finale originally). So I’ll say the same thing pretty much every critic, reviewer, and fan agrees on: this show has great potential. It has the makings of a real hit, given time.
It deserves a full season, let the writers really get a good story arc under it, let the characters grow, and at least a tiny bit of effort by FOX to understand what type of show they actually bought.
Given that, this show will really thrive. Well, that and obviously more airtime for Summer Glau.
I’d be glad to see TSCC come back. And I’d like to see Brian Austen Green as a regular.
frankj – very nice write up. Fox can count me in as one of the core audience for T:TSCC. The deluge of reality TV you speak of has definitely kept me away from watching very much TV lately. Even when terminator premiered, I recorded the first two shows just to check it out but then watched the rest of the short season live.
I haven’t invested this much time in a TV show in a very long time and will be extremely disappointed if it’s not renewed for a full season.
Glad to see you didn’t forget your Miss Glau reference. According to one source, she has landed a role in an unnamed movie to begin filming in April.
I just hope TSCC is back. It’s the only show I watch on Fox (stopped watched Prison Break after season 2).
I can’t really see fox NOT bringing back this show. Just imagine all the promotion they could get from the show by just having the 4th terminator movie coming out next May (which I can’t wait for!)
I agree with the other comments, I really hope they make Brian Austen Green a regular. He really makes the show more interesting!
Right on the money frankj. I couldn’t have said it better. Exactly the reasons you mentioned prevents some people in investing their time in the show. 2 friends of mine never saw an episode and I introduced them to the show. I can now safely say I have recruited 2 new TSCC DVD buyers. They cannot wait for it to come out. We need a full season 2. I need my TSCC fix!. And Summer Glau!
Terminator is trying too hard to be Lost or maybe even The Matrix. It shouldn’t.
Moment of Truth is one of those shows that, just because you CAN do it doesn’t mean you SHOULD. Which explains why it has such high ratings.
I like Back To You, but it can use a bit more comedy.
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader is the only other show I watch on that list, and even then I don’t go out of my way. I’m just burned out on reality shows. I stopped watching AI after its second season.
Lighthope
Pearls of Wisdom – 90% of being smart is knowing what you’re dumb at.
Hopefully Skynet is not behind this. Terminator rules!
If that’s the case Byran, I think Microsoft may be Skynet. The version of Vista I have came with a chess game, which is pretty good except for this: sometimes the computer cheats and makes illegal moves!
I’m with Frank, hopefully the glow from having Idol won’t keep FOX from marketing TSCC well. We need more Summer Glau. I am ashamed to admit I did not realize that John’s uncle was played by former 90210 star Brian Austen Green. I hated him in 90210, but he makes a great hater of cyborgs.
+
Agreed with many of the above: FOX simply must bring back TTSCC, and do one heck of a better job at marketing the show for what it is: a well-written sci-fi drama where the characters — not the action — takes center stage.
For those Cameron/Summer Glau fans out there who may not know this, FOX previously had on its hands in 2002 a brilliant, character-based sci-fi show — with Summer Glau — called Firefly, that they proceeded to destroy through poor scheduling, episodes run out of order, and a complete lack of promotion. Here’s hoping they learned their lessons.
I’m pleased to see where T:TSCC rates on FOX’s ratings list and by the posts there’s obviously an avid following for the show. Hopefully, FOX isn’t stupid this time and pays attention. As another poster noted, a full fleshed out second season should get this show off the bubble and into Hitsville. Just watched my first New Amsterdam: liked it…I’ll be back.
Bill, I heard about that. Can’t wait to hear what the movie is. Apparently she has had to cancel convention appearances because of it though.
Hopefully she’ll be done in time to go right into T:SCC’s Season 2 – which is looking even more likely now!
KITCHEN NIGHTMARES already got a second season and will air next fall…
Canterbury slips farther, FOX just moved it back to it’s originally planned timeslot on Friday. Doesn’t look good.
BRING BACK “THE WAR AT HOME”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE HAVE NEVER LAUGHED SO HARD AND LOOKED FORWARD EVERY WEEK FOR A NEW EPISODE. IT WAS A MODERN DAY “MARRIED WITH CHILDREN” WHY, WHY WHY DID THIS SHOW GET CANCELLED??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Jezebel James is one of the worst shows I have ever seen – even for laugh track sitcoms, even for Fox – and the fact that it’s made by the Gilmore Girls team makes it even more shocking. Fox is right to bury this on Friday nights. Even they think it’s bad.
I’m glad to see that Terminator is coming back, hopefully with Brain Austen Green (I like his Character).
I hope New Amsterdam gets a second season. It’s a great show.
TSCC is the only show I watched regularly on TV Summer Glau is great as the terminator, glad its back.
I like TSCC extremely and I can’t wait to see the next season. Actually I’m Summer Glau’s fan and like her very much. I want to be able to see her but I live in the China ShangHai.It seems impossible to see her. Finally I wish the human who likes TSCC to be happy.
TSCC simply ROCKS! This show needs a season 2 bigtime. If anyone told me a Terminator show was coming out with little special effects and a ballet dancing machine, I would have doomed the idea right away. However, with those things and even a writers strike that messed with the number of episodes we got to see, this show is pure gold. Some very classy scenes that left fans like me wanting more!
Til Death and Unhitched
The rest can be cancelled
Jason..Are you kidding??’War at Home stunk like Al Bundy’s bathroom. It’s one of the worst shows FOX has ever broadcast, and even on it’s best day couldn’t carry Married’s jock. Next, you’ll ask them to bring back Oliver Bean. And though I love Summer on T:TSCC Lena Heady’s pretty darn good too, as are the rest of the cast. Glad to see there’s some hope for it.
Terminator is by far the Best show on FOX! I actually thought it was going to be cheesy and my MOTHER of all people told me I had to watch it! glad I did! Prison Break is scheduled to come back in Sept. and if they’re still giving that show a chance than TSCC deserves one too. I agree Brian Austin Green plays a great role and I think should be a regular and as for Summer Glau, her excellent portrayal of the Terminator still blows me away, i sill find myself giggling at some of her lines and facial expressions! DON’T DISAPPOINT US FOX!!!! WE NEED ANOTHER SEASON! SCREW AMERICAN IDOL!!
TSCC, what can I say. Bravo! Action caught my eye but characters kept the interest. I like the idea of what might be possible in Cameron. A machine that can teach John Conner compassion and humanity. Contrast this with a mother who has taught him from birth to be cold, calculating and reliant on logic. Only Summer could pull off a terminator with a soul. Can’t wait to see her fall in love.
TSCC is a great show and Thomas Dekker is hot! I hope that FOX doesn’t do the same thing to TSCC that it did to Firefly, which also had Summer Glau, and was also a SCi FI show! They definitely need to bring TSCC back for a second season and release a DVD and maybe some merchandise. If you haven’t seen Firefly and have nothing to watch while TSCC is off the air you have to give it a shot and then watch the followup movie Serenity.
TSCC is the ONLY thing besides the weather channel I even watch.I sure hope FOX isn’t to stupid to realize what kind of jewel in the rough they have here.Spend some money and do some advertising for crying out loud.However,knowing FOX, they’ll cancel it for another stupid reality show.
Does Fox keep the current cast members in the dark about the show’s status? They could land other roles that would potentially conflict with shooting a new season, right? I think if even one of the main cast members were to leave the show it would struggle to get off the ground next year.
Of all the shows listed, I only watch “Prison Break”. Monday nights were great when we had “24″ and “Prison Break”. HUGE fan of both..my only concern for “Prison Break” is how many times can they break out?? So far, very on the edge of my seat for the action packed hour. Always crindging to see what happens next…
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles needs to come back for a full season 26 to 30 episodes at least. The show didn’t get moving until after the 4th episode. The first 3 episodes were just an introduction to me. They were setting up a people and a timeline for the story to move on. Not so interesting but from episode 4 on up it started to show more of a tale of morality and drama. I ending up loving the show and look at it as a high quality show on the level of Jerry Bruckheimer. My only hope is the show keeps that level of intense story. But I do worry that David Nutter & Josh Friedman are writers on the show.
Josh Friedman wrote snakes on a plane and the movie was more of an internet joke then a film. Josh Friedman is a good writer but I hope he doesn’t let the show fall into a internet comedy instead of keeping the intense story line that it has already established.
David Nutter yet another very good writer but he also wrote for Dark Angel series on FOX. How a writer like him could let Dark Angel go from a excellent drama show in season 1 to nothing more then a pathetic joke in the 2nd season is beyond me. I do sincerely hope that David Nutter has learned from his mistakes on Dark Angel and not repeat them in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
I am glad to see a show like this and hope to see more and more of it. I would like to see more seasons, like 5 to 10 more season if it keeps on the current path. I rather enjoyed the pilot season of 9 episodes so far and was left wishing for more.
Also what makes me happy to see this show is that its a drama that is not a carbon copy of Law and Order. We don’t need anymore CSI’s, 24’s, Law & Order’s, ER’s. Its been done too much and its like beating a dead horse. I would like to see more shows like Terminator just because its not a carbon copy of everything else on television. Bring some fresh air like this to television well be on the same level of like bring Stargate or Battle Star to television.
I see that Terminator has the drive to become a great show and perhaps surpass Battle Star & Stargate in story. But time will only tell and being a writer myself I would love to see this show come back again just to see where the writers take it.
New Amsterdam has shown it is capable of putting out good shows in a hard genre to do well in. Already it’s gotten better since its pilot and given more time I think it can make an argument for one of the dark horses this season. The show has a great plot and amazing acting, it only needs a little time to get its writing worked out. (If Bones can make it with the script it had in its first season, there is no argument for pulling the plug on New Amsterdam.)
Bring back New Amsterdam! It is quality entertainment on the same level as House. The storylines have an exotic and charming feel to it, and the characters basically connect. Nikloaj Coster-Waldau has the essence of a leading man: sexy, adventurous, conflicted and witty.
Summer Glau is like a goddess, and the action packed shows with great special effects have done great justice to the original trilogy of Terminator movies. I was on the fence about this show when it debuted, but after one episode I was hooked.
Keep up the good work fox, and I LOVE YOU SUMMER
UNHITCHED is a funny show. Bring it back!!!
TSCC definitely should come back. Everyone is all over Summer Glau. What about Lena Headey? I think she’s great as Sarah Conner and an amazing actress. Go Lena!
TSCC is amazing I luv the show! I’m on the fence about Brian Austin Green, but everyone else including the ex-fiance has to come back for season 2!
Sorry cippycup, but no hour-long dramas have 26-30 episode seasons.
hi
FOX…Keep Terminator alive! A definite quality show, and we want to see some skin on the female Term! She rocks!
Canterbury’s Law is a great show whats wrong with you viewers. Every show has been better then the last and it even picked up a million new viewers this past Friday. Do you network wigs every let a show develope a following>
Here Here! Will gladly return for another season of TSCC, and will take back [most of] the things I said about FOX if they bring back Firefly as well. After all, the show became a cult hit on 11 episodes and numerous network-side flaws. Imagine what would have happened if it had been given a true chance.
Also, bring New Amsterdam back. That show has kept me well occupied and happy for the past few weeks.
New Amsterdam is a great show, any shortfalls in ratings is merely the result of poor marketing by the execs.
Bring New Amsterdam, do your job, push the show and it will stick.
Please bring back NEW AMSTERDAM, give it more time, it can develop into a great show.
Definitely need to keep NEW AMSTERDAM. Great concept, talented cast and well-written stories … what’s not to like? Fox has kept shows with less going for them than this one, so I think it deserves a spot on the schedule.
Bring back New Amsterdam, please. The lead is smart, sexy, and has a dark past, what more can a woman want? Plus the plot is entertaining and original. I would have watched it even if the witers hadn’t been on strike. Give it a good home and it will do well.
I hope they bring back TSCC. They will at least give me a glimmer of hope that they are not just a profit machine producing reality crap.
Unlike Shash0 I will never forgive them for never giving firefly a chance. But renewing TSCC will make me forget it a little.
i like til death. i hope they bring it back (and i;m pretty positive that they will given that its now leading off that hour that it shares with Back To You.) i think back to you will more then likely get another shot if only because its Kelsey Grammer (who is of course one of the most recognizable people on tv today.), its gotten plenty of promotion over the past year, and its got a lot of veterans involved with it. i’d be quite surprised if fox doesn’t sitck with it for one more season at least.
Unhitched is prob gone as of this sentence, i enjoyed it, but the ratings slid in half (didn’t they) between the first ep and the last one that aired. if it does somehow get a pick-up, i’d welcome it, but would be very surprised. also where would it go on their sked? it wouldn’t stay on Sundays, that’s their animation domination or whatever.
I agree fully with whoever posted about THe War AT Home. There was no good reason at all for foz to have cancelled that show last year. The show was a good solid timeslot performer for them wherever fox bounced it, it managed to do ok for them. even if they had just renewed it for mid-season at least they would have had eps of it ready for when the strike hit. There was even an intereview with one of the people who was in charge of Fox’s programming last year in Entertainment Weekly, and the interviewer brought up The War At Home to which the interviewer said the very same thing i just said which was don’t be so quick to dismiss the war at home, its a solid timeslot performer. too bad.
one more thing New Amsterdam will be back, but it’ll likely end up having to fend for itself on Fridays. Just because they’d want to keep (and rightly so) Terminator on Monday nights.
Good news for TSCC; looks like it will be back
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3 i417fb14f37cbfdbec82cb04eac95a227
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i417fb14f37cbfdbec82cb04eac95a227
Hell yes!!!!!! Michael Ausiello of TVGuide is reporting that Sarah Connor has been renewed for a second season!!!
TIL DEATH RULES!
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_dis...
just when fox finds agreat show in New Amsterdam, they cancel it . it is very typical for them to cancel great shows and regret it in the long run
FOX gets the best new shows almost every year and they usually plug them to death but once they start slipping in the ratings just a bit they are almost immediately cancelled or thrown into the dead zone(Friday Nights). What happened to giving shows a chance to find an audience or moving them to a different night to improve ratings & viewership?
OMG, now we see that another of our favorite shows has been cancelled! Moonlight is gone. How are these decisions made? No one is taking our votes into consideration, that is for sure.
KRIKE!
Who in the heck are these idiots that get to have the little Nielsen boxes in their homes? Are they even in the middle of the bell curve?
New Amsterdam was a great show on every level: acting, writing, production, originality. What more do you want?
Apparently a slew more of closet/shower singers on a game show guessing lyrics to songs.
And even though I am not a fan of Julianna Marguies, I really enjoyed Canterbury Tales. There was so much underlying tension propelling the weekly story lines. This show could have gone places.
And I can understand ditching 'Back to You' but keeping 'Til Death'….seriously! Throw them both out!
Wake up FOX!
Was just wondering if New Amsterdam was going to be on again next year and
find it won't. What a loss. It was one of the most inventive shows to come on in a long time. You really had to pay attention to keep up. I am sooooo sick of so called reality shows. They are so boring. If the execs think the consumer doesn't realize that they are coming up with the new so called reality shows because it is cheaper they are crazy. Participants on the reality shows don't require large salaries, costume changes, make up or an entourage. As always the bottom line is money and profit. Oh! for the days of TV like we had when I was a child in the 50's- such quality the old shows had. No wonder our main channel to watch is HGTV.
The television shows the networks air have nothing to do with audience likes or dislikes. They are solely aired based on what the network wants you to see. A reality show is a lot cheaper to produce than a good 1 hour drama. So hey get cable and a dvr box pick and choose what YOU want to watch and fast forward thru all the commercials so you are not supporting the advertisers either.