In a Variety article which, as is typical, smooches up to the networks about how well they’re doing, 4 new ABC shows are called “quasi-hits” (V, FlashForward, Cougar Town and The Middle). I guess calling them anything less might anger the potential Variety advertiser that is ABC.
Absent smooches, I think it’s quite likely that one or more of those “quasi-hits” will fail to survive until next fall.
You can watch the same ratings trends I do in the ABC show Renew / Cancel Index posts, but here’s my current guesses on all 4 shows.
1. FlashForward
With this adults 18-49 ratings trend (4.0, 3.7, 3.0, 3.1, 3.1, 2.7, 2.6, 2.6, 2.4) it’s my odds on favorite in this group to fail to survive into season #2.
2. V
It fell sharply after its premiere, but the last two episodes tallied 3.1 adults 18-49 ratings. That’s worthy of some hope. Now, it will be on an extended hiatus. It’s ratings on return will tell the tale, the past ratings will be all but meaningless.
3. The Middle
Paired with the loser that was Hank, it looked like it might be a goner, but the ratings picked up when paired with even the repeat of a show people wanted to watch. It’s chances for a second season are definitely better than even.
4. Cougar Town
It was a disservice to Cougar Town to put it in the same list with those other three shows. With its ratings to date, there is abolutely no chance it doesn’t come back for a second season barring some non-ratings event.
I think all except for FlashForward have a good chance on coming back. V probably needs more data, but I think it will survive.
Cougar Town is back for sure. With V it is way too soon to call. I would guess FlashForward and The Middle do not come back, but The Middle’s fate may depend on how ABC’s development goes with comedies.
I think all the shows will get 2nd seasons. Flash Forward I think will pick up again. Right now it may be boring but Im sure ABC is gonna promote the hell out of it to try and save it. They did renew it for 12 more episodes.
Im also sure when V returns in March, it will start being promoted by February. Im sure ABC will promote the hell out of it like they did with its premiere.
I love The Middle but theres 2 problems. One is it will be up against American Idol and second is what will ABC put in the 8 o’clock timeslot that wont hurt it like Hank did? Are they gonna stick with repeats of Modern Family since Scrubs/Ted will be on Tuesdays at 9 for now and Romantically Challenged didnt even start taping their episodes. Hope it gets a 2nd season. ABC must have faith in the show if they renewed it after 2 episodes.
Cougar Town will definitely be getting a 2nd season. Its averaging like 3.2. Thats good enough for renewal.
Flash Forward is a great concept wtih decent plots, however, the lead character is just really annoying. I wish they had a different actor. It has stopped me from watching the show.
I think V, might be able to get a 2nd season order of 13 episodes.
I think that if The Middle were after Modern Family it would have better ratings than Cougar Town.
I think all will get a second season except Flash Forward.
Don’t understand how The Middle can keep an audience. It’s dreaful. V is good but since it’s on break I’m not holding much hope. Hard enough to grab an audience once, but twice in one season? Too much to expect.
FlashForward is going going going…I think gone. It’s a good idea but the show wasn’t thought out well enough and much of the cast are unlikeable. Should have pruned the cast size down and found people who we can get invested in.
My hope is that V will be able to pull though, it’s my fav of the lot. I would like it if FlashForward could rebound with some re-working but I just think it’s over as it sits.
Don’t really have an opinion on Cougar Town
I don’t see how FlasForward would make it… From 4.1 to 2.4? Quite pathetic. And the writers still didn’t get it yet, they’re still pulling out boring useless episodes after boring useless episodes. ABC should have changed the writers as soon as the show went under 3.0, now it’s to late and the show is done. It’s not even a fair fight
Samuel, you don’t quite get how TV works, do you? Episodes are written and filmed well ahead of airing. By the time the showrunner was changed, they already had through episode 10 in the can, I believe. And the showrunner was changed before the show ever went under 3.0.
Oh well , I like The Middle and V .
With my luck they both probably be canceled
The Middle looks like a cheap show to make, maybe this could save it
The comedies will make it. They are showing growth and they are not serialized, therefore, they can still build an audience. The dramas, V and FlashForward, are not going to make it. They started big which skews their current averagea high. FF is not catchng on and V’s 3 month hiatus cannot help. ABC did a 3 month hiatus to LOST a couple years ago to ratings that plummeted.
I think ABC will keep one of V or FlashForward, and V’s probably the more likely one at this point. V’s likely post-Lost slot is a death slot, though, and FlashForward is an ABC production, so you never know, but I’d still guess V stays and FlashForward goes.
Cougar Town is obviously staying. The Middle…hell, I think it’ll stay too after its recent ratings improvement. Scrubs and Better Off Ted got renewed last year after all (though I guess that’s probably more due to a lack of successful sitcoms on ABC at the time than anything else…)
FlashForward is most likely done. V I think wont survive the break and Cougar Town is a lock.
The Middle is a show that I think is 90% awful but I just keep watching it, the youngest kid I just find entertaining. If they kept the focus off of the rest of the cast in the future I think it would do better. I think it gets renewed unless some mid-season comedy takes off.
The Middle should definitely be placed after Modern Family. The family combo block is great and imagine what The Middle’s ratings would be after a new MF – probably better than Cougar Town’s. While that would be ideal, another possible scenario is to move The Middle to Mondays after Dancing in the old Sam Who slot, which I must say had ABC not cancel it, they would have had a solid two blocks of comedy (Sam Who/Cougar & Modern Fam/Middle).
I hope FlashForward goes. It’s a crappy show and I’m sick of hearing about it.
Wasn’t V supposed to be a limited series anyway? It should be done by fall either way, right? (Unless they’re doing something like airing 4 more episodes in March, then the last 5 in the fall?)
No, you’re wrong about that. It is a fullfledged series.
All four will be back.
I kind of hope the Middle gets a better spot and a renewal. It should do fine following Modern Family. But then what does ABC do with Cougar Town?
I’m not sure with the Middle, though, whether it is the show itself or simply Patricia Heaton that I like. She was always the hidden success Raymond (you know, offsetting the dreadful and totaly irritating Brad Garrett). The youngest kid is good but the husband is pretty bland. They might want to rethink that character.
What a shame FF has become. It started off good, and the Pilot was excellent. But ultimately, I think its a victim of bad casting, and plodding writing. Really, who decided Joseph Fiennes was the right guy for this? Miscast doesn’t even begin to cover it.
“Flash Forward” will sunk even more, shame shame. “The Middle” should be moved after dancing with the stars or something.
I like Courtney Cox not her “Cougar Town” side, a bad vehicle show so lifeless and pointless and senseless that should be yanked next and find Courtney Cox something better to do.
and “V” will be renewed unless “American Idol” will suck it’s viewers per week slowly until “V” need cpr
The Middle and V will be gone and FlashForward’s gonna pull a Lost and go uninterrupted midseason. Cougar Town could go either way.
The hiatus is going to kill V. You can get a way with hiatuses like this on shows that already have audiences, not on new shows that people are only lukewarm on to begin with.
Flashforward is just a flat-out better show than V, but clearly it’s in trouble. Because it doesn’t have a hiatus, I don’t consider it much worse off than V though.
Cougar Town’s not going anywhere.
The Middle was too attrocious for me to finish the first episode of. It’s fate depends on what comedies they have in store and what other comedies will get renewed. Modern Family and Cougar Town will definitely be back and I think Scrubs is more likely to make it than The Middle. That doesn’t give them a whole lot of development room. I bet it’s out.
I think V and The Middle will make it. The other two are too close for me to call. Maybe Joseph Fiennes will take acting lessons in the hiatus and learn a second expression, that might save FF.
I haven’t watched a single episode of V, I was never tempted to, so I won’t say anything about it.
As for the other 3, I watch and enjoy all of them.
FF is my favorite new show this year. I know I am in the minority of this but I like Joseph Fiennes. However, I am not even sure how the show could have a second season plot wise. I mean the name of the show is “FlashForward”. The flash will have already passed D-Day this year. How could they write a second season of “FlashForward” when the flashforward has already come and gone.
I don’t know what it is about The Middle but I keep getting drawn back. It isn’t the funniest show on TV, the little kid is crazy weird, and Neil Flynn is being severely under-utilized. The show just has a certain charm and the characters are immensely likeable. The ratings have definitely improved since the dismissal of Hank. If ABC can come up with 1 solid sitcom to pair it with I think it will survive. Possibly the new version of Scrubs will be the answer next year. I don’t however see ABC tinkering with the MF/CT paring. The ratings have been too good. Plus I think Patricia Heaton isn’t as big of a draw as Courteney Cox.
Cougar Town is great. I know the show is more aimed towards women but I love it. Courteney Cox’s assistant is hilarious. I also like the guys who play her son and her neighbor. There is no chance with the ratings it has gotten that it doesn’t come back.
v is much better than flashforward.but considering the normal drop of the ratings,even if the rating when v comes back in march is good ,it still will drop to under 2.4 by the end of may,and abc certainly will not get it renewed.
Here’s what I think: Cougar Town will be back next season, its got the star power of Courtney Cox. V’s fate depends on how well it does when it returns. Anything under 2.6 and it’s done. The Middle probably will be back, but it really depends on ABC’s comedy development for next season. I can definitely see FF being renewed because ABC put a lot of faith in the show and I have a hard time seeing them simply letting go of it after one season. Of course, if it’s ratings get really abysmal, like below a 2.5, it’s gone.
Whoops, FF has already dropped below a 2.5 haha. In that case, I don’t see it surviving. Maybe moving to some less competitive time slot, I dunno.
If I had to call it right now, I’d say that everything but FF will return next season. The Middle’s numbers have been improving without Hank as it’s leadin. Cougar Town gets acceptable ratings. Right now V is getting acceptable ratings, but it’s only 4 episodes of data so there isn’t much to go on. But I’m about 75% sure that The Middle will return next season, and about 90% that Cougar Town does too. I’m about 80% sure that FF will not be returning next season.
The hiatus may not hurt V as much as people think it will. ABC had better hope that the kinks get worked out in production though. V’s return results will be very dependent on how ABC handles promoting it, if the return is promoted like the premiere was it may be ok.
FF is gone, no doubt, hopefully they will realize this and decide to end the series properly and give their few dozen remaining fans closure.
I’m rooting for all shows to survive but Cougar Town and The Middle have better chances since they are sitcoms and most likely to draw more viewers over time than serialized shows
The thing about V is that FF also held steady at 3.0 for a couple of weeks before finally taking that next tumble down to 2.4 and irrelevancy. V has lost the initial audience that could make it a big fat hit, and now it has to see if it will be able to retain the people who were willing to stick it out a couple of more weeks before making a decision.
I’m not certain that final episode will bring that those fence sitters back, but perhaps the show will get lucky and end up coming back during a lull this spring. If there isn’t much going on, maybe it gets the “check it out” factor back for a week or so thanks to the heavy promos ABC will air for it.
Either way, the hiatus they wisely took will have to have been well spent, or else I expect it to plummet like FF did. Genre audiences are not an easy sell. A show actually has to be good just to get renewed, let alone reach hit status. There are always die-hards who will support sci-fi-ish stuff no matter what, but that cult is too small to matter. A big time audience in the genre game is just a lot more work than it is with a procedural. You can’t just solve the crime every week and mail it in. Unless V solves that puzzle, there is probably no way it will survive to see another season.
FlashForward looks to be the only one in real danger, The Middle, pending it’s lead in, will most likely get a second season.
I’m going to guess that everything except FlashForward will see a second season. It’s too early to tell with V, but I’m certainly hoping people don’t forget about it when it returns next year. A sci-fi show starring Elizabeth Mitchell just may have a shot in the post-Lost death slot, but it’s hard to say.
Cougar Town will def see a second season. I think the middle will get a second season. I could see V getting a short second season order like Castle unless the ratings after the hiatus are great. FlashForward could go either way.
I doubt V will make it. I don’t see it coming back strong after hiatus due to people forgetting about it. 4 eps isn’t a large enough start to get people to feel committed to the show. FF is in trouble too.
yall must be nuts cougar town stinks,v stinks flashforward just
needs new writers period
Id say Cougar Town and The Middle both have good prospects. ABC needs comedies so with Modern Family 100% returning, Town and Middle should both return. As for V and FlashForward, my guess is should the rest of ABC’s dramas fail 1 could return. Flashforward has 15 more episodes for 2010 so unless theres a rise, its doubtful the series will be renewed. With V, it has a 5 month break which will hurt the series but maybe airing 10pm post Lost on Tuesdays will be better for the series (Atleast better than airing against Idol, NCIS, and Biggest Loser)
FF is history. V may or may not survive the hiatus, but it needs to pick up the pace. The other two I don’t care about at all.
Of these 4 show I love the middle. My favourite new comedy show of the year. I watch FF and V and to be honest could care less if they are renewed.
With FF I love the concept and it started off okay and just gets worse. It has lost my wife already and I watch it off the computer when all else is gone (except for 17 episodes of cake boss that it recorded on Thanksgiving, guess they had a marathon!)
I am enjoying the V much more than the original although I do like Mark Singer. Still it is not a much watch to me so if I dies I really do not care.
Of these 4 shows my wife (one of the desired demographics) only watches the middle and it is the only one of these 4 that I care about! (Lowers Voice) CARE ABOUT!
The Middle is the only show of the above listed program I have watched, or care to watch. My entire family,(5 of 7 who are age 17-34)had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, and sat down to watch a little TV. 4 of us had already seen The Middle from the night before, and when deciding what to watch, immediately chose The Middle. We all sat and laughed till our sides ached.
Far fetched? No. My son had been in a store line the day before with his fiance when a stranger came up to them and drearily asked “…having a good Thanksgiving?”…”Not at the moment” said my son. The stranger replied,”better enjoy it. It may be your last. I was in VietNam, and I learned there, you never know, it may be your last”…Odd to say the least! As we were watching The Middle, the scene in the Corn Maze came on, where the teenage son had lost track of his little brother, and was being ‘helped’ by a similar erie stranger…They laughed so hard, I thought they were going to roll off the sofa. “It’s him!” my son shouted.
This show hits the nail on the head. It is a perfect spoof on real life and real situations. It makes us laugh at our selves, and everyday problems seem a little smaller. Isn’t that what a sit-com is supposed to do?
ABC, please renew this show. It is the only show our family makes a point to watch together…and I mean children, boy friends, fiance’s and all, sit down together to watch. That’s got to be worth some fraction of your ratings points, no?
flashforward had potential after the pilot but with the episodes to date its a soap opera of talk and no decent story telling or events that keep u hooked so i guess this crap will be canned
As I see things, ABC are in quite a bit of trouble this year as so few of their new shows are doing well, only the excellent Modern Family sticks out as an absolute lock for the 2010-11 season.
The Middle – I saw the pilot and didn’t like it. Not watched it since. I was surprised when it got picked up for a full season. I don’t think history will repeat itself in May sweeps.
FlashForward – pilot was interesting, not groundbreaking, but it’s been pretty much same-old same-old ever since apart from the much talked about agent’s suicide which meant “all bets were off”. A lot of FF depends on the mythical April 29th 2010 date and if John Cho’s character dies in March. I don’t think it’ll be back for a second season and if Mr Cho is to go, I’d stop watching.
V – the brand new rewritten pilot (i.e. not the old pilot) was pretty good, although it’s only had a four week run, it’s much more interesting than FF and if it wasn’t taking a several month hiatus, I do think it would have got at least a 13 episode second season pickup. Sadly, I think the long break will be bad for V as it had a lot of promise. 50-50 if the new episodes are as good as the 4 we’ve seen so far.
Cougar Town – we all know why it’s in the list, namely Courteney Cox’s “family matter” which has shut down production. I don’t know what that is but I hope it gets resolved quickly and that Ms Cox is OK because CT has been a joy to watch this year and I was so looking forward to the Lisa Kudrow episode/s and the possibility of Jennifer Aniston coming in too. Everything about the show is great, particularly Busy Phillips who is fantastic in everything she does. If CT got cancelled, it would be the equivalent of last year’s Dollhouse renewal moment.
And my bottom line? Dear ABC executives, Castle’s looking pretty good for a third season now, isn’t it?
V’s New Showrunner Scott Rosenbaum wants to make the show more fun.
http://scifitvzone.com/2009/11/18/exclusive-interview-new-v-showrunner-scott-rosenbaum/
“I’m going to probably do the show a little more visceral, it will be a little more fast-paced, it will be learning more of the mythology and the history of the Vs. In my mind,
viewers are very advanced at this point, and I want them to come to “V” and see, A, stuff they can’t see anywhere else, and, B, also feel like they’re getting storytelling that doesn’t feel retread or old, that’s, frankly, exciting.”
“Listen, my goal is that in every single episode there will be an “Oh my God, I can’t believe that happened” moment, or a “Wow” moment – at least one – in every single episode.”
“I don’t want people to watch this show and ever be able to guess what’s going to happen next, because that’s the problem with some of the TV I watch.”
“So I think I have to be ahead of that curve, and have it be completely organic, and to have it
make sense, but to just surprise people, in a good way, and challenge them as well.”
” But one thing that I do think I can add to the show is to make it more fun. I don’t want it to
be a dark, fugitive, purely resistance story. I want there to be the dark elements, and I want
there to be incredibly high stakes, but I also want the show to be fun. ”
“And I want more of the show to be seen through the eyes of the characters, the wonder and the joy of how incredible it is, so it doesn’t just feel like it’s our people against the world, against the Vs and constantly running.”
You meat head, I hate you.
I hope FF survives or that it at least doesn’t end on a cliffhanger!
Dave -Cougar Town is already back in production-family problems sorted -FF is the one still on production shutdown
I love “The Middle” and gets better and better.
As far as the person who said they watched the first show and stopped–that was the least funny show…Since then its been great.
Modern family I only watched once and did not think it funny at all.
But I will give it another chance.
ABC better keep “The Middle” its their best show.
Unless Goyer can produce some kind of magical turn around during the back nine of FlashForward there’s no way ABC brings that back next year at this point they should just move it behind Lost, its already dead soi giving it the ‘death slot’ can’t really hurt it much more and maybe it’ll buck the trend and actually catch on out of Lost…
I’d be surprised if V was back next year. The numbers are good enough right now to bring it back but I just don’t think ABC wants to. Of course if there midseason shows all bomb then they might be left with little choice to bring it back, I’m not sure they can get away with two seasons of near complete axes of new dramas.
The Middle’s fate will likely rest on how the midseason comedies shape up, that would be new look Scrubs, Better off Ted and the new comedy and what the comedy development slate looks like for next season. If the three midseason shows fail to catch on and ABC don’t have a couple of strong comedies in development The Middle will be safe for at least a small season two order next year.
Cougar Town is safe for now unless the bottom falls out during the back nine, which given the (lack of) strength and depth in episodes so far isn’t impossible. However the Modern Family lead-in should keep it afloat for now whether it can stay afloat without Family is another issue entirely.
ABC shoots itself in the foot by promising V for 13 episodes, then withdrawing their end of the bargain. Ratings do not reflect the fact that viewers of SciFi are pretty picky in certain specific ways. Evidence of BOTH content AND commitment from the network to even attract initial attention from this genre of viewers.
LOST took a while to roll into acceptance. Most importantly, this class of viewers does not relish being enticed, cliff-hung, and then dropped in a vacuum. Getting involved, to them, takes time and attention, and most viewers of this class do not have unlimited amounts of either to spare.
The next time ABC comes up with an extensively promoted and apparently cool offer in the Sci-Fi genre, many won’t want to risk being toyed with again. There is lots of competition. Dumb move by ABC.
Scott Rosenbaum brings some hope to upcoming V episodes. I like his thought process. Flash Forward is a decent show at best but I don’t see it lasting more then 1 season. Modern Family is awesome. I love all the characters especially Sofia for obvious reasons. Man that girl is smoking hot.
I dislike Cougar Town solely based on the title *g*
Tar, both productions are still on Thanksgiving break and will start up again on Monday. Both of them.
“How could they write a second season of “FlashForward” when the flashforward has already come and gone.”
By having another one. They’ll probably figure out the cause, try to stop it before another happens, fail, and there’s season 2. Doc Jensen of EW had the theory that for people in the present to essentially have their minds displaced several months ahead means that everyones mind on April 29th was also displaced already to another future date. His theories are always far out and rarely come true but regardless, it’s easy to assume that the show will continue to have flash forwards as opposed to just having one and spending the rest of the series (if there is a rest) only focused on the one that already at that point would have happened.
@Tar: thanks for the update on Cougar Town. I’m pleased that Courteney Cox has sorted everything out. She was always my favourite of the Friends cast.
@Alex: I can see your point but I’m sure that ABC will hype the Lisa Kudrow debut episode of Cougar Town enormously as a mini Friends reunion (of sorts). And lord alone knows ABC what they’d do if Jennifer Aniston ever got a guest role. All 3 Friends girls back together again on the same show? Ratings bonanza.
I’m sure Cougar Town will get a full second season. Like I said above, I’d be shocked if it didn’t.
i hoping cougar town would be a lot better, first time bill lawrence has ever let me down
Daniel, you must not have watched the past two seasons of Scrubs, then.
On the subject of FlashForward’s creative ability to exist beyond one season, the producers have been talking recently about having a multi-year plan for the show so assuming they’re not just blowing smoke the option is obviously there. How effective more seasons would be is anyone’s guess but it is relatively easy to see multiple ways in which the show continues for more than one season. Another flash forward event is the obvious route although I suspect with the pace the show currently has they’d get a seasons worth of value out of the aftermath of people ‘changing the future’ when their flash forwards don’t come true.
Of course what the creative future of the show is would also rest on how they intend to explain the flash forwards. If its a big global conspiracy at the heart of the flash forwards then its relatively easy to continue the show without more flash forwards. Personally I suspect that they’d continue by using another flash forward, only not on a global scale. It’ll only effect a small group of people and they’d all see a different date. That would allow them to layer in multiple story arcs over multiple time lines alongside the bigger question of ‘why only these people…’
Cougar Town will survive, partly because it’s practically doing well with the same people who watch GA and DH (two of ABC’s powerhouse shows), and it has the same amount of viewers as Modern Family and Scrubs on average. The only negative side is just like ‘Hank’ it’s being blasted by the critics.
FlashForward will be the same, despite the falling ratings. Perhaps ABC will move this show to a different time (perhaps right after Desperate Housewives or right after V). I’ve also heard it’s doing well internationally than it is here in America. So that’s something ABC SHOULD (if they don’t) think about.
V can go either way. I just think V has been damaged partly because of the alleged anti-Obama allegory.
The Middle is practically toast, plus it’s not that good of a show, and it’s being blasted by the critics.
RG V is going after Lost.
I hope that Flash Forward and V come back for a second season, Cougar town would be my third choice and I think The Middle is destined to go to hell (not the cast or crew, etc. just the show)
V is another one of the blessing ‘known concept’ ideas which should survive at least long enough to get to the next cliff-hanger.
FlashForward is actually a NEW idea in plots. The possibilities are almost endless if the writers are trapped by idiot network execs or just plain ‘tested’ habits.
‘Modern Family’ seems mostly like an attempt to try to piss off mid-American in an event to get buzz on the West Coast and Metro markets. Like Adam Lambert, it won’t last. Nothing too much to love about this since it would still contain so much which is either offense or just obnoxious.
‘Cougar Town’? Seriously? I’m think they are so desperate to capture the advertising demo on this that they are ignoring the obvious lack of quality programming. And who knows? Maybe the demo alone with be enough like it was with Sex & The City (which completely sucked from a creative standpoint).
Kill Joseph Fiennes’ character in FlashForward and people may actually start watching it again. He is HORRIBLE.
Bruce, how exactly is Modern Family designed to piss off Middle America? Because it (gasp!) has gay characters in it? It’s one of the most heartfelt, family friendly shows on television.
I think The Middle and Cougar Town will be back. If ABC’s new Matthew Perry pilot takes off, it would be hard to resist pairing those two shows up. Along with Modern Family, those are ABC’s next best shots at syndication gold. I think ABC has invested too much in V and FF. They will give them a big promotional push for episodes airing after the Olympics. I think there will be a good chance for at least one of them to survive, and V would be it. However, if audience interest increases as the FF date approaches, maybe they would have a shot. Either way, 3 out of 4 isn’t bad, and Modern Family will surely return as well. It’s a pretty good return rate, even with the other drama duds from this season.
I honestlty think they are all mediocre shows. I kinda hope none make it haha.
I think FF could be saved by its overseas customers. A lot of foreign stations have picked it up.
FF has a limited storyline. I did hear that if a 2nd season is made that there could be another Flash Forward event.
I think networks should cut out the continue series and keep them to one series. People are fed up of stories which could go on for 5 years just to see an end. Self contained episodes are the way forward!
FlashForward’s popularity overseas is only important if like NBCU does with Heroes, ABC Studios are making enough from the overseas licenses and projected DVD sales (domestic and international) to underwrite the loses it will now be making for ABC and to reduce the license next year to make it a viable show for ABC to air. At this point nothing I’ve seen suggests that FlashForward is even close to that point.
I like what the new showrunner is saying about making it more fun.
But more fast pace. There are already so many holes in the storyline, now they want to move it along faster so we can’t catch the flawed writing, stories.
I disagree Alex.
I’m from Canada, and Flashforward pilot didn’t do that well in the ratings. I don’t have the demo #’s only the top 30 overall #’s, and Flashforward has not cracked it once.
Where as V has #10 week 1 and in 20’s for week 2,3.
It got sold as the next LOST, so countries jumped on board paying high fees, but ratings from coutries i’ve seen have fallen just as sharply as they are in the US.
So i doubt countries will be lining up to pay ABC much for the show next year.
vsaint I think you agree with me not disagree, as I said I’ve seen nothing that suggests ABC Studios is making enough internationally to underwrite the loses ABC is making from airing the show or discount the license for a second season.
I’m hunkering down with college football on a lovely Saturday afternoon here in Georgia and I’ve lost count of all of the Flash Forward promos on ABC. They’re PUSHING it, big time. Saw a couple other ads, for Desperate Housewives, for example, but virtually all of the promos are for FF.
Flashforward, barring a miraculous turnaround, is dead.
V.. depends on scheduling. That 3.1 it was getting was all the weak scripted competition in the hour (NCIS for procedural types, and that’s it). Also nostalgia will have worn off. Highly doubtful to come back.
The Middle… also depends on scheduling. I’ve been saying for months it gets paired with Dancing, which should artificially inflate ratings to the point where it gets another season. Any other timeslot, though, and the odds drop dramatically.
Cougar Town gets a 13 episode second season, mostly because they don’t want to cancel both Bill Lawrence shows at once. Unless a pilot of his gets picked up, in which case it is toast.
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So yeah, too many external factors (scheduling, pilot pickups, producer relationships) to state conclusively at this point.
What is interesting is that by episode 4 V and Flashforward were at the same point, yet V dropped far, far more. I am far more worried about V then Flash Forward based off of that info. Both also went through changes in head writers (usually not a good sign).
Of course I like (that don’t love) both shows. But personally I think V is moving way, way to quick for something that is designed as a series and not a mini series.
Yes, except that they are giving V over to Scott Rosenbaum. So, if he adds humor, I think it will help. He wants the pace of the character development to move along quicker. That’s what he meant by fast paced. That’s not the same thing as having people run around every episode.
I think V is fine as it is. I also think it will do fine. Its ratings have never been bad. The only thing it couldn’t do is live up to its premiere, and really, that is practically impossible for some shows. The truth is, this place is usually wrong, for whatever reason.
Tom with its current numbers I can’t see Cougar Town getting anything other than a full season pick-up next year. Unless of course the new midseason comedy and one of the two returning midseason comedies manages to take off and ABC has a strong comedy development slate for next season. However I think the chances of all that happening are slim to say the least.
I hate to see a good idea handled so poorly, which is the case with FF. The story had tons of potential but it was handled as if it were just another night time soap opera. It had all the elements of a big hit: a fresh concept, a rich, complex storyline with literally a million options, plenty of suspense, action and drama. FF had it all. The people in charge of this one really dropped the ball. If handled properly, this show could’ve been huge for the network. As it stands now, it will probably end up on the rubbish heap after season one.
I think FF needs a turn around to survive. The ratings haven’t stopped dropping yet and the buzz has turned rather negative. You might get people to stay until the FF day, but it seems like they’d need something big to convince people to come back next season.
V is far too early to tell. I think it looks shaky, but it remains to be seen whether people will come back after the hiatus.
Cougar Town is doing well in the ratings (granted, partially due to the lead-in). It’s also an ABC production, and we know how they love to renew their own comedies regardless of the ratings (e.g. According to Jim, Better off Ted, Scrubs…). I see this coming back unless ABC decides to give up the comedy block.
The Middle depends on development. Its ratings aren’t very good, but it might stick around if development doesn’t go well for next season.
See I think V’s plot is moving way to fast, I think it and the character’s growth should be slower (as character growth in real life isn’t quick usually).
I actually think in many ways FlashForwards pace is better, but where I think they have failed in Flashforward is that I don’t see the universe really feeling like something that huge did happen. Not enough of people really wigging out, not enough of an active government, ect. But the pace of what has been discovered that feels very real.
I think V should be canceled. Boring show. Flash Forward is hard to follow. I like Middle and it is a good comedy for 30 minutes. I didn’t like cougar Town and stopped watching it.
Im not sure why people find Flash Forward so difficult to follow. Its pretty simple… What caused the FF? Why didn’t some people get the FF? and Will a FF happen again?
That being said the show has been somewhat of a disappointment to me. It had enough hype and support from ABC to become the next Lost but the material by the writers and actors weren’t even in the same league as JJ Abrams, Matthew Fox, and company during the early days of Lost. When someone died on FF(wont spoil incase you havent all caught up) I said “oh my god they killed off a main character already!” and then thought back to previous episodes if I could remember anything about that character. I could not. The character development for Lost is almost as good as the mystery of the island without severely taking viewers away from the castaways situationm. FF has an excellent premise, but so far the execution has been half assed at best. Couple that with unlikeable cardboard characters and you have a show that more and more people will stop watching each episode.
I gave Flash Forward a chance but quickly felt like Lost-2 since we had no idea what the hell was going on and nothing developed very quickly. Frankly, the cast/characters didn’t hold my interest either. I LOVE The Middle. I was never a Patricia Heaton fan before, didn’t care for “Raymond,” but I think she’s perfect for The Middle Mom. The cast has melded well, the supporting cast is quite good too, and I wish it well for the long haul. Crossing my fingers Castle is renewed too!
bring back V!
DO we survive or will we die!!!!!!!!!!!!
V’s no better off now than FlashForward was after airing 4 episodes. I doubt a decision will be made on that show until after it’s aired in the spring. Only then can it be determined if it will stablize or continue to bleed viewers. Both shows are serials and not procedurals so it’s extremely hard in my opinion to get new viewers at this point thus hard to improve their ratings.
Why will ABC not bring Flashforward back? It is not like ABC has many choices, and if gets around 9 million, plus great DVR viewing, ABC will keep the show.
With all due respect, you guys make it sound like the sky is falling for flashforward. As for V, i see the show probably be back for a limited 13-15 episode next season.
The best solution for FF will be a much shorter season like LOST. A season with 17 episodes will suffice
BG, the reason that the prospects don’t look good for FF is that the ratings that matter (the demo) are really low. It’s one of ABC’s lowest rated dramas that’s still on the air. Total viewers are meaningless except for press releases. ABC funneled a ton of promotion into the launch of the series, and it premiered very well, but now it’s just another flop that’s probably rather expensive to make. FF’s only hope now is for the back half of the season to increase the ratings or ABC will be canceling it.
I love “The Middle.” It has a fantastic cast, and good whimsical writing and the chemistry is getting better and better. Same for “Cougar Town,” which is improving and the cast is gelling. ABC is thrilled with these two shows plus “Modern Family.”
“Fast Forward” is a mess, but possibly salvageable. It is unfair to compare FF with “Lost,” one of the greatest series in the history of television. The greatness of “Lost” is in its characters, and the fact that after a few short hours of “Lost” back in 2004, we were in love with the characters. “Fast Forward” has not achieved that intimacy in that we care deeply for the characters. “Lost” had us immediately, caring for Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Sun and Jin, and Charlie (gulp).
V will almost definitely get a 2010 renewal, sure, it’s fallen since it’s premiere, but what you’ve got to remember is the amount of promotion it got in the week before it airred, they took to the skies and wrote stuff for gods sake! There are also people who watched it and went “wait, i have to remember something that happened last week? no way, imma go watch a show thats the same redundant crap week in week out, CSI for me!
FF is in danger for 2010 though. It really needs to focus on the plot, not the characters, the world lost 20 million people in 137 seconds, Hitler couldn’t even achieve that, and the storyline is focused on infidelity and some guys self-esteem?
The Middle, it seems decent, family oriented sitcom, at least it’s different in the fact that there isn’t a Homer Simpson like dad, (Family Guy, According to Jim, Still Standing, Grounded For Life, etc) if ABC wants to develop a comedy block and be serious about it, then The Middle is needed for 2010.
Cougar Town is also essential to the comedy block’s success, along with Modern Family, it will almost definitely get a 2010 renewal, it’s been getting 3-3.2 ratings in the 18-49 demo, except for sports and thanksgiving weeks, which is fairly decent I guess.
I’m betting on FlashForward and The Middle not making it to next season… While Cougar Town will definitely make it (why is this even a question?).
As for V… It’s still too soon to call, but as long as it doesn’t fall too harshly after the hiatus, I think it’ll be fine.
I wonder what would have happened if Elizabeth Mitchell and Kevin Nilon(sp) were the leads on Flash Forward. I think they just need to move the story along on Flash and it would be fine.
@Michael. Then FlashForward would be worse than it is now. To me Elizabeth Mitchell is an awful actress. I don’t get why they keep casting her in stuff.
I’m guessing Flash Forward will be flushed away to the stagnant sewer of cancelled crap by season’s end. V might also, but I think it has a better chance of getting a season 2. Cougar Town is in an odd pickle. It’s performing well, but it has a lead-in that is a genuine hit, not a quasi-hit. Its return seems likely, but ABC might test it out on a different night to see how it does paired with Scrubs or Better off Ted. It will probably be around next year, depending on whether they test its lead-in dependency.
The Middle is a lock for renewal. It may not seem like it, but it’s just the kind of thing ABC needs. It’s performing solidly. I can’t really explain I just have a really good feeling about it.
As far as my own viewing habits, the only one I watch is Cougar Town (never watched Flash Forward, checked out the V pilot, it was okay nothing special, thought the middle was trying to hard) and I’m considering stopping on Cougar Town it just has an addictive quality and Courteney Cox is very entertaining.
ABC needs to do the following.
- pair FF after Lost
-guest cast a big name actor that usually doesn’t do TV
-develop characters so we give a crap…I have watched every
episode and for the life of me cant list a single characters name
-cut budget (probably isnt all that expensive since the explosive
pilot…and they use the same stock footage of Fiennes character
every episode.)
-dumb it down (unfortunately this is a way to keep people watching)
-get with JJ Abrams as a consultant & make FF part of the
Lost-verse
-get with ABC to plan a course of action that maps out what they
might go with the show in a 2nd or 3rd season(this was the best
idea that ABC/Lost could have done when it was treading water S3
For V
– sink every spare dollar you have into a huge March relaunch…
Im talking billboards, giveaway contests, publicity stunts.
Basically take everything they did before it started and do it
again….tenfold.
– Come back with a 2 or 3 hour movie relaunch in March…on any
day of the week besides timeslots with American Idol in it.
– no.more.Morena.Baccarin.in.short.hair
– torture Scott Wolf at least 3 times an episode. Seriously,
get creative with it too…drown him in pudding, set him on fire
underground, scoop his eyes out with a spoon, run him over
with a steam roller…etc…etc…etc.
” It’s a disservice to Cougartwn … ” I agree, but it shows the taste of the American TV watching public that Cougartown IS a QUASI-hit. It’s a disservice, as far as quality goes, to put CT in the same league as V and Flashforward. CT is at best a run of the mill sitcom – though I think its better than 2 and a Half Men, which is a bonafide hit. The two fdramatic shows were creative gambles which at least tried to be original and thought-provocing. As usual, the People chose the same old relioacble cop and stale sitcom dreeck over anything new. ( This computer is not working properly so I have to let the two typos stand. Thanks, Microsoft Windows XP.)
I’m sorry… this is my first time reading Variety. Is it industry standard to say things like “sked”, “laffer”, and “aud” or is that Variety being well…
Regarding FF plot lines, as far as I understand, the book has several interesting avenues. For example, *spoiler* the book suggests another FF that extends far into the future (think millions of years) where no one sees the future except a few — and then the question is why did those people see the future? *end spoiler*