Wonderfalls - Cancelled

[Henry]

Hey, at least for your demographic you put more weight on the board than most everyone else!

I think (should you ever get to see it) that you might have been pleasantly surprised by Wonderfalls. I don't think any particular religion or political leaning was really denigrated or supported on the 4 shows we saw - in fact, they spent more time talking about disaffected generation Y's than anything else. The characters' religious or political stance was not charicatured, it was presented more as one part of a complex whole; instead, their lives were presented with problems happening to everybody.

One thing I loved about Jaye's family was the sense I got that they all loved each other, very much. All internal problems were presented as minor, and something that could be worked out. One focus was on how Jaye's "delusions", if that's what they were, actually made things better. Part of the fun was figuring out what the rainbow trout clock meant by "Bring her back to him" or what the Pink Flamingo meant by "Get off of your ass!"

 

[Mercule]

Hey, at least for your demographic you put more weight on the board than most everyone else!

Yeah, I think the only smaller niche is the Stalinist-Communist who only turns on his TV to watch reruns of the "Rush Limbaugh Show" and the "800 Club".

 

[Pielorinho]

Yeah, I think the only smaller niche is the Stalinist-Communist who only turns on his TV to watch reruns of the "Rush Limbaugh Show" and the "800 Club".

What about us pinkos who tuned in to watch The Apprentice every week, except when it was opposite Wonderfalls? We're a bundle of contradictions, us ENWorlders.

Danile

 

[wolff96]

I watched every episode of Wonderfalls. And, though I'm going against the grain here, I won't miss it at all.

Joan of Arcadia is the same show, was on first, and isn't as "weird for the sake of being weird". Mainly, for me, I think it comes down to the fact that we never got a reason to like the main character. None. She's annoying, only helps out because the talking stuff bothers her if she doesn't, and really doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities -- other than her snarky sense of humor, which isn't actually redeeming, but is fun to watch.

Plus, the episodes just got bizarre. The premier was very good. The Single White Female episode was odd, but the nun/priest episode was just plain nutty.

Fox needs some decent shows and needs to give them a chance. This show wasn't one of them.

 

[Pielorinho]

Joan of Arcadia is the same show, was on first, and isn't as "weird for the sake of being weird". Mainly, for me, I think it comes down to the fact that we never got a reason to like the main character. None. She's annoying, only helps out because the talking stuff bothers her if she doesn't, and really doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities -- other than her snarky sense of humor, which isn't actually redeeming, but is fun to watch.

Interesting. I really liked the main character a lot. I mean, she was kind of lazy and whiny, sure, but she was also smart and basically good. She DID do nice things for people without prompting, just not for total strangers.

And snark goes a really long way with me, anyway .

Daniel

 

[takyris]

I really liked Jaye. I would so have fallen for Jaye in real life (uh, were I not happily married) -- the person who is basically good but covers it up out of a fundamental distrust of humanity, and who does petty cruel things to get even with the rest of the world.

Plus, the way she would raise her eyebrows without opening her eyes all the way and give that little half-smile? Dang. Just.. dang. When you got a smile out of Jaye, you KNEW you'd earned it.

Ahem.

Sarcastic Smart Girls Rock.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

And i was willing to look past the fact that Jaye was Canadian too!

Man i love snarky!

 

[DMScott]

Fox obviously needed more room for shows about marrying midgets, and hooking up straight women with gay men, and other quality programming.

Playing it Straight (the show about hooking up straight women with gay men) got shelved last week, and for the same reason as Wonderfalls: it wasn't drawing any viewers and thus wasn't making any money. Contrary to the tinfoil hat brigade, most cancelled TV shows get that way because nobody's watching them, not because TV executives really hate all five of the show's faithful viewers.

If it's any consolation, it's pretty typical for midseason replacement shows to bomb and get cancelled, then get another try in the summer. So maybe Wonderfalls (and Playing it Straight) will be back for your viewing pleasure.

 

[takyris]

DMScott: The issue isn't "cancelling shows that get low ratings". While I don't like to see my shows cancelled, I can't argue with that. Well, I could, but I'd be dumb -- or very idealistic. The issue is "cancelling shows that could potentially have built an audience". It's a question of taking the sure-fire insta-hit flash-in-the-pan ratings of reality shows versus taking on a scripted show that might need a season -- or even a season and a half -- to develop. The TV critics are routinely attacking the networks for failing to give their shows a chance, on settling for reality-show ratings instead of giving a scripted show a chance to build an audience.

Seinfeld was not a ratings winner in its first season. In today's climate, it could have been gone after four episodes or six episodes. (Note: This says nothing about my personal feelings re:Seinfeld -- just that it was a really really really really really big freakin' show that killed in the ratings, once it finally built its audience.)

 

[DMScott]

DMScott: The issue isn't "cancelling shows that get low ratings". While I don't like to see my shows cancelled, I can't argue with that. Well, I could, but I'd be dumb -- or very idealistic. The issue is "cancelling shows that could potentially have built an audience".

... "despite having had their ratings drop every week"?

It's a question of taking the sure-fire insta-hit flash-in-the-pan ratings of reality shows

OK, stop here, go back, and read my post a bit more carefully. Note that the only reality show mentioned was also cancelled, and for the exact same reason. If a network puts a scripted show on the air and its ratings trend lower each week, it'll likely be cancelled. If a network puts a reality show on the air and its ratings trend lower each week, it'll likely be cancelled. You'll most likely see the same thing if and when another Fox reality show gets axed real soon. You see, Forever Eden's ratings have been trending down every week so it's teetering on the brink of cancellation. Such is the fate of any show with ratings going in the wrong direction.

Again, if you really like the show, it'll probably be back in the summer - and if the ratings don't nosedive again, maybe it'll get picked up for next season. But as a general rule, don't expect TV networks to keep on throwing away money on a show nobody's watching on the hope that maybe it'll pick up some viewers a couple of years down the road. It's nothing personal, just the way they do business.

Seinfeld, BTW, climbed in the ratings after an initially low debut. Hence the reason it stayed on the air. It took several seasons to build the audience up to the rarefied heights it eventually reached, but there was actual growth from very early on, rather than losing viewers or remaining stagnant.