Show and Tell

New televison shows are subject to fickle audiences, steep competition, and the network's ax. A number of fall series have already suffered from all three. CBS' Smith and the CW's Runaway were both cancelled while NBC's Kidnapped and FOX's Vanished are as good as cancelled. In other words, the latter two were exiled to Saturday and Friday timeslots, respectively. On top of that, the networks only ordered 13 episodes of each instead of the usual 22. Some say that it's better than nothing. At least, they're going to finish the season, and they won't dillydally with any unecessary episodes or plotlines.

Originally, I was just going to write about Kidnapped and how other media outlets on kidnapping have been unsuccessful. For instance, the movie Trapped starring Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon bombed at the box office. It cost $30 million to make, but cashed in under $7 million. Then, I read an article in USA Today about the same thing. However, it expanded the scope of its discussion to why all four of the aforementioned shows failed. The article stipulated that it was because all of them dealt with crime. Also, the audience needed "something they [couldn't] get from CSI or Law and Order." Moreover, the world we live in is already a constant reminder of crime, why do we need to see it on our television sets?

On the other hand, four new shows have been picked up for full seasons. The lucky ones are (Drumroll, please!) CBS' Jericho, ABC's Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters, and NBC's Heroes. Coincidentally, I happened to stumble on an article with some insight as to why Ugly Betty and Heroes are successful. Although they're two very different shows, "half the cast of each, including the leads, is a person of color." They boast of cast members who are Indian, Japanese, African-American, and Hispanic. That alone pulls in a very large, diverse audience. I guess they're not the minorities anymore--at least not in the world of television and that's a start.