Series Updates for ABC, NBC, CW, Syfy

No surprise to most of us, NBC's (And J.J. Abrams) Undercovers has been cancelled.  The show never reached much of an audience and consistently recieved mediocre numbers.  The show will continue to run until December 1st, but production on the show has been halted.

NBC has given full season pick ups to Chase, Chuck, The Event, Outsourced, and Law and Order: Los Angeles bringing their totals up to 24 episodes.

In addition, NBC has upped the order of episodes for Community by two to make it 24 for the season.   This does not  guarantee renewal however.

Also, there will be no more episodes ordered for the CW's Life Unexpected, which is currently slated for 13 episodes, and it's not expected that there will be a second season.

ABS has cancelled the Whole Truth, which got pretty bad ratings.  They have not yet indicated if all 13 episodes would air.

ABC has given Better with You, Brother & Sisters and No Ordinary Family full season orders, bringing their episode totals up to 22.  Detroit 1-8-7 has been given an increased order, brining its total up to 18.

CBS' Medium, which is in its 5th season has had its order cut down to 13 episodes this seasin and is highly likely to be cancelled by the end of the season.

Syfy Has cancelled Caprica, their Battlestar Galactica follow-up that never really caught on with the fans.

No Ordinary Family Updates

ABC's No Ordinary Family, has gotten an order for four more scripts from ABC.  This is good news for one of falls highest rated new shows, and one of the few success stories of the fall television season.

ABC also has announced that No Ordinary Family will be moving to Tuesdays at 9 pm starting from November 30th to December 14th, while ABC airs various holiday specials in the 8 pm slot.  When No Ordinary Family returns on January 4th to the 8 pm slot, it will be followed by the second season premiere of V.

Also, Life Unexpected has gotten an order for two more scripts from the CW. 

Fall TV Ratings - Sluggish TV Season

Fall TV Ratings

I think it's hard not to say after this TV Viewing season that TV Viewership is down, but it's also fairly obvious that most of the new TV shows have not found an audience.  The first two fall casualties have already been canceled after two episodes - FOX's Lone Star was the first, and ABC's My Generation was the second.

In addition, this week NBC's Chase dipped below a 1.7, which is extremely low for a (new) first season show.  NBC's The Event (whose advertising budget was larger than most returning series entire production budgets) lost 17% of its viewership this week as well, bringing it down to a 2.4. NBC's other big new premier, JJ Abrams Undercovers, dropped to a 1.6 for a 24% drop in its second week.

ABC's The Whole Truth is down 20% to a 1.2 putting it firmly in the cancellation zone as well.  Detroit 1-8-7 hasn't found an audience either, at a 2.1, and is likely to be canceled by the end of the season.

FOX's The Good Guys is likely to be the next to be canceled with a 0.7 rating, and is Running Wilde going to be far behind at a 2.3?

The CW is down across the board as well, so it's hard to see what shows will be canceled.  Life Unexpected is certainly going to be canceled with a .77 rating.  The rest are too close to call, but the CW will certainly need some work, as their rating are all quite low.

CBS is doing the best of all the network overall, with none of their shows in cancellation range yet.

That concludes the ratings report for the first two weeks of fall TV.

So far, it's not looking too promising for most of the new fall shows, although Mike and Molly, CBS' Monday comedy, is looking to be the most ppopular new fall show with a 3.9. 

Smallville: Season 9 - The right way to do Superhero TV

Smallville: Season 9

CW

Fridays at 8 pm

Smallville has been on for nine seasons, as a modern reinterpretation of the Superman mythology. It has gone through it's ups and downs, from the first few seasons
“Krypto-freak of the Week” format to where it stands now. The show stands to break the record for the longest running science fiction in the US series as it begins its 10th (and final) season this fall.

The chemistry between Clark Kent (Tom Welling) and Lois Lane (Erica Durance) is electric, and shows in every scene they share. At first, I did not like Erica's take on Lois Lane, but she has made the role her own, and it doesn't show any more than in this season.

Every season has characters and mythology from the Superman and DC Comics universe. This season is no exception, with the inclusion of Metallo (Brian Austin Green) the Wonder Twins (David Gallagher and Allison Scagliotti), Hawkman (Michael Shanks), Doctor Fate (Brent Stait), Stargirl (Britt Irvine) and Amanda Waller of Checkmate (Pam Grier), Zod (Callum Blue) and the return of fan favorite heroes Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Cyborg.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the two hour episode, Absolute Justice, which felt more like a Smallville movie than an episode.  It related the history of the Justice Society of America and introduced them to Clark and his band of heroes.  The episode was well done, and kept the introductions grounded in realiy more than one would suspect for a bunch of heroes with such complicated histories and outlandish costumes.  Just enough of the introduced heroes origins was explained, but not too much to overshadow the action of the story.  The plot stood on it's own, while also introducting the viewer to the reoccuring government agency Checkmate, which will be used for the rest of the season, and probably well into Season 10.

Clark and Oliver (Green Arrow) come closer than ever this season to forming the Justice League, thanks in no small part to the bond shared by the members of the Justice Scoiety in the Absolute Justice episode.  By the end of the season you can see the pieces falling into place for the Justice League in Season 10. There has always been an unspoken rule for Clark Kent on Smallville, to keep the show grounded - “no tights, no flights”, and we see in the finale of season 9, that rule may now be off the table as the show heads to its conclusion.

The Clark Kent from Smallville is much different than the Clark Kent from the comics, perhaps more jaded, but still heroic, but if you do not compare Smallville to the comics, the show shines as an example of how to do superhero television show right, while still using costumes and superpowers and keeping the show heavily grounded in reality.

Ever since Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) left the show (after season 7), the show has gone through a modest decrease in enjoyability. This season seems to have returned to its former glory, being the most enjoyable season of the show since season 7. I still look forward to Lex's return in some form or another in Season 10, as he is certainly one of the most important characters in the Superman mythology.

Smallville: Season 9

4 ½ stars out of 5

Supernatural: Season 5 - The Devil you Know

Supernatural: Season 5

CW

Fridays at 9 PM

Supernatural is a show that it took me almost an entire season to get into. Once I got into it though, I really enjoyed it. Dean and Sam Winchester are brothers who start out as demon hunters, and end up this season as the human hosts to Lucifer and the the angel Michael. This season is steeped in Judeo-Christian religion and belief, making it its mythology. There is God, Angels, the Devil, demons.

At the end of season 4, Sam had unwittingly uncorked the 66^th seal, allowing Lucifer to roam free on Earth. . This season Dean, Sam, Bobby, and their angel friend Castiel rebel against both angel and demon, and look for their own way to stop the Apocalypse. There were some great episodes this season, with that token Supernatural humor, including “The Real Ghostbusters” (Episode 9) and “Changing Channels” (Episode 8) being two of the funnest.

I almost forgot to mention “Fallen Idols” (Episode 5). I can not say enough good things about this episode. Sam gets to cut off Paris Hilton's head. Need I say more? But really, it was a fun episode about a pagan god taking the form of famous people and killing their fans.

They eventually get the Colt back and try to use it to kill Lucifer, but it doesn't work. They meet all four of Lucifer's Horsemen, War, Death, Pestilence, and Famine, and defeat three of the four of them (good choice there, how do you realistically defeat Death). They are killed by Hunters, angry that Sam started the Apocalypse, and we get to see a glimpse of Sam and Dean's version of heaven. A spell is cast on Sam, and a 14 year old inhabits his body. Sam and Dean stop a wraith in a mental hospital, and a ghost in a hotel. They stop a false prophet (The Whore of Babylon) from destroying a small town. They meet a human/demon hybrid child. They are kidnapped by a room full of Gods intent on stopping Lucifer's apocalypse by killing the Winchesters.

There were some casualties this season, as the hunters Ellen and Joe died while trying to stop the devil with the colt, a plan that ultimately failed. The brothers have to stop the angel Zacharias, and the other gods kill the Trickster (revealed to be the Angel Gabriel). There is an enhanced sense of hopelessness this season, brought on by first Dean losing his faith and then Castiel, when they hear from God that he won't allow them to find him, and that the apocalypse is “not his problem”.

Overall this is a strong season, which renewed my interest in the show. The character of Sam was redeemed this season after taking a decidedly darker turn last season. Sam and Dean grew together as well, realizing they are stronger together then they were apart and that they need to trust each other. Dean stopped treating Sam like the little brother (finally) and Castiel became a much more important part of the show, and a much more “human” character to boot.

The series has hit a high point, and it's hard to top a fight with the devil. It'll certainly be interesting to see where they take them in season 6.

It's also hard to see how Sam gets out of hell, but we'll see in Season 6.

Season 6 premiers on Friday, September 24^th at 9 PM

4 stars out of 5

Vampire Diaries: Fang-less Fun

Vampire Diaries: Season 1

DVD Released August 31st, 2010

Thursdays @ 8 pm on CW

The Vampire Diaries is based upon a book series by L.J. Smith.  The TV series was obviously created in a post-Buffy, post-Twilight, post-True Blood world - the vampires are hardly scary, and fangs are rarely seen in the first half of the season.  These are not your fathers vampires - they're moody, broody, and often likeable, even when they're trying to be "evil".

The show revolves around Elaina Gilbert, a high school student in Mystic Falls, Virgina, who falls for Stefan Salvatore, a century old vampire.  Stefan's only reason for returning to Mystic falls is because Elaina looks exactly like his lost love from a century ago, Katherine.  Stefan's older brother (also a vampire) Damon (the bad brother) follows him to town with a vendetta against Stefan. 

The show starts out really slowly - it plays more like 90210 than Buffy the Vampire slayer.  Midway through the season though, the action ramps up and it gets much more interesting.  The first half of the season plays  out as Damon vs. Stefan. Once they come to an understanding, and the show introduces other antagonists, the shows mythology gets fleshed out and the plot goes to some unexpected places.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder from Smallville and Lost)  shines as the anti-hero.  Even when his actions are suspect, you can't help but enjoy his smug, cold attitude.  Rather than be a pale imitation of David Boreanez's broody Angel like Stefan (Paul Wesley) he revels in his sell-serving bad-assery. 

Elaina (Nina Dobrev) also stands out as a breakout star.  At first it seems she is channeling Bella from Twilight with her mopey depressed attitude, but this soon gives way to more depth than ever displayed by Bella.  She often puts herself in harms way for the good of Stefan and her other friends, but just as often she is able to defend herself.  She is the only one that really sees the good in Damon.

There are also other supernatural beings in the town, including various other vampires, a family of witches, and a family of supernatural beings that have yet to be revealed. 

I suggest you give this show a try, as it starts out slow but ends up very interesting.  The mythology of the show through only a single season is enough to keep me hooked.  I'm excited for season 2 - which starts this Thursday, September 9th.


3 1/2 out of 5 stars because i could do without so much winey teen angst