gatoinfeliz

Here's the link to the story:
http://tv.yahoo.com/news/eo/20060623/115112868000.html

and here's the paste job:

"Huff" Snuffed
Friday June 23 10:58 PM ET

By Josh Grossberg

Huff is on its last gasp.

Showtime has officially pulled the plug on the Emmy-winning Hank Azaria vehicle after two seasons, citing low ratings.

Network boss Robert Greenblatt said the move was tough--especially with the quirky dramedy about a psychiatrist (Azaria) going through a midlife crisis growing into a big critical sucess, garnering a Showtime-record seven Emmy nominations last year--but necessary.

"Huff was a signature show [that] brought us great critical acclaim and Emmy recognition that makes us very proud," Greenblatt, Showtime's entertainment president, said in a statement Friday.

"The decision to not do a third season was a difficult one, but there's a challenge to deliver the size audience we needed to break the show out in an environment that is very competitive and flush with original programming on all networks."

Hailing Huff as one of its "defining shows," Greenblatt says the series' first two seasons will remeain in rotation for "the next several years."

"Huffserved this network well and if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't do anything differently," he continued.

Showtime had such high hopes for Huff that Greenblat gave the go-ahead for production on season two before the first season debuted in 2004. But despite glowing reviews for the cast headed by Azaria, whose character melts down after a 15-year-old patient commits suicide in his office, Huff never materialized into an HBO-killer.

Hoping to breathe some life into the program's anemic ratings, the pay channel launched a massive marketing campaign, including mailing out DVD screeners to some 12,000 Emmy voters. That blitz paid off, culminating in seven nominations, including Best Actor in a Drama Series for Azaria and a Best Supporting Actor nom for costar Oliver Platt. And Blythe Danner won the trophy for Best Supporting Actress trophy.

Despite the Emmy pub and subsequent media buzz, Huff still couldn't capitalize on the momentum.

Showtime execs informed Azaria & Co. of the bad news earlier this week. The series finale is scheduled for this Sunday.

When he's not headlining Huff, Azaria kept busy over the last two years starring as Sir Lancelot in the Tony-winning musical Spamalot as well as his steady gig giving voice to Moe, Chief Wiggum, Apu and dozens of other beloved characters on Fox's The Simpsons, now in its 17th season.

As for Showtime, the net plans to fill Huff's time slot with a trio of new pograms: the Irish gangster drama Brotherhood; a crime series called Dexter; and The Tudors, a series about the reign of King Henry VIII starring Jonathan Rhys Myers and Sam Neil.

On a happier note, the net is bringing back stoner comedy Weeds, starring Mary-Louise Parker, for a second season as well as new seasons of The L Word and Sleeper Cell.


Well that sucks, I wanted to start watching this show after hearing many good things about it but I guess I won't now. Kinda glad I didn't waste money on the season 1 dvd. Showtime is beginning to feel like the cable version of FOX. They leave crap on the air but are quick to end the good stuff.

I kinda laughed at the "happier note" bit, The L Word hasn't been great since season 1.

Anyways, you're thoughts and opinions?

Michael Ballack

I liked the first season, but I didn't like where they went with the characters the second season. We get it, Russel is fucked up on drugs!!! I guess that means one less show to dvr on sundays.

TheMovieman

Only caught the first couple episodes On Demand, liked it but it wasn't something I needed to watch every week.

Boot

Well, I was just about to Netflix the first season of Huff. Should I even bother now?

illini420

I really liked the first season and agree that this second season seems to be going all over the place and the places that it's going aren't very happy. But it's still one of the good shows on television and I'm suprised they are dropping it in favor of the other shows they said are in the works. I'd rather watch a crazy Huff that seems to be going in all directions than any of the shows they say are in the works. I really am not interested in Irish gangsters or Henry VIII, but I'll wait for more to come about Dexter. Glad they're at least bringing back Weeds

Doughboy

The Curse of Paget Brewster continues.

T-bone22

Shitty news

Geofferson

Too bad to officially hear it announced. I suspected this would happen though. This second season is no where near the level of the first season. It and the characters are all over the place with no real rhyme or reason that justifies their behavior (well, except for Teddy).

GeoffK

There was a good show in there just waiting to get out. Too bad the writing staff couldn't see the forrest through the trees. Season 2 has been frustrating to no end, some great momenets stuck between repeated crap. Hope Hank Azaria gets snaged as a lead for a much funnier role somewhere else. Also Paget Brewster should do great things!

Fielding Mellish

Paget, if you're reading this:

CURSE ME, NEXT! CURSE ME NEXT!!! PLEASE? PLEASE!?!

Nausicaa

This really stinks. Huff was quickly becoming one of my favorite shows. I watched all of season 1 and caught up to the current episodes of season 2 in about eight days! I really enjoyed the characters and thought this was right up there with HBO programming. While Weeds is okay, I don't know why they chose to hang on to that instead of Huff.

illini420

This does suck, I didn't like most of Season 2 as much as Season 1, but I thought last night's season (now series) finale was pretty good. I thought it set up the show for a pretty good Season 3, oh well.

Geofferson

Agreed -- it'd be nice if they'd do a 2-hour wrap-up movie to tie up some of the loose ends. Doubt it'll happen though...

kcdny

Showime did the same thing to Dead Like Me after the 2nd season. Which I thought was a good show to watch.
Too bad they don't hold on. I wonder if anyone else will pick up Huff.

Stargate SG-1 was picked up by SciFi after Showtime kicked it to the curb, 9 seasons later it is still going strong.

illini420

I'm sure airing this against HBO's stronger Sunday night lineup doesn't help much. I mean even if you don't like a few of the HBO shows on Sunday evenings, at least you're getting 3-5 new shows each week. Showtime on the other hand just seems to repeat Huff back to back. Never really understood that strategy, at least put another show on there to try to keep me watching you! I only just started watching Entourage because it came on after Deadwood and I was too lazy to change the channel. I love the show now. I wouldn't ever be too lazy just to watch a repeat of the same show I just watched though, which is the choice Showtime gives me.