Originally posted by fuzzbox
I just looked at the Fox schedule for the next 2 weeks, and my worst fears are confirmed- Fox has cancelled a show that they've paid for, and are replacing it with RERUNS of a reality show- The Swan. What *IS* Fox thinking??

Honestly, I think Reality shows are the worst thing to happen to TV since "Manimal". When will they go the way of "Who wants to be a millionaire?"

-jason

Originally posted by mookiemeister
Fox is doing it because those shows are getting higher rating than the show it's replacing. I think the question we need to ask is why are those sucky shows getting higher rating than quality shows like Wonderfalls. Are the rating screwed up?

Originally posted by calhoun07

I still want to know who all these people are watching reality TV. I don't hear anybody talk about the shows a whole lot, and when TV studios put up polls for what TV shows should come to DVD, reality TV always finishes dead last. Doesn't that tell them anything there?

I am for the disbanding of Neilson, or dramatically bringing them into the 21st century, and instituting online voting for TV shows. But I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

'Wonderfalls' gets canceled by Fox

By LYNN ELBER
AP TELEVISION WRITER

LOS ANGELES -- The voice mail message is succinct: "You've reached what used to be the `Century City' production office. We are closed."

That's the epitaph a canceled series gets, one also due Fox's fanciful drama "Wonderfalls." Like CBS' "Century City," "Wonderfalls" aired only a handful of times before it was axed last week.

Some observers say the casualty toll indicate a weak field of midseason shows, including such struggling efforts as ABC's "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital" and CBS' "The Stones."

Todd Holland, a creator and executive producer of "Wonderfalls," thinks the analysis misses the point. What's happening, he says, reflects a sea change in entertainment in general - and not for the better.

Studios write off movies that don't "open big," with an impressive debut tally, just as networks hastily dump shows that don't make an immediate and serious dent in the Nielsen ratings, Holland said.

"You really have a hard time commanding a network's patience and attention, the same way you do a movie studio's patience and attention," Holland said.

He recalled the fate of "Krippendorf's Tribe," the 1998 film he directed and which starred Richard Dreyfuss.

"I got a call Friday night, opening night at 7 o'clock, and the president of Touchstone told me, 'Sorry, we just couldn't open the picture,'" Holland said.

That meant marketing quickly was abandoned, along with any chance for the film to build an audience. In TV terms, "Wonderfalls" got roughly the same bum's rush.

To start with, the series required careful handling. A comic drama about a discontented young woman (Caroline Dhavernas) who lives near Niagara Falls, works in a souvenir shop and starts hearing directives from tacky animal figurines, it obviously wasn't a cookie-cutter entry.

(Holland says he and co-creator Bryan Fuller came up with the idea at the same time "Joan of Arcadia" was created, but the hit CBS series about a teenager who hears from God made it to TV first.)

"Wonderfalls" also needed the right time slot to attract the young demographic that Fox courts and for whom the show seemed designed. And, finally, it needed breathing room to establish itself.

In the current fashion of network TV, it got none of the above.

The series was stranded at 9 p.m. EST Friday, when a chunk of the typically elusive young audience tends to be out, with an excursion to Thursday - against NBC's powerhouse reality series "The Apprentice."

(Fox, which declined to comment, gets some credit for teaming "Wonderfalls" with a spiritual partner on Thursday: It followed "Tru Calling," about a young woman who hears calls for help from the dead.)

Expansive marketing was lacking. "There is a correlation between advertising and promotional spending and return," observed Holland.

Two Fox shows that received elaborate brass-band welcomes, "Malcolm in the Middle" (said to be the beneficiary of a $6 million launch in 2000) and newcomer "The O.C.," are thriving.

"Everyone knows that hits are made, that you nurture a show ... you give it a great time slot and a lot of promotion, and then the show has to earn its audience, to keep it," said Holland, whose extensive credits include "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Larry Sanders Show."

Maybe "Wonderfalls" eventually could have drawn viewers by virtue of what Holland calls its "wicked bad-boy comedy, but with heart," which he saw as very Fox-friendly in the spirit of "The Simpsons."

Four episodes, however, and it was over. Holland's pleas for one more airing were rebuffed by Fox.

Patience is not a virtue these days, particularly when networks can get easy, immediate ratings gratification from reality shows.

The rapid turnover in scripted series makes their failure a self-fulfilling prophecy, Holland suggested. Network reluctance to give shows time to grow makes viewers skittish about committing to shows that are unlikely to last.

Networks could find themselves stocking up on reality fare but also acquiring a sameness that erases their identities, Holland said. Will viewers who think of NBC as the comedy destination for "Friends" link the network as closely to "The Apprentice"?

Ultimately, the loss could be even bigger, Holland said.

"I feel like the sort of wonder you can create from small worlds of fiction is totally in danger of extinction because people - the audience or the networks - don't have the patience to nurture that kind of journey," Holland said.

"Anything you don't nurture and feed, withers. Our imaginations, our dreaming spirits, are in danger of giving up."

Originally posted by fuzzbox
Honestly, I think Reality shows are the worst thing to happen to TV since "Manimal". When will they go the way of "Who wants to be a millionaire?"

-jason

quote:
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Originally posted by calhoun07

I still want to know who all these people are watching reality TV. I don't hear anybody talk about the shows a whole lot, and when TV studios put up polls for what TV shows should come to DVD, reality TV always finishes dead last. Doesn't that tell them anything there?

I am for the disbanding of Neilson, or dramatically bringing them into the 21st century, and instituting online voting for TV shows. But I doubt that will happen anytime soon.
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Well I'm one of those people who watches and enjoys reality tv to a degree. Reality shows I currently watch are The Apprentice, Making The Band, and Survivor from time to time. Your DVD argument isn't really sound because reality tv shows are really only good to watch once. There is essentially NO rewatchability, especially on competition shows like Survivor. Once you know who wins whats the point?

Originally posted by calhoun07
I just want to know who watched the midget marrying show and the Swan and that stupid Eden show that replaced Wonderfalls! Those are the people worth dissin!

Originally posted by WarriorPrincess
That same person's favorite show is still on the air despite horrific ratings and nowhere near the critical acclaim that Wonderfalls has gotten. Somehow, someway it always seems to boil down to the right (or wrong) person having a lot of power. At least the other network has seen the light (with this show, even if they screwed up royally with other equally worthy shows) and we will get more Wonderfalls.

Originally posted by ChrisHicks
what's the horrific show?

TV Guide wrote:
WONDER NO MORE: Rumors that the WB may pick up Fox's recently canceled gem Wonderfalls for the fall are just that — rumors. "It's not true," a network source tells TV Guide Online.