Why did these new fall shows fail?
 

Why do you think these new fall shows failed to catch on with audiences?

Cancelled:
Kidnapped
Vanished
Smith
Justice
Happy Hour
Runaway

Status Undetermined:
Standoff
Six Degrees
The Nine

Bad acting? Bad writing/Incomprehendible stories? Poor timeslots? Or were they already dead on arrival?

I've read is because this year too many serialized dramas that people have to watch every week.

It's funny how the serialized drama has worked so well for 24, but when others have tried it, it's either failed or failed miserably to catch on with TV audiences like Vanished and Kidnapped.

there were a ton of new shows this year on top of the continuing shows from last year. i guess people only pick up one or two new shows and the rest fall by the wayside (the not ground breaking cop drama or lawyer show probably). just my two cents.

Too many one word titles.

agreed. I think most people only have a stable of 5-8 shows that they watch religiously.

I added four shows this year..and I am feeling a little overloaded, (i only had 6 going in..now I have 10)

Too complicated and downbeat (except for Happy Hour)

I have to agree. Heroes and Jericho were the exception for me this year and honestly, I'm pretty close to dropping Jericho.

Heroes is the only one that has stuck with me and I also tried Standoff, Jericho, Kidnapped and Justice

because they're all the same show

Too complicated to follow. The male lead (Gale Harold) was not compelling AND was fired/replaced/killed off within 8 episodes. The characters were all idiotically motivated to a fault where each decision ultimately canceled out others in terms of learning anything or having any new developments.

Had enough? ;)

Reality TV and primetime game shows.

Well, there was more to it than that. But if tens of millions of people are watching crap like "Dancing with the Stars" and "Deal or No Deal" it doesn't leave a lot of room for anything else, even stuff that is relatively decent (Justice and Smith, specifically).

Like people above have been saying, most people only watch a certain amout of TV shows a week, and on top of that it isn't that unusual for over 50% of new shows to be gone before christmas - thats just the bussiness...

Standoff had it's episode order bumped up to 19, and Justice hasn't been officially canceled yet.

Production has already ceased on Justice, so I think it's essentially canceled. Plus since it's been moved to Friday, it's in burn off mode.

Cancelled:
<i>Kidnapped</i> -- Too good
<i>Vanished</i> -- Too boring
<i>Smith</i> -- Too silly
<i>Justice</i> -- Too many characters that weren't Spy Daddy
<i>Happy Hour</i> -- Too not <i>Friends</i>
<i>Runaway</i> -- Too on-the-CW

das

Are they at least going to end Vanished or will we never find out what was going on. I only dedicate so many hours to T.V. and even though it wan't a great show I would at least like to know the ending...

Remaining 4 episodes will be online only.

Thanks

What is the status of Jericho?

it was picked up for a full season

Too many shows to follow, I got so overwhelmed I decided to just wait for the DVD's, but now it looks like half of my shows won't make it ;)

Keep in mind that I didn't see a lot of these shows, so my opinion is based off commercials and reviews of those shows.

Kidnapped
Vanished
Both of these took the premise of a good 2-hour movie and extended it over a season. If they had done a kidnapping an episode, or possibly did 2 or 3 episode arcs it might've been more appealing to me.

Smith
I actually watched and enjoyed this show for the 3 episodes it aired. I don't really understand why it didn't catch on, but I've read that many felt the main characters weren't sympathetic enough, basically being hardened criminals capable of cold-blooded murder.

Justice
Oh great, another lawyer show.

Happy Hour
Seemed like too much of the same, nothing about it to make it stand out in the sitcom croud.

Runaway
I didn't even know this show existed until it was canceled.

Standoff
This show's agreeable enough, but nothing really special. It could turn out to be this year's Bones, where the actors and character interaction draw people in, but Ron Livingston doesn't seem as versatile as David Boreanaz.

Six Degrees
JJ Abrams taking from Lost the way the characters bump into or near miss each other in their back stories, making a show out of it, and forgetting to add an interesting premise, story, or characters.

The Nine
Taking the Lost premise and inexplicably flipping it on its head, making the most interesting part of the show's premise, the standoff, the backstory. The show would've been better had they set the show during the standoff, maybe each show telling one hour of the standoff, while also showing in flashback what the characters were like before they entered the bank. You know, like in Lost.

A lot of the shows that failed were serialized dramas this year, and those shows have some unique characteristics. These shows need to be hits right out the gate, since each new episode aired is one more episode everyone else is behind. For example, while I didn't initially watch House, I jumped into it on TV without worrying too much about the back episodes. Although I know there's some continuing storylines, the show is still very episodic. In contrast, with LOST, I waited until S1 was on DVD before watching the show.

Also, serialized shows require commitment. You're not watching the show for a one-hour story, you're watching it for a story that won't be resolved for at least a season. There's only so many shows a person can watch, and instead of being something a person can watch while there show is a rerun for the week, these shows don't attract many casual viewers, which adds up.

I totally agree with your assessment on this show. While I find the acting good on this show, IMO, the flashbacks to the bank robbery just don't work. As the show keeps moving forward in time: days, weeks, months. I find myself caring less about what transpired in the bank since it already happened and we know who's dead. I think the show would have been so much more gripping and compelling had it been told in an hour by hour account of the standoff.

I know I skipped some of the shows because I didn't want to get involved with another serialized drama that I must watch every week or else I won't know what's happening.