cornflakeguy

Well you are right about the ads. The ads warned me not to watch it.

Seriously, though. The main sticking point for me was "what kind of world did this happen in?"

Why were his days repeating? Magic? God? Aliens? Don't say Love. Trying to make a serious drama out of that kind of premise didn't excite me in the least.

Same way I don't care about that movie "Deja Vu." And they HAD a vehicle for the extraordinary plot line.

FinkPish

It's one of those things that either you accept or don't. Any explanation for why he is repeating isn't going to live up to itself. And honestly, it shouldn't really matter in the end, only that he was able to work his way through it. They never explained why he was repeating in Groundhog Day either, probably for the same reason.

Josh-da-man

I never bothered watching it because I thought the ads behind it were terrible. I was also a little annoyed at the blatant "Hey, Lost fans! We're going to run little short previews at random times during the episodes so make you sure you watch them!" stunt they were pulling.

The Groundhog Day/Run Lola Run formula of replaying a day over and over again doesn't really seem well-suited for serial television. (Look at Tru Calling for an example.)

DJariya

Remember the old days in the 80's when ABC would have a 1 week mini-series all the time like the North and South series, Winds of War and Thorne Birds? I think they would air every day of the week at 9 or 10pm.

I wonder why can't some of these newer serials with no long term prospects be designed that way? Maybe that would help attract more viewers.

FinkPish

I agree about the Lost promo tie-in; that probably hurt more than it helped.

Wasn't Tru Calling a procedural type show, with new cases every week, rather than an over-arching plot? To me, that would be more like Quantum Leap than Day Break; a new life to fix every week.

I seriously recommend that people give Day Break a chance, not just because of the ratings (I think it's fate is pretty much sealed no matter what). All the previous episodes are on ABC.com, which makes it easier to follow by being able to watch them back to back, because the show does get somewhat convoluted if you forget what happened before. I'm probably biased because I work on the show, but it seriously gets better each week, the deeper Hopper gets into the mystery. And because there are only 13 episodes, there is very little fluff to fill the boring spots in between the plot twists.

cornflakeguy

I agree that most (even me) accepted and enjoyed the 'no premise' in "Groundhog Day', but that was a goofy comedy.

I guess that I like hard and fast rules of the universe with my dramas.

This might have hurt more than helped, but if it was set slightly in the future and he had a wristband that let's him go back 24 hours with the hit of a button, I would have watched that in a second.

Just think, a bad guy could steal the wristband for 1-2 eps and we see HIM do stuff the previous day that might make his badness easier to acheive. Then of course the good guy get's it back.

Damn, that sounds awesome. I should copyright that real quick.

coladar

Alright, just want to add some more thoughts based on the replies and my own thoughts the past couple days:

You know, you can say that the previews for it were horrible all you want. And don't get me wrong, they were. They were so bad that if it had not been for the fact there was nothing else on the night Day Break premiered, and I had plenty of space on my DVR fully expecting to delete it after five minutes, I would have not bothered. The previews were simply the worst I have seen for a TV show in a very, very, very long time. Not only did they not get the concept across, they made it look like a horrible, horrible show that was just plain stupid.

But, that doesn't change the fact that the show earned well over 10 million viewers for the first hour. And now it's getting what, around 4 million? This show lost 60% of the people that tuned in for the first episode in a handful of weeks.

So I'm afraid we can't blame it on the previews. Maybe the show is far too "deep" for most people, compared with Lost where it can be what you make it: A popcorn show or the deepest show this side of Carnivale. Maybe people figured it was going to be non-stop repeats with only a couple minutes of new footage per episode based on the way the first two hours were, with it ending up to be anything but that. But something turned a LOT of people off of this show. And it's just too damn good for me to believe it's the quality of the show. I'm very fast to call a turd a turd, but this show is extremely well done with an amazing concept, incredibly well written scripts and awesome acting and directing.

To be honest, I've wondered if the fact the show completely revolves around an interracial relationship might have turned some people off. Not over six million mind you, but despite the fact we've come so far, well, I have at least one 60-something family member that stopped watching it for that reason.

Whatever, it's other peoples loss. The main reason I gave this show a try was because they guaranteed that after 13 episodes, it would be over. So we know those episodes are done basically, and we will see a conclusion eventually. And actually, maybe it's better it was a failure... They had said that the next season would revolve around another day with life-shattering consequences for Brett... I think if it lasted over a season, it had the potential for getting stale and tainting the excellence that these 13 episodes have going. Whatever, I'm just really glad that I gave this show a chance and it will have a conclusion, because after the most recent episode, it's the best show on TV right now.

FinkPish

Dear Lord, I hope you never go to see The Fountain; you will be complaining about why they never explained the technology behind the bubble. Like I said already, if you can't just accept the fact that this is happening to Hopper, you will never like the show.

Chauzer

so has there been official word from abc that the show IS getting cancelled, and if it is, will they put the rest of the episodes on ABC.com??

i'd like to know this soon, so that i don't waste my time watching the episodes i have saved and the upcoming ones when there won't be a resolution

Jimmy James

We know for sure not all of the episodes will air on Wednesdays at 9.

ABC does not appear to have decided whether to show the episodes at another time, just throw them online, or leave them for Touchstone to release on DVD.

PacMan2006

It's tough to say why this show isn't catching on. I think the EASIEST answer is that, if you miss a significant part of the show, then you will be less interested in tuning in the following week. The show requires you to have seen every episode and remember minor details. Thats the allure of the show--that Hopper will see a guy in a prison in ep 2, and that guy comes back into play in ep 5 of the same repeating "day."

I think, for at least the first couple weeks, ABC should have maybe ran repeats on Friday or Saturday...or even Sunday. Truth be told, a repeat airing on a Tuesday right before the new ep on Wednesday would've been ideal. But then again, "24" did this in its first season, too, and that season was a ratings failure compared to expectations. But then again, FOX eventually decided to stick with the show...and look at "24" now. Jack Bauer is almost in the pop culture lexicon now.

It's tough. I think, as some others have mentioned, you can even throw in the fact that the lead is black and has an interracial relationship. While I don't believe for a second that those reasons alone doomed the show, they certainly didn't HELP. I'm black, so I think it's great to see a black man as the "hero" in an action/drama, but it is what it is. But I'm not willing to say thats the downfall of the show.

I don't recall seeing too many previews for the show...so I can't comment on if they worked enough. I was sold on this show when I read the premise about it during the summer. I was planning on watching it back in June.

Maybe, at the end of the day, some shows work and some shows just don't catch on. "Freaks and Geeks" was brilliant, but we all know how that turned out. Personally, as much as I am loving Day Break, I can't see myself being as interested in a season 2 of the same type of concept. I actually think that's why I like this show...the concept is so original and different, that it grabs me. But if this were to re-occur again, that allure would be gone I believe. At that point, I'd truly be asking, "OK, now WHY is this day repeating for him again?!" At that point in the series, I'd believe you'd have to start coming up with reasons why the day repeats, and that kills the mystery of the concept to me.

creekdipper

***News Flash***

TIGER WOODS LOSES ALL COMMERCIAL ENDORSEMENTS WHEN PUBLIC "DISCOVERS" HIS INTERRACIAL MARRIED RELATIONSHIP!!!!! HEIDI KLUM FIRED AFTER PICS OF HER NEW BABY & HUBBY SEAL EMERGE!!!

You know, sometimes ya don't know whether to laugh or throw up at some of the racist comments made to excuse any unsuccessful endeavor. I think the truth is that some shows click & others don't. Look at the top ten shows...do you think they all got there because of their superiority in acting, writing, etc.?? We can all name muscians, actors, artists who were ignored although they were brilliant, and then proceed to name hacks who were ultra-successful. All of us have favorite tv shows that died untimely deaths only to be replaced by cheap, mindless drivel. Two facts belie the speculation about a "racial" component: (1) Daybreak started out with a large audience which has dwindled (and I doubt there was anyone checking out the show who DIDN'T know Taye Diggs was the lead); (2) If one wants to play the 'race' card, the viewership percentage is actually not bad when compared to the percentage of blacks in the U.S. (that assumes, of course, that each race only watches others of their race). One of our favorite shows of all time was Frank's Place, a brilliant comedy featuring an almost exclusively black cast. The show proved to be ahead of its time...it was just too subtle for the audience. "Heroes" is a big hit...have you noticed that it also features an interracial relationship (black man and *gasp* blonde white woman...and their child, no less! Horrors! That means they actually *choke* had SEXUAL INTERCOURSE...with EACH OTHER!!!!). And that doesn't include the several other interracial relationships on the show, including white guy & black chick, asian guy & white chick (a redhead, so maybe that doesn't count), etc. Once this gets out, we can expect a sudden drop in viewership & immediate cancellation!!

We were hoping for good things from Daybreak...but we gave on it because we thought the pilot episode's plot was predictable & overblown and the acting was amateurish. We LIKE Taye Diggs (who is married to a white opera singer, I believe...but who cares??), but not well enough to watch a show that we found to be completely ordinary. We also gave up on The Nine because we lost patience with it...we just weren't getting enough to keep watching...too many other good shows, movies, books, etc. The current problem seems to be with the dearth of serials on tv. Unlike soap operas, which one could miss for days without missing any really important things (lanyway, as with football, any highlights will be replayed endlessly), prime time serials require a big commitment from the audience. It is hard enough to keep up with Lost, 24, and the other earlier entries in the serialized genre. When one considers all the cable entries (The Shield, all the HBO series, etc.), most viewers have to pick & choose which serials to follow. So any new entries had better be pretty dang original & spectacular if they want to compete. One look at all of this season's cancellations supports this.

P.S. If I buy the "racial" argument, then I am going to have to say that Tiger Woods is popular BECAUSE he is the product of an interracial marriage & has a white wife...not because he is the best at what he does (in addition to being gracious, confident, & cool).

PacMan2006

^^I think you need to relax. There are tons of reasons why Day Break isn't doing well in the ratings. To say, though, that race is definitely, 100% not a factor is silly.

My guess is that it plays a very minimal reason in the lack of the show's success, though. But it's not about racism. It would be about identification. People of a given race like to see representations of themselves on television. It's a fact. It's why, if you look at the numbers, more white people watched Friends and Seinfeld while more black people watched Martin or Girlfriends.

I don't think it's a coincidence that there aren't many black male leads that carry shows in action/dramas. I don't think it's a coincidence that there aren't any black drama's on TV.

creekdipper

My main objection was regarding the idea that the interracial relationship was so offensive to people that they were tuning out a show they might otherwise have watched. THAT was the idea that was floated by several of the posters above, and that WOULD be racism.

I already ackowledged the idea that many (perhaps most) people like to see representations of themselves on television and that this phenomenon accounts for the lack of black actors on television (imagine how Asians must feel!). However, it doesn't seem to carry over to sports or music...otherwise, how would one explain the popularity of black-dominated sports, rap music, etc. It also doesn't explain the popularity of Will Smith, Denzel Washington, & other talented black actors in the cinema. To me (a white male), they seem to project the image of a strong, black male (I don't think the interracial philadering on Will Smith's Jim West character was responsible for the failure of the ill-fated Wild, Wild West remake). I never intended to say that race was 100% not a factor...but it should work both ways (for every nonblack audience member who tuned out, there should be a black audience member who tuned in to negate the loss of the audience). One could probably apply the "race identification factor" to almost any area of life...churches, businesses, schools, etc.; however, I don't think that it is a significant factor in a television series succeeding or failing. If networks buy this argument, they will stop developing any properties involving primarily minority casts unless they do it as a public service gesture. BTW: The Unit seems to be a hit, and the male lead is black.

bboisvert

You're making the assumption that it would bring in more ratings. Why would you assume that? ABC usually gets 6.5-8 million viewers on a Saturday night (with college football or whatever).

This show couldn't get 5 million viewers in some prime real estate (Lost's timeslot). I don't see the ratings going *up* by moving it to a graveyard slot.


As others have said, they've burned the money producing the episodes. There's nothing that can be done about that. But continuing to air a show that is getting godawful ratings is just making matters much worse.

Fans should hold out for the DVD. But I don't see how anyone can blame ABC for this -- they advertised the hell out of it, gave it a great slot, and the viewers just didn't connect.

PacMan2006

I thought of "The Unit" as well. And then I realized that that was the only show I could come up with thats been a success with a black male lead. That's saying something, in my opinion.

I see the points you make. I don't want to take this thread too far off topic, though. But I think race identification in television is probably a lot more significant than you give it credit for. Sports are a little different. People grow up loving sports teams. Tradition is passed down for years and years. For die-hard fans, loving a team in ingrained in them. You're not so much identifying with a certain person so much as the team as a whole. As for rap music? I think that may be generational thing. I'm sure there are LOTS of white people turned off by young black males and the music of rap. If whites are into it, I'm sure they are, too, young white males (and some females).

But TV is a little different. The point of a show is to create a ficitional world where you can identify with the character and become totally immersed. If one doesn't see a good representation of themselves on a given show, their interest will probably be lessened.

coladar

I just figured I'd reply, since I have a feeling creekdipper's post about racism on the boards was directed at me. Look, I've said I'm a huge fan of the show, and I'm 22 so I could care less about the whole interracial thing. But PacMan2006 really said basically everything I'd say... Let's face it, there are still enough people around from older days when you wouldn't see any non-whites on TV that they can have an effect on ratings. And as PacMan2006 said, people look for things to identify with.

Clearly we're past the complete racist thing, because plenty of shows with black leads have caught on with white audiences. But I think adding the interracial relationship as the focus of the show did in fact hurt it slightly with older audiences. That's something that, let's face it, a whole lot of people 50-60 and over are not going to accept, ever. But I just felt the need to defend myself, because the whole "racist comments made to excuse..." seemed targeted at me.

All I said in my previous post is that one of the only people I recommended the show to, who is over 60, tried the first episode and didn't watch any future episodes mainly because of that reason. I think you'd be hard pressed to say anything in my post was racist though, so please don't accuse me of being one, particularly when I've said how much I love the show. And I certainly didn't blame the shows failure on that, I just said it could have been a tiny factor in turning off the over 50 crowd.

Oh, and as to Heroes... Remember, that's just a sub-character. Here, the entire focus of the show is around Taye Digg's relationship, so it certainly is different. That said, I regret the fact that just two sentences relating an experience I had as to why someone I know stopped watching Day Break got me accused as a racist and derailed the thread, so let's try and keep it on subject. I wouldn't have replied, save for the fact I can't let being accused as a racist go undefended, particularly when it was unmerited.

creekdipper

At any rate, here's hoping that if the show is cancelled,any unaired episodes would be released in syndication or on DVD. Since we quit watching the show, I'm saying this as a general comment for all cancelled serials...it would be nice if fans could at least get to see all that was shot, particularly if there was some resolution to the series. We never got to see Wonderfalls, for example, but have enjoyed the collected series of 14 (?) episodes (even though the show was cancelled after 3-4 episodes aired). If Invasion & other incomplete shows can be released on DVD, surely some of the others can make it. Some of the positive comments here about the show have convinced me to give it another chance. We were just deluged this season with WAY too many serialized stories on too many networks...and DayBreak didn't grab us right away.

*Edit* Just read colader's last comments...as Pacman said, wasn't trying to derail the thread & meant to just let it go (having said all I wanted to). Just to clear things up, colader, I wasn't calling you a racist per se...certainly did NOT want to imply that you had prejudices against minorities. What I wanted to say (and evidently failed) is that one should not automatically look for a "racial" component whenever a project featuring a minority member fails. To me, that is a type of "reverse racism" which sees discrimination when none is there.
Here's an example: We just went through this same thing in Tennessee when Harold Ford, Jr. was defeated in a Senate race. One of our local columnists wasted no time in opining that Ford lost due to racism...although Tennessee has been a staunchly conservative state for some time now (Rep. majority leader Bill Frist is from Tennessee, for example). There was a big outcry about "racist" ads against Ford featuring a white blonde woman representing a Playboy bunny telling Ford to "call me" (a reference to Ford's visit to the Playboy mansion). Now, that may or may not be dirty politics, but racism?? My wife & I are both over 50 and our jaws dropped the first time we heard the accusations that the ads were 'racist'. When I saw Ford in person, one could not tell if he was black, white , Italian, Arabic, or some other ethnicity. We voted against Ford because of social policies of the Democratic party and were highly offended by the suggestion that it was 'racism' that defeated him. The fact that Ford almost won in a 'Republican' state is a denial of that (remember, this is the state that voted AGAINST white native son Al Gore three times in Presidential elections). So join the crowd, colader, if you feel a bit stung by the implication...that's how we feel when we undergo the same thing. I doubt either of us are 'racists' although all of us probably have some biases although we manage to overcome them by the grace of God. I just think it's time to look for culprits other than racism to explain the sagging ratings of tv shows. As for the 50+ crowd, I doubt that a fast-paced show such as Daybreak is really aimed at most of us, anyway (I know, I'm stereotyping by age now). Remember...most of us 'seniors' grew up in the era of I Spy (starring Bill Cosby) & were in our 20's when Miami Vice (Ricardo Tubbs) was all the rage. It's not as though interracial relationships are a big thing to most of us. I was responding to the posts that were trying to figure out why Daybreak was LOSING viewership. I still find it hard to believe that people who would initially tune in to a show featuring a black lead would suddenly be offended by his interracial relationship. And I still maintain that Heroes has several prominent interracial relationships among LEAD characters, and that hasn't seemed to hurt its ratings. Meanwhile, Friday Night Lights (with its soap operaish white love triangle) is floundering in the ratings.
I guess I'll shut up & quit hijacking the thread regardless of any further comments/flames/etc. (and, by the way, colader & Pacman...you have both been very respectful in your comments & observations...and I do understand your concerns, even if I don't share them). In summation, before I'll EVER consider race as a factor in the success or failure of an entertainment venture, I'll need some empirical proof that it actually did play a part. I will not just assume that it must have been a factor.
Been an interesting exchange of ideas. And again, colader, I'm sorry if you took my comments as a personal attack. It was meant as a criticism of a mindset, not an individual.

FinkPish

All the episodes for Day Break will be finished and released in some fashion, whether that is on TV or on ABC.com remains to be seen. There still is a chance that all the episodes will make it to air, assuming the ratings improve.

Having seen future episodes, I can safely say that I haven't seen a bad one yet (they actually improve), and the mystery and conspiracy goes much deeper than you think. The next episode is one of my favorites; plenty of "holy shit" moments all the way up to the end.

BeanDip

I just haven't been able to understand why Shows like Daybreak are not popular. People are afraid of missing a show and being lost but in this age of Digital Video Recorders that is not an excuse.

I almost let Daybreak get past me because I am an "I do not want to get interested in another show" person. I have 4 - 5 shows I keep track of and do not really watch anything else.

But I watched Daybreak and it hooked me. And it has been getting better with each episode.

Maybe people are afraid of a storyline. They just want every episode to stand on its own and not require the attention to detail that watching Lost and 24 requires. And because of that we get fluffy crap TV.

Jimmy James

I think the problem was what I identified going into the show: the ads were not only vague, they were difficult to distinguish from the ads for the Denzel Washington/Tony Scott film Deja Vu. I imagine that since Deja Vu was the better promoted of the two, lots of folks who saw both ads had no idea there were two different projects.

Since race has been a big factor in this discussion, I assure you that I can tell Taye Diggs from Denzel Washington. The issue is that ads can't rely on people paying close enough attention to know who is in the show/movie. I often type things like this on commercial breaks, and I'm not looking at the screen.

FinkPish

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-ab...news-headlines
Official word. Sorry folks. If ABC is smart, they will rush this thing to DVD before people forget about it.

blairwitchfan

Hopefully they'll put up the remaining eps on abc.com. I've been watching Kidnapped (on nbc.com) that way for the last month and it's better than nothing.

FinkPish

UPDATE: Last Wednesday's episode was the last episode to air. Still not sure if they are going to show them on ABC.com. I would hope they would. I'll update everyone when I know more.

uteotw

Oh. Come. On.
This blows.

PLEASE put them up on abc.com ! ! !

What a cryin' shame...