S.O.S. - Part 2 (The hindsight)

Well, I never intended for this to become a two-part post but given the events of the last week it felt appropriate. I certainly wrote the first part of this post at the right moment, because on Wednesday Human Target was renewed for a second season and Law & Order was cancelled. Friday was the day when the axe fell on Flashforward which wasn't a surprise at all. 1 out of 3 isn't too bad. I've spent some time scouring the web looking at the reactions regarding these cancellations/renewal. I've decided to mention them below and incorporate my own personal feelings regarding them.

As I've mentioned in the first part of this post, Flashforward got knocked very early on for poor characterization, and it's tough to deny this. To this day I still feel the only character they ever spent a good amount of time investing in was Mark Benford, and this was very quickly thrown away by Joseph Fiennes stilted acting. This improved over the course of the season for the other characters, but it was never quite enough. I agree wholeheartedly with Entertainment Weekly's article on the subject that Flashforward tried to cram too much in. I would have gotten rid of most of the non-FBI characters. As much as I understand the attempt was made to humanize the blackout, and show real people dealing with it, it got wrapped up in trying to give them compelling storylines instead of focusing solely on the cause of the blackout. I will truly miss Flashforward more than any other show on this list. Despite its flaws it did a great job of using a unique time travel medium and juggled the question of fate versus free will as well as it could. The mysteries were compelling if at times borderline cheesy, and it's just a shame that it never had the viewers to sustain what would have been an arguably better second season.

When I wrote my post on Monday I never realized that my least favourite show on the list out of 3 would in the end be the one to survive to next season. I would like to trade. I spent a lot of time analyzing the debate between renewing either Lie to Me versus Human Target (in the end both shows were renewed) and it's quite a hefty one. Do you choose a show that has had 2 seasons to build up an arguably weak audience or choose the one that's only had 12 episodes and worse ratings but is still finding its audience? Do you base it on which does better in the important 18-49 demographic the advertisers seek? Do you choose the show that's cheaper to make every week? All valid questions, and truthfully, when given the choice it's tough to see why FOX would choose to renew Human Target at all. Perhaps it is because they recognize that it's a different show than the rest that are out there. I would wager that FOX is hoping that Human Target builds up it's audience in the 2nd season. I would advocate that to improve the ratings FOX should start playing up the comic book connection the show has. I think that comic books are still hot right now, and that angle has been underplayed in the marketing. Understandably this isn't the common, cape and mask comic book, but that needn't be a knock against it. I think the show needs to skew younger as well. I don't know what market FOX has in mind for the show but I'm assuming it's people like me, young males. I can therefore see why having an action show starring 3 middle aged guys might not be the best tactic. Every team needs a hot chick, get on it Human Target. Will it be jarring, yes, but if it puts people in seats then who's complaining?

I think I was actually hurt when I heard the rumours that Law & Order would be canceled. I thought it was safe. It's got to be humiliating to come so close to breaking the record and then be canceled. I don't know why either. NBC could have promoted the crap out of the fact that Law & Order would be the new longest running primetime show. I'm sure that would have added at least a few viewers, if not it would definitely remind some old ones. Fill the commercials with some nostalgia showing all the old partners, some classic Jerry Orbach quotes, I can see it now. Entertainment Weekly makes a decent argument that the show is going out while it still has some fire in it. It's given us new dynamics from these characters, and as old as the show is, it feels like it hasn't been all played out. While I agree with that, in the same respect how many people would say they haven't felt played out by Law & Order? When Anthony Anderson first joined the show those episodes were boring. Even during the end of the Jesse L. Martin/Jeremy Sisto run the episodes were starting to lose their lustre. Procedurals aren't like serials where a whole season can be written off. There are ebbs and flows in quality. Currently, and for a good part of this most recent season Law & Order has been doing good. Sooner or later it would start to decline again, and later after that it would return to that quality. I'll be sad to see Law & Order go. I know there are all the spin-offs: SVU, CI, UK and the new LA but it just won't be the same without the original. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the upcoming LA spin-off will involve all our favourite NY detectives and prosecutors getting in a van and traveling cross-country to work in LA. Perhaps that's why the original got axed, to pave the way for a reboot with LA. It's a shrewd move on NBC's part, 4 nights of Law and Order would never survive of course, but should they have killed the parent to save the child? I don't think so at all.

S. O. S. - Save Our Shows

It is my understanding that in about a week the TV networks announce their upcoming shows for the 2010-2011 Fall TV season. I'm as giddy as a kid on Christmas. This is also a time to reflect on what shows currently on the bubble will be getting another season or not. Without any further ado, here are my favourite shows that may not see the light of day after May, and why they should be renewed.

Flashforward
This is probably my favourite show of the most recent TV season and I don't understand all the hate directed towards the show by critics. The show's been laying down some pretty solid mysteries and are delivering answers at a decent rate. I understand critics complain about the character depth on the show, and I'll agree to them up to a point. The winter hiatus was a major godsend for the show. The creators really paid attention and did their best to try to minimize the story. Their sprawling epic was flavoured with too much "What did you see?" and not enough focus on character reactions (apart from Mark Benford). So why should this show be saved? Because it's gotten a lot better than it started. I've been a fan since the start but I can understand that the grandiose scale it started with can be offputting for some fans. Since the winter hiatus the show has worked hard to minimize it's plot in the storyline. They've chosen to work at one mystery a week and just hint at the other mysteries. They've improved the depth of their characters and frankly, more than any other show out there, this show feels the most like the spiritual successor to Lost.

Human Target
I know Human Target isn't the best show on TV right now. It might not even be a good show, but it is a decent show. More importantly, there is no show out there like it on TV right now. Watching Human Target is a throwback to shows in the 80s like Macgyver or The A-Team. It's escapist television. I don't watch Human Target to be challenged intellectually, I watch to see what trouble Christopher Chance is going to wind up in this week, and how he's going to escape it. If there's one thing the show needs to lay off of, is their attempt to graft an ongoing plot into the story with that FBI agent. It gives the show too much gravitas, something the show doesn't need. As well, it already has that storyline going on with Christopher Chance's backstory, we don't need 2 of them at once. Human Target is a fun show to watch and just turn your brain off to enjoy. As I understand it, FOX will decide between renewing either this show or Lie to Me. I say that Lie to Me has already had 2 seasons to establish it's base and it's struggled. It's tough to carve a market in an already crowded marketplace, especially with more flashy shows like CSI or broader shows like Criminal Minds. Human Target deserves their chance.

Law and Order

So this is cheating a little bit since it's more than likely that Law and Order will be renewed for a 21st season. However in the same respect I would say that most people don't watch Law and Order anymore and that should change. Law and Order is finally starting to tap into it's history in a way it should. Benjamin Bratt was on earlier this season, and they recently mentioned Arthur Branch in one episode. The Law and Order franchise is huge, and it's about time they started to have more crossovers and callbacks. The writers are also starting to turn the episode into a constant commentary on the real world. The show has stopped living in a vacuum and now starts to feel more and more integrated into modern life. Every episode seems centred around something a writer read in a newspaper the other week, apart from the even more obvious 'Ripped from the Headlines' episodes. I realize the cast isn't what it used to be, I think giving us Anthony Anderson instead of the Old Cop was a bad trade, but I am becoming big fans of Jeremy Sisto's Lupo and Linus Roache's Michael Cutter. Lupo is rough around the edges but is always the cop I want in my corner. Cutter always has the gears turning in his mind. He feels like a con artist, always trying to find some way to outwit the defendant or the jury. Perhaps instead of looking at the cast as losing some of their old stereotypes, we should see it as them trying something new and pushing the show. With S. Epatha Merkerson leaving the show at the end of this season, I look forward to seeing what new character they are going to come up with next.