Simma Down Now, FOX

The past week I have somehow been drawn into two good FOX shows which were, of course, long since canceled. I need to specify, as there have been so very, very many:

The Sleuth Channel is running Keen Eddie, which briefly appeared back in 2003. Like most FOX shows, I saw the premiere and enjoyed it, but somehow never saw it again. The Chiller Channel regularly runs Kindred: The Embraced, but I've yet to sit down and watch it for no reason; today, the Sci-Fi Channel ran a brief marathon, which I did watch and really enjoyed. Yet another show I got into, but only saw a few episodes.

I was going to review FOX' latest sci-fi/fantasy outing - the one about the immortal detective - but I really didn't know what to think of the first episode and I only caught a few minutes of the second one and my interest petered-out for a week or two and it was gone! I saw the debut of Skin many years past and it was okay, but not my cup o' tea - no matter, as it was the only episode I think they ran. And that Julianna Margulies series was pretty good - saw the premiere of that one, too.

You seeing a pattern here?

Now I know everyone complains about the rapidity with which TV cancels shows these days, but FOX' problem isn't so much one of quick cancellation (though there's that), but one of just "throwing the baby out the door." They have a really bad habit of over-promoting these new series to the point that they are hyped beyond any debut's ability to capture an audience without a two-hour premiere (which FOX does not do), and then they literally drop the whole thing! That's why so many of them are literally here one second, gone the next! If they don't somehow immediately gather a cult following, they're over!

FOX might not like it, but just like the other networks, they need to simma down, make a quality, hour-long drama - nothing too "high-concept," nothing too "groundbreaking" - and keep it in the same timeslot for a few seasons. Then make a really shitty, thoroughly banal sit-com and set it in the same timeslot for several seasons. This is how the network became established in the first place!

But FOX executives are determined to stick to the youth-oriented shockfests that come roaring out the gate, then court so much controversy they burn themselves out before they mature. Face it, guys: that shit was fresh in the 90s - your target audience has grown-up with the network, but the network is ignoring us! We're older, we're busier, and we need time to gravitate toward things.

The biggest reason I haven't been watching Embraced on Chiller is because I didn't want to get caught-up in another show I would "miss." Especially since, knowing it was on so briefly, missing one episode pretty much blows the whole shebang! It took me - me! - until the second season to get into Supernatural - and the fifth season for Smallville! But now I never miss them. And the only reason I succumbed to Charmed was because I knew it had been on for several years and I wasn't likely to miss a single episode that would ruin the rest of the series for me (and it was on four hours a day, so I was guaranteed to catch any missed episodes).

The only other options they have are to either develop a model like the BBC's or bring back the Made-for-TV Movie - which I have been suggesting for years now, specifically because so many great series have been canceled so early! Imagine the returns they could be drawing on licensing if they sold or granted the rights to NBCUniversal for Sci-Fi Channel Movies, not to mention how the renewed interest would boost DVD sales of the original series.

If FOX thinks this current, half-assed model of dumping "maybes" on network TV and saving the grown-up versions of 21 Jump Street for FX is working, then they should really invest a little in buying them some Internet!

© C Harris Lynn, 2008