Fox thankfully valued the critical love for the show and kept it going.Īrrested Development, however, is a perfect example of exactly what is wrong with Fox. Hell, as much as we all adored Arrested Development, if it came down to ratings, it should have been cancelled long before it did. ABC has recently announced that they are renewing critical darling Friday Night Lights, despite its poor ratings, so there is hope out there. Grey’s Anatomy didn’t start out as the ratings juggernaut it is now. Criminal Minds and even the original CSI took some time to develop the audiences they hold now. There are, however, multiple exceptions, and the above statement is by no means meant to be taken as a generalization.
#Wonderfalls hulu tv
TV is, ultimately, a business, and as much as a show may be great, if it isn’t making money, then it just doesn’t make financial sense. Having a show in the Top 20 is where the real advertising money can be found. With specialty cable networks leading to increasingly compartmentalized audiences, networks want the big hits more than the small ones. Everyone wants a hit right out of the flood gates, a la Lost, Heroes, Ugly Betty, and Desperate Housewives. While Fox is the worst example of this, there seems to be a general hesitance to let a new show find its sea-legs.
Part of it might be the state of the industry.
Why bother spending hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on a show that you’ll end up pulling your support for by either marketing it improperly or not picking a good or consistent time slot? Obviously, the network likes these shows on some level, otherwise they wouldn’t approve them for production - yet why is Fox so willing to throw the towel in as soon as it appears that these shows aren’t out-of-the-gate hits? What’s the point of believing in a show enough to make it, only to lose faith as soon as it hits the air? Frankly, this also doesn’t make sense financially. They differentiate themselves from other networks by giving quirky, fresh, and solid shows a chance, only to smother their new babies when they feel that they aren’t walking soon enough. That being said, this is precisely what is so damn frustrating about Fox. If for nothing else, we should at least acknowledge and be grateful that Fox even let these shows leave their creators’ brains or script pages. Could you really see any other network approving a show about the daughter of Satan, about a living rabbit puppet, about a man dressed as a gigantic blue tick, about a young girl to whom novelty items speak to, or a space western? Even 24 before it hit the air was an unconventional risk with its real-time, split-screen gimmick. Fox is one of the few networks outside of HBO and Showtime that actually takes creative chances and approves shows that aren’t just medical dramas or crime procedurals (though, of course, it has those too). Let’s be honest here, these shows would probably never have even made it on the air if it weren’t for Fox.
As a result, I think something gets overlooked. Whenever TV-aficionados discuss Fox, it’s usually through gritted teeth, holding back feelings of betrayal, disappointment, and melancholy, so objectivity is sometimes misplaced. Now, before I go further, I do think that credit should be given where it’s due. With the recent news that Fox has yet again effectively killed another show before it even really got started (their most recent victim being Drive), I found myself wondering: what the heck is wrong with Fox? Want an idea of how bad Fox is? Allow Seth McFarlane - whose Family Guy was also once cancelled - to enlighten you. The end result? Fox either kills its children slowly and painfully (Arrested Development) or quickly and immediately (Wonderfalls). Their methods include insufficient promotion, changing a show’s time slot so often that nobody knows when it’s on, and a general impatience to let a show find its groove and/or audience. Amongst TV-lovers, Fox has developed a notorious reputation for being a network that often screws over some of its best shows. If you were ever a devoted watcher of one of the many cancelled Fox shows, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Things seemed good, and then before you knew what happened, somebody came and took your love away from you. The love to which you were so attached - and looked forward to seeing every week.
The love that you cherished, that you connected with the moment you met. You’ve all been there, most of you more than once. The broadcasting company, not the character from X-files who was created by the broadcasting company.
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