The fall season of 2009 kicked off with one very solid, vital piece of information: that this would be the sixth and final season of ABC's Lost. While the fate of other shows hung in the balance, ABC was aware for definite that one of it's biggest hit shows was about to create a massive hole in their schedule, and set about finding a replacement.
Sci-Fi Television
In the fall season of 2004, ABC premiered two shows that would change the face of television drama -- Lost and Desperate Housewives. Both shows pioneered 'rabbit-hole' television, blending mystery, intrigue and drama that kept viewers hooked week after week. But after six seasons, it was decided that the increasingly complex mysteries of Lost would have to be solved.
To take over the mantel of the hit sci-fi series, ABC commisioned FlashForward. The show's premise revolved around a worldwide blackout of conciousness, during which time everybody saw a premonition of what was going to happen to them nine months later. The early episodes proved addictive: governments began to investigate, marriages began to disintegrate and society began to descend into anarchy with the burden of uncertainty.
Unfortunately, in an attempt to emulate the twists and mysteriousness of many Lost storylines, the writers decided to include a bewildering array of sub-plots concerning a constantly changing, always growing number of characters. Viewers did not have time to get to know these characters and so found it hard to empathise with their plight.
In the end, the sheer volume of information being presented to viewers on a weekly basis made many people switch off altogether. Despite boasting a pre-planned, five season story arc, the steady ratings decline meant that FlashForward was not renewed for a second season.
Cancellation Controversy
This past season also saw the end of many shows which were to seen to be past their sell-by date. Fox's trailblazing real-time drama 24 entered it's eighth season with viewing figures far below that of it's heyday. Despite previously winning two Golden Globes and eighteen Emmys, Fox began to complain about it's famously high production costs, which were increasingly at odds with it's sliding ratings. Eventually, they bit the bullet and announced that this series would be the last. Ratings for the final episode were solid, but not spectacular.
NBC's courtroom drama Law & Order astoundingly entered it's twentieth season on air. The record for longest running drama series was held by Gunsmoke, which also ran for twenty seasons, and the production team of Law & Order were assured they would receive an order for another season -- thereby taking the record for longest running drama.
However, this was not to be as it was decided that the show would finish at the end of the current season. Both Law & Order and Gunsmoke are now tied for the above record -- even though Law & Order has several spin-off shows running and at least one more in development, inciting anger from fans as to why Law & Order was not renewed.
One Season Wonders
With so much airtime to fill and so many new pilots and series ordered each year, it is inevitable that some will not make it past their first season. Looking back to this time last year, there was a lot riding on a number of high-profile shows, and several have failed to deliver.
Having lost the wildly popular ER at the end of the previous season, NBC attempted to replicate it's success with two new medical dramas, Trauma and Mercy. Neither of these shows proved to have any staying power: Mercy started off with a strong viewing figures, but these soon tapered off; and Trauma suffered from low ratings during it's initial thirteen episode run, prompting NBC not to order anymore episodes - they then changed their minds and ordered more, but ratings never improved.
In The End
In the last couple of years, shows that have been cancelled by one network have been picked up for broadcast elsewhere, with mixed results. Medical comedy Scrubs moved to ABC after being cancelled by NBC, but lasted only one season before the plug was pulled. However, supernatural crime drama Medium moved from NBC to CBS and has undergone something of a renaissance, with improved ratings and better promotion making it a staple of the CBS Friday night schedule.
Ghost Whisperer, however, though it was broadcast in the slot right before Medium, was finally cancelled after it continued to shed viewers. The hope was that the show would be picked up by ABC, but this was not to be and it has now gone for good.
Similarly, Heroes, despite massive ratings and critical success in it's first year, went sharply downhill in it's second season. In spite of this, it was renewed for a further two seasons but, having never recovering it's large initial fanbase, and even becoming critically derided, the show has now been put out of it's misery by NBC.
The networks have recently announced their schedules for September onwards, but it is too early to tell which dramas will be the big hits or misses of the season. Many shows will not even air entire seasons, and some may go on to run for twenty years. It all remains to be seen.
Thomas Dearnley-Davison - I am a Brighton, UK based writer specialising in film and television. I also write screenplays and stage plays. Feel free to get in touch: ...
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