I think they're both worth trying an ep or two even knowing they got cancelled. "please stop scanning my balls..."

If only the studios would saying something like "these are our new series this year, we hope you like them cos we think they're all fab, but if any don't get the numbers we will give the writers the opportunity to craft a finale so the viewers who stuck with it until the end at least get some closure " - or something like that. No more being-left-hanging as they have committed to giving us an ending.

Yeah, it's aired 3 or 4 episodes. It was ok, but not as good as the movie it came from, the main character was too much of an annoying try-hard.

well that is sort of what i mean. i imagine the direction is 'tone it down a bit williams, and a bit more, just a bit more, more...'

13 episodes. Each lead actor to only appear in a maximum of 9 episodes.

Fox announce schedule
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...sunday/262992/

Gotham will have 16 episodes
Sleepy Hollow to have 18
Glee has been held for mid-season with them being unsure whether it will have 22 episodes for it's final season.

Sleepy hollow suited it's 13 episode order to be honest. But maybe they will add in some standalone filler episodes to expand the plot across.

Ahh, Sleepy Hollow. A "PROPER" monster show like Buffy. Where the monsters are actual monsters and not just humans "I'm a monster inside" overused crap because Networks want to be cheap ass on the budget.

Revolution and Believe and Almost Human are excellent and didn't deserve cancelling

Whether you think they are excellent and undeserving of cancellation, the proof is in the pudding. The ratings sucked. But i will give you credit for Almost human. It's ratings and demos were not that bad and was worthy of a second season.

Quite a turnaround for Bad Robot, eh? "Alias" and "Lost" were huge hits, "Fringe"
and "Person of Interest" have their small but devoted audiences, but their last
few shows didn't catch on ("Alcatraz" didn't make it to another season either).

When you throw in the need to add filler to a 22 episode season and the fact that it is 50/50 as to whether that filler will lead to some sort of resolution it is a certainty that the big ad based networks will have to change their business model.

Quite a few of them are now moving to 13 episode event series that shouldn't have the filler and will reach some sort of conclusion - if they do well then they can have some form of continuation.

There are some good ideas out there and they just need to find a way of telling them in a better fashion.

That's where you're wrong, Person of Interest not only averages more viewers than both Alias and Lost, but it has almost double the viewers Alias did. It's a bigger hit than both, it's just not talked about in papers and magazines like Lost was.

And don't forget that other JJ Abrams show "Undercovers" I just don't get why he's so highly rated, specifically in regards to TV, as he doesn't have an amazing track record. Most of his shows start strongly but few last more than a few seasons.

Because Lost was a megahit, and one megahit is all it takes...

And as other people have pointed out Person of Interest is a success, so he has had several long running shows on air, occasionally simultaneously.

That's probably par for the course on US TV, though- not every TV show will be
a massive hit. Besides, Abrams gets kudos from me for "Fringe" and "Cloverfield".


I stand corrected! I had no idea how popular POI was- I assumed it was
simply a cult hit like "Fringe" and had no idea what a ratings champion
it really was.

No worries, I watch it every week and until I saw the actual ratings presumed it was in the region of 5-10m, but it gets at least 15m each episode. It's even improved slightly since it began, which most shows don't do.
If you haven't seen it, it is worth watching.

Abrams wasn't that involved with "Lost" beyond its launch, though - Lindelof and
Cuse seemed to be the main guys behind that show.

I suspect when Abrams pitches stuff to TV execs, his successful films also help get the projects going.

Interesting how Abrams hates flying- "Lost", "Fringe," and "Revolution" all feature
enough aircraft-related disasters to make you take the ferry for the rest of
your life.

I believe Abrams tends to set projects up and ensure it's running smoothly then move on to other things.

I think it's a bit like Fox used to attach Seth MacFarlane's name to things in order to get them picked up. I heard Seth himself admits he wasn't and isn't very heavily involved in American Dad.

Just like Sydney Newman used to create shows like "The Avengers" and "Doctor Who"
and then like the producers handle them.



Yeah, he doesn't have much involvement in AD beyond producing it and voicing
(the one ep he wrote was the AD pilot, which is one of the few weak episodes
of AD).

At the end of day, it's people like JJ who like adding their name to a product to claim credit and a pay cheque. Loads of people do it (Dick wolf, Jerry bruckheimer) but it's not a very good thing in my opinion.

ABC announce schedule
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...y-spot/263701/

I kinda got the impression that JJ Abrams was reasonably involved for the first few seasons, and then reduced his role as it went on. So it wasn't like they actually paying him to do nothing (in the beginning at least)

Interesting. I see Karen Gillan's sitcom has been picked up.

Always enjoy the May up-fronts: This seems like the best place for my thoughts regarding them so far.

NBC: I don't hold out much hope for their new shows. State Of Affairs looks promising. Constatine might have a chance and should pair well with Grimm but is not up my street. Comedies look DOA on the whole, Bad Judge might stand a chance. The Blacklist moving when it does is sensible as it gets the support from The Voice and SuperBowl so hopefully it should be able to stand on it's own two feet by the time it moves. It's almost as if NBC expect those Thursday comedies to fail or will they have their seasons wrap in Early- Feb?! Seems unlikely. Sophmore seasons for About A Boy and Chicago PD are difficult to predict. PD rated modestly after its renewal whether it will swing a third season will be delicate. About A Boy won't be directly behind The Voice anymore so a lot depends on how Marry Me does. Due to their shortened first seasons a third season renewal does not neccessitate a fourth season renewal so that should give them a bit of lee-way.

FOX: I'm impressed with the FOX schedule. Brooklyn Nine Nine is being given a great oppurtunity by being sandwiched between Simpsons and Family Guy. If it doesn't get a third season you can't blame the Fox scheduling they have given that show every chance. Mulaney looks OK but not really my bag. Animation into Single Cam into Animation into Multi Cam isn't the smoothest transition though. Utopia sounds interesting and I hope it does well, scheduling seems sensible to me. Hells Kitchen being brought forward is a good call, it always seems to do well. Possible chance of oversaturation with that and Master Jr on at the same time but it makes more sense than FOX throwing a new show to the wolves. Intrigued by Red Band Society sounds like it could be good, possibly to depressing to be a commercial success? Gotham seems to be the best chance for a breakout freshman hit whilst the trailer is darker than I expected it was the best trailer we've had this season. Pairing it with Sleepy Hollow is sensible. Whether it lives up to its potential or stutters like Agents Of Shield will be interesting, I personally think this has the edge on Shield but it won't help Gotham that there is an increasing amount of shows of its ilk. Don't understand why Almost Human couldn't have been kept for mid-season really if they are moving to year round programming. It needn't have been a matter of Gotham or Almost Human.

ABC: I think that Selfie, Cristella, Manhattan Love Story & Forever will all struggle, would be surprised if any got a renewal. Black-ish has potential and has a great slot, not sold on the title which was a problem for Trophy Wife. I think How To Get Away With Murder is ABC's best chance of a hit. The moves for Goldbergs and Shield are sensible. Wouldn't call either a lock for a third season though. Pushing Greys back is also sensible to deal with that pesky Thursday @ 8 slot.

Almost Human's ratings weren't terrible, they were average. It is a shame that the show did not get given a 2nd season. To be honest I think network TV need to lower their expectations of what good ratings are these days.

I doubt we will see a new Bad Robot TV project soon. They have taken a beaten these this last week.

True- but now they're involved in two of the biggest movie franchises that aren't
about a boy wizard or a tuxedoed secret agent, I doubt it'll bother them...