[_Vermin]

I've been watching the NBC sitcom 'Guys With Kids' - not going to say how, and I've really been enjoying it, which makes me wonder, why do we get the bad/sometimes cancelled sitcoms? The Big Bang Theory isn't even funny anymore, Whitney isn't that great, and How To Make it in America has been cancelled. Why don't we get things like The Boondocks, Parks and Recreation, and Workaholics? (I think Workaholics has been aired though, my bad.)

[degsyhufc]

Because the people in charge think differently to you

[_Vermin]

Originally Posted by degsyhufc

Because the people in charge think differently to you

Aw man

[Gulfam1]

Originally Posted by _Vermin

I've been watching the NBC sitcom 'Guys With Kids' - not going to say how, and I've really been enjoying it, which makes me wonder, why do we get the bad/sometimes cancelled sitcoms? The Big Bang Theory isn't even funny anymore, Whitney isn't that great, and How To Make it in America has been cancelled. Why don't we get things like The Boondocks, Parks and Recreation, and Workaholics? (I think Workaholics has been aired though, my bad.)

Parks and Recreation will be coming to bbc4 soon.

The big bang theory is a very successful show in America and here, also Guys with Kids will soon be cancelled judging by the ratings on NBC. If the topic was why we get cancelled shows here that's different but bad and cancelled shows is a whole different topic and at the end it comes down to personal taste. Some shows might be brilliant and they cancelled or some might be bad and they get shown here but what is classed as bad differs

[alternate]

I am closer to your tastes than the mainstream but the shows you list get a fraction of the viewers of the things like BBT. "bad" is very subjective in this case.

[AceMcCloud]

I think a more apt way to put it would be

Why do we get US shows that have already been cancelled?

I seen a trailer for 666 Park Avenue even though it's been cancelled and it's not the only one

fair enough I know a lot of shows get cut but that one especially was cut quite early on and I'm assuming the majority of the British public won't know that before they get into it

[MoreTears]

Originally Posted by AceMcCloud

I think a more apt way to put it would be

Why do we get US shows that have already been cancelled?

I seen a trailer for 666 Park Avenue even though it's been cancelled and it's not the only one

fair enough I know a lot of shows get cut but that one especially was cut quite early on and I'm assuming the majority of the British public won't know that before they get into it

ITV2 bought 666 Park Avenue before it even aired in the US. I am pretty sure the contract doesn't get voided because the show was cancelled, as long as there are episodes to supply ITV2 with. The production company was probably even paid up front.

[degsyhufc]

Originally Posted by AceMcCloud

I think a more apt way to put it would be

Why do we get US shows that have already been cancelled?

I seen a trailer for 666 Park Avenue even though it's been cancelled and it's not the only one

fair enough I know a lot of shows get cut but that one especially was cut quite early on and I'm assuming the majority of the British public won't know that before they get into it

I don't see why. There are many great and good series that have only had one, two or three series/seasons and in the UK that could mean less than twenty episodes in total.

[Gulfam1]

tbh I think that cancelled shows are only annoying when things are left open ended or on a cliffhanger, if thats not the case with 666 Park Av then I doubt UK viewers who arent aware of the show's cancellation will even notice, after all UK audiences are used to UK series being 6-7-13 episodes long


EDIT: although ITV2 have been unlucky this year with 3/4 of the shows they bought getting cancelled and the fourth heading the same way they at least bought the shows when they were new, unlike say Comedy Central and Watch who bought shows like How to be a Gentleman (?) and A Gifted Man after the fact that they were cancelled in America no doubt getting them cheaper and airing them as filler on their channels.

[degsyhufc]

I did notice that ITV had new US comedy series on. I wondered whether they did a deal either on buying it at the pilot stage or knowing that they were already cancelled so got them cheap.

[tamibeckett]

Originally Posted by _Vermin

I've been watching the NBC sitcom 'Guys With Kids' - not going to say how, and I've really been enjoying it, which makes me wonder, why do we get the bad/sometimes cancelled sitcoms? The Big Bang Theory isn't even funny anymore, Whitney isn't that great, and How To Make it in America has been cancelled. Why don't we get things like The Boondocks, Parks and Recreation, and Workaholics? (I think Workaholics has been aired though, my bad.)

Unfortunately it is very difficult to have shows that are of good quality (especially in critics eyes) AND be accessible to a broader audience.

[AceMcCloud]

Originally Posted by degsyhufc

I don't see why. There are many great and good series that have only had one, two or three series/seasons and in the UK that could mean less than twenty episodes in total.

Yes but they were written to only go over 6 episodes so have a start, middle and some sort of end more often than not

To the other poster about buying before it aired, I didn't know that, pretty much answers my question lol

[koantemplation]

Originally Posted by degsyhufc

I did notice that ITV had new US comedy series on. I wondered whether they did a deal either on buying it at the pilot stage or knowing that they were already cancelled so got them cheap.

As far as I know the ITV 2 comedies were brought before they were cancelled.

Ben & Kate, Animal Practice and Up All Night (not cancelled yet), plus 666 Park Avenue.

[ironjade]

A cancelled show isn't necessarily bad (Terriers, Caprica) and a long running show isn't necessarily good (Friends, Supernatural).

[Metal Mickey]

Originally Posted by koantemplation

As far as I know the ITV 2 comedies were brought before they were cancelled.

Ben & Kate, Animal Practice and Up All Night (not cancelled yet), plus 666 Park Avenue.

I did chuckle to myself when I saw the trail for Ben & Kate, Animal Practice and Up All Night the other night, knowing they were all "not long for this world".

ITV do have bad luck with US imports - of some that spring to mind, Raines (with Jeff Goldblum) deserved better, as did Rob Corddry's The Winner... they also went through a phase of buying anything with an English actor in (Pushing Daisies, Bionic Woman, Life), but none of them lasted either... Same goes for the BBC though - "Pan Am" was on the cover of Radio Times the very week it was (effectively) cancelled in the US.

I wonder if anyone over here did a deal for "Do No Harm" (cancelled after 2 episodes - ouch!)

[koantemplation]

Originally Posted by Metal Mickey

I did chuckle to myself when I saw the trail for Ben & Kate, Animal Practice and Up All Night the other night, knowing they were all "not long for this world".

ITV do have bad luck with US imports - of some that spring to mind, Raines (with Jeff Goldblum) deserved better, as did Rob Corddry's The Winner... they also went through a phase of buying anything with an English actor in (Pushing Daisies, Bionic Woman, Life), but none of them lasted either... Same goes for the BBC though - "Pan Am" was on the cover of Radio Times the very week it was (effectively) cancelled in the US.

I wonder if anyone over here did a deal for "Do No Harm" (cancelled after 2 episodes - ouch!)

Yes good call on 'Raines', 'Pushing Daisies', 'Bionic Woman', and 'Life'.

All good shows that should have done better but for some reason never lasted long.

[Victim Of Fate]

There's really two questions here:

1) Why do UK broadcasters air shows that got cancelled in the US?

Sometimes, it's because they bought them before they were cancelled. That was certainly the case with ITV2's latest foray into US scripted content. The broadcasters first see a lot of these shows in May, and sometimes have to take a gamble on which ones they think are going to be a success. If they wait until the show airs in the US, then they run the risk that someone else will buy it first.

But sometimes, a UK broadcaster will buy a show even after it's been cancelled in the US. This is normally because they can get it fairly cheap, and it's still "new" programming, so will probably get better ratings than a repeat of something old.

I personally don't have an issue with this. If UK broadcasters didn't do this, then we would never have had Firefly, My So-Called Life, Studio 60, or any one of a number of other great shows air on TV in this country. I would prefer UK broadcasters to do this rather than just ignore shows that have been cancelled - I don't really see an issue with it, as the alternative is just more repeats.

2) Why don't UK broadcasters air some shows that have run for a few seasons?

Again two reasons:

Sometimes, they actually have aired in the UK, just on a channel or in a time slot that means that nobody noticed. Community, arguably the best sitcom on TV, aired its first season on Viva, and its second season on Sony TV, but I doubt you'd find many people that have heard of it, and most people that have watched it in the UK will either have bought the DVD or downloaded it.

But more often, it's because UK broadcasters don't think that people would watch. And they're probably right. If you look at how 30 Rock does compared with Two and a Half Men on Comedy Central, it should be no surprise that most channels were fairly reluctant to pick up Parks and Rec, regardless of how good it is. Breaking Bad has been tried on FX and 5 USA, and in both cases failed to deliver an audience, so people just watch it on DVD now.

[Verence]

Originally Posted by Metal Mickey

I did chuckle to myself when I saw the trail for Ben & Kate, Animal Practice and Up All Night the other night, knowing they were all "not long for this world".

ITV do have bad luck with US imports - of some that spring to mind, Raines (with Jeff Goldblum) deserved better, as did Rob Corddry's The Winner... they also went through a phase of buying anything with an English actor in (Pushing Daisies, Bionic Woman, Life), but none of them lasted either... Same goes for the BBC though - "Pan Am" was on the cover of Radio Times the very week it was (effectively) cancelled in the US.

I wonder if anyone over here did a deal for "Do No Harm" (cancelled after 2 episodes - ouch!)

UKTV got the rights to Do No Harm and it was due to be shown on Watch


Going off on a slight tangent I'm still a bit annoyed that no UK channel has picked up the rights to the fifth and last season of Chuck

[logansdad]

I think also that Uk TV companies have to buy shows in packages, as in, they just don't but the one show they want but 2 or 3 others as well. Years ago i got into Third Watch which C4 started showing in the dead of night. I emailed them to ask why they didn't seem to be supporting it and the reply i got was along these lines, it came as part of the deal when buying ER.

[Verence]

Originally Posted by logansdad

I think also that Uk TV companies have to buy shows in packages, as in, they just don't but the one show they want but 2 or 3 others as well. Years ago i got into Third Watch which C4 started showing in the dead of night. I emailed them to ask why they didn't seem to be supporting it and the reply i got was along these lines, it came as part of the deal when buying ER.

I think it's the same with films.

If a channel wants to buy the right to the latest massive blockbuster they have to buy a package which also includes the rights to show garbage like Police Academy 87

[storm818]

Originally Posted by ironjade

A cancelled show isn't necessarily bad (Terriers, Caprica) and a long running show isn't necessarily good (Friends, Supernatural).

Wouldn't use Friends as an example there. You may not like it but more people than not loved it.

[Victim Of Fate]

Originally Posted by logansdad

I think also that Uk TV companies have to buy shows in packages, as in, they just don't but the one show they want but 2 or 3 others as well. Years ago i got into Third Watch which C4 started showing in the dead of night. I emailed them to ask why they didn't seem to be supporting it and the reply i got was along these lines, it came as part of the deal when buying ER.

Yes, this is often the case, especially with the bigger channels. So, for example, Channel 4 might want to buy a big new US drama, and the distributor might say "well, Sky have made an offer too, but if you want to buy these additional shows that we haven't been able to sell, we'll sell you the big show too." So Channel 4 buy the big show, and are then stuck with two weaker shows that they don't particularly want.

[_Vermin]

Originally Posted by koantemplation

As far as I know the ITV 2 comedies were brought before they were cancelled.

Ben & Kate, Animal Practice and Up All Night (not cancelled yet), plus 666 Park Avenue.

Ben & Kate got cancelled? Damn. Never really payed much attention to Animal Practice, and from what I've seen, Up All Night seems like it won't be cancelled.

[theonlyweeman]

Originally Posted by _Vermin

Ben & Kate got cancelled? Damn. Never really payed much attention to Animal Practice, and from what I've seen, Up All Night seems like it won't be cancelled.

Up All Night is a zombie of a show. It's dead, but it hasn't given up the ghost yet...

[downtonfan]

Whitney is one of the worst pieces of shit I have ever seen in my life. She is awful.