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TV Wasteland: Thanksgiving Leftovers

The holiday keeps television quiet this week

By Rob Vaux     November 23, 2009


Thanksgiving Leftovers in the TV Wasteland
© Bob Trate

 

Thanksgiving Day means a truncated week for genre programming, as movies and holiday specials serve as filler in the place of regular programming. The pause gives us an opportunity to evaluate the various sci-fi, fantasy and horror shows out there, and to see how many of them will still be with us come May.
 
Unfortunately, the news isn't great for a number of shows, and the first casualties have already appeared. Eastwick and Dollhouse will not be returning; their respective networks have apparently opted to burn them off in December and make way for new programming in the new year. Other shows are hanging on, but for how long remains to be seen: Fringe has witnessed steadily declining ratings since its premiere, and despite a fast start, FlashForward has dipped considerably of late. Both are cleared for a full season's worth of episodes--promising a little closure at the very least--but will likely need a little help if they want to see renewal.
 
Of the remaining new shows, the only breakout hit appears to be The Vampire Diaries: riding the current popularity of bloodsuckers and delivering a weekly dose of Twilight-style angst with similarly vapid results. Clearly, the formula works and with ratings for the CW skewed decidedly towards the youth demographic, expect Goth moaning to continue from their Thursday nights for some time to come. Then there's V, ABC's much ballyhooed remake of the cult classic alien invasion series. Like FlashForward, it started strong, but its numbers have slipped steadily since then… coupled with a baffling decision to air four episodes in November, then pull the show until March. Who knows how many fans it will have left by the time it returns to the airwaves.
 
Older, more established shows appear to be doing much better. Smallville has successfully ported its audience over to Friday nights, Supernatural continues to hum merrily along, and Heroes appears to be undergoing a bit of renaissance (though it doesn't hurt to be on a network with bigger problems).The Friday night estrogen duo of Ghost Whisperer and Medium own their admittedly modest turf, and cable shows like Stargate Universe and Dexter are generating outstanding ratings. (While Universe is a new show, it has a long-standing franchise behind it to help boost it up.) Apparently, fans like what they're familiar with, and while the new shows have their share of adherents, they also have a lot less room to find traction.
 
That bodes well for midseason entries like Lost and 24--the former on its last season anyway--as well as franchise extensions such as Caprica, which hopes to emulate the success of its predecessor. Sadly, they may not have as much company as we might have liked, but there's always new soldiers to fill out the ranks. TV ratings are harsh, but shows are infinitely renewable… and there's always hope that the right ones will be able to tough it out.
 
Monday
Heroes (NBC, 8:00 PM EST)
Show of hands: who wants to have Thanksgiving with the Petrellis? Crash helmets will not be included, so be sure to bring your own.
 
Kill Bill (Spike, 6:30 PM EST)
Edited, truncated and packed with commercials, Quentin Tarantino's roaring rampage of revenge nonetheless gets a full airing (both parts) on Spike all evening.
 
Tuesday
V (ABC, 8:00 PM EST)
The first part of the season ends after just four episodes with Erika (Elizabeth Mitchell) uncovering a biological weapon possibly attached to the Visitors and Anna (Morena Baccarin) investigating the murder of a Visitor on the mother ship.
 
Ghost Lab (Discovery, 10:00 PM EST)
This week's episode focuses on a haunting in San Antonio, Texas and another one at a mall in Illinois.
 
The Matrix (AMC, 8:00 PM EST)
Keanu Reeves wants us to know that he knows kung fu. That is all.
 
Wednesday
Eastwick (ABC, 10:00 PM EST)
Dead show walkin', y'all. The burn-off begins with Darryl (Paul Gross) hosting a show for Roxie's (Rebecca Romijn) artwork and Joanna (Lindsay Price) taking steps to pull herself back together.
 
Ghost Hunters Academy (Syfy, 10:00 PM EST)
The recruits check out Eastern State Penitentiary: a historic landmark with a reputation for mysterious goings on.
 
The Matrix: Reloaded (AMC, 8:00 PM EST)
No really, it's pretty good. They just need a terrific part three to make sure it… oh… okay, never mind.
 
Ghost Hunters is a rerun this week.
 
Thursday
A fairly quiet evening allows you to better digest your turkey. I hope everyone has a good meal and that the Cowboys are crushed like tiny little bugs.
 
Casino Royale (Syfy, 9:00 PM EST)
Syfy closes an entire day of James Bond films with Daniel Craig's introduction to the series--widely regarded as one of the very best.
 
The Princess Bride (FMC, 7:15 PM EST)
Fencing, revenge, ROUSes, and the triumph of twu wuv await those so inclined on Fox Movie Classics.
 
FlashForward and Fringe are off. Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries are reruns.
 
Friday
300 (TNT, 8:00 PM EST)
What better way to celebrate Black Friday than with a bunch of steroid-laden extras in red cloaks cutting millions of Persians into mincemeat?
 
The Ninth Gate (IFC, 7:00 PM EST)
Brilliant director and erstwhile fugitive Roman Polanski has directed better films--when the set burns down a second time, we've clearly left the rails--but the creepy atmosphere and intriguing lead performance by Johnny Depp still make this one worth a look.
 
The Dark Knight (HBO, 9:00 PM EST)
Because you can never see it too many times.
 
Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and Smallville are reruns. Dollhouse is off, as are the various superhero/Star Wars cartoons.
 
Saturday
Iron Man: Armored Adventures (NickToons, 9:00 PM EST)
NickToons caps an Iron Man marathon with a new two-part episode, concluding the search for the Makluan Rings and featuring an appearance by Fin Fang Foom.
 
Beyond Sherwood Forest (Syfy, 9:00 PM EST)
Syfy appropriates everyone's favorite English bandit for this tale about a woman turned into a monster by a terrible curse. Robin Hood (Robin Dunne) must save her, along with Maid Marian (Erica Durance), who no doubt gets into all manner of trouble as well.
 
Lake Placid 2 (Syfy, 7:00 PM EST)
We're mentioning this direct-to-video sequel of the hardly stellar original just because Cloris Leachman is in it, and she rocks.
 
The Incredibles (ABC, 8:30 PM EST)
Those bemoaning the lack of a good Fantastic Four movie can take heart in Brad Bird's wonderful riff on the superheroic family dynamic.
 
Sunday
Dexter (Showtime, 9:00 PM EST)
The Trinity Killer may have nabbed a young boy, forcing Dexter (Michael C. Hall) to reconsider his plan of attack.
 
Wolverine and the X-Men (NickToons, 9:00 PM EST)
NickToons gives the whole day over to Wolverine episodes, concluding with the three-part finale to season one. Judging by how well the show has done so far, it's bound to be a doozy.
 
Cyclops (Syfy, 7:00 PM EST)
No Thanksgiving weekend would be complete without seeing Eric Roberts in a toga. They've also given him a CGI cyclops to dismiss with a wave of his wine-stained hand, but that's just icing on the cake.
 
Anaconda 3 (Syfy, 9:00 PM EST)
If the thought of a third entry in the always delightful Anaconda series isn't enough to get you to tune in, I have three magic words for you: "starring David Hasselhoff."

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COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

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redhairs99 11/23/2009 3:14:16 AM

An entire day of Bond on SyFy?  I guess they are trying to embrace that line that Sci-Fi doesn't reflect the diversity in their programming BS. 

hanso 11/23/2009 4:13:33 AM

Starbuck is gonna be on The Big Bang Theory tonight.

karas1 11/23/2009 5:26:02 AM

Well, the Bond films have always encompassed hi tech genre elements.  Other action films with scifi trappings have been quite at home on Scifi, er, Syfy.

Happy Turkey Day everybody.  Don't make yourselves too sick with overeating.  And remember to give thanks that you have plenty to eat, a warm home, clothes to wear etc.  More than half the people in the world don't have those things.

Kara S

Hobbs 11/23/2009 7:53:19 AM

Where are you getting your ratings?  Smallville has just barley been beating out Dollhouse this year according the nielsons.  

Supernatural is doing what it has done for 5 seaons.  It won't bring on any new audience members but won't lose what they have.

Fringe, according to what hanso was telling us months ago, Fox was planning on a decline on Thursday nights...just depends on how much of a decline they were looking for.  I've read on more than one site that show is on the edge as far as getting the axe.  If they move it back to Tuesdays they'll get their ratings back...if that's what they really want.  Never know what Foxs plan is sometimes.

Flashforward...I've given up on it.  The lead actor can't act, the show is trying waaaaaaayyyyy too hard to be Lost and is failing.  I already took it off my DVR, I really don't care what happens to all of them on future day.

Good news about Stargate, glad it found an audience.  I didn't really care for the pilot and still think the senators daughter needs to be killed off but overall I think its a good show.

Looking forward to Lost, 24, and Caprica next year.  It can replace the shows I've taken off the DVR.

 

ponyboy76 11/23/2009 12:59:27 PM

Fox, ha. Fox doesn't give a damn about its shows unless they are named "American Idol" or whatever other reality show is hot.  Fringe was doing fine where is was, then they moved it. Its not doing as well and instead of say moving it back they'll probably just cancel it. I love Fringe and think that its a really good show. It'll be a shame if it doesn't get another season.
Its like I said in another post. If the X-files come out now, it wouldn't have lasted 8 seasons. It is so much easier and cheaper for Fox to produce a $hitty ass reality show that will bring in millions of morons that why bother cultivating a good show.
By the way, anyone know when that Human Target show with Anna Torv's husband is coming out?

amjiva 11/23/2009 4:02:58 PM

Speaking of Dexter, last night's episode was excellent. The best episode this season.

LittleNell1824 11/23/2009 5:58:38 PM

I've given up on Flashforward too. I don't like the way its filmed (scenes, angles, lighting) and I don't like the directing. The mystery doesn't interest me and neither to the storylines. It seems more like a soap than a genre mystery, but it lacks a soap's energy and knowing wink. Alias knew how to play that stuff up. Even Lost knew enough to play it's more soapy story-lines (like the love triangle)  with a soap's umph.

Ghost Whisperer is also deleted from my DVR. It used to be a guilty pleasure, but without Jay Mohr or Aisha Tyler, it lost a lot of its goofy charm.

I have been liking some non-genre shows this year: Glee, Castle, The Mentalist, The Forgotten. Somethings gotta give - I can't sit in front of the TV every night.

karas1 11/23/2009 6:37:11 PM

I like Castle and The Mentalist too.  I also like Bones, Numb3rs and NCIS.  They're all procedurals, but really, I couldn't care less about the mystery du jour.  I like the characters and the way they interact.

Kara S

hanso 11/23/2009 7:29:41 PM

I haven't given up yet on Flash Forward but I'm getting close.  I'm tired of Benford's flashforward, they show it every damn episode.  I get it, he's drunk looking at a board with clues and some guys with masks and tatoos are after him.  How many times must they tell me the same shit?  I don't care about Benford, his wife, his daughter or what ends up happening to any of them.

I rather watch Parks & Recreation at 8:30 than FF, P&R has gotten a lot better this season and I find it's a nice lead in to The Office.

Little Nell - I see you mentioned Glee.  The Mrs and I watch it as well.  I was interested in it because it was Ryan Murphy who created it and he also created Nip/Tuck which I like though this season is too depressing and I'm looking forward to Nip/Tuck to end soon.

I'm digging the show so far and ithe songs they've been using on the episodes.  They have had more hip/hop/RB than I thought they would so that's been a plus for me.  My big fear for this show is that it doesn't go the Nip/Tuck route and goes with crazy over the top storylines. 

I also don't understand why they can't get kids to play the parts of high school kids.  I swear the guy that plays Finn must be 30 years old.  The guy playing Mr. Shuster looks younger than that bastard. 

hanso 11/23/2009 7:40:30 PM

Oh and mark your calendars kids.  Lost returns for it's final epic season on February 2, 2010!!!

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