Canceled TV Shows Get Proper Burial Online

from the bring-back-Firefly dept

Wed, Dec 20th 2006 4:44pm — Karl Bode

Popular shows such as ABC's Lost or NBC's Heroes have found their way online, after the industry finally realized that offering shows via broadband actually increased network viewership. Now it appears the studios are tinkering with using the Internet as a place where cancelled serial dramas can go to die -- appealing to fans of series with plotlines that have been left unresolved. One such example is ABC's Day Break, a Groundhog Day-esque cop drama that was cancelled after it failed to fill in for Lost while ABC's cash cow was on Christmas hiatus. To appease fans, ABC is streaming the remaining 7 episodes online. Other cancelled series such as CBS's Smith, NBC's Kidnapped, and Fox's Vanished got to tie up their loose ends online. While this seems to be exciting some people, it looks like most of the time the espisodes were already in the can, and if the series was left un-filmed, customers got un-filmed plot summaries instead. It only makes sense to air already produced episodes in order to make fans happy; more interesting perhaps will be when (or if) the studios move cancelled niche shows on-line not just to die -- but to live on via new (if not quite as highly produced) episodes.

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14 Comments

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William C Bonner, 20 Dec 2006 @ 5:21pm

I don't understand why they don't show the produce
The real thing I don't understand is that there's air time showing repeats. Do most of those repeats get better viewership than the unwatched episodes?

If they've got the already produced episodes, and they are putting them on-line, that shows the real demand for the episode. They can get real feedback as to how many people watch the shows.

But I'm not going to sit and watch "Kidnapped" in a tiny window on my PC while I'm connected to the internet. (That was the canceled show that I would have liked to see the rest of the season. ) If I could download the show, and watch it completely from my computer I'd be likely to do that. If I could download it and burn it to a CD to watch in my DVD player, I'd do that, even if they put TV commercials in the normal places. I would want it to be at least DVD quality video though, since I've gotten used to watching it in HDTV quality video when I watch it over the air.
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Doug, 20 Dec 2006 @ 5:32pm

Great...
I actually liked Day Break... oh well...

I don't think this is exactly a good idea though, if the show failed then it probably won't get good web ratings anyway. What these networks need to do, is stop trying to be like Hollywood and make decent programming again. How many shows during the week actually make you laugh now? How many shows do you watch leaving you feeling up-beat?

Lately it's been nothing but dramas for America's top shows, and face it, because we eat it up like starving Ethiopians devouring a live chicken, they'll continue to serve us lower quality crap along with the occasional high quality meal. Again, this is because our society has become a "Throw away" society, where hardly anything lasts 3 years on TV, movies are forgettable, cars are made of plastics to be recycled... and because of that, everyone is in a rush to make the newer, the better, but in reality the old adage "Haste makes waste" starts to become applicable.

It's a change needed by the entire society, not just the media outlets or manufacturers of goods. Our mind-set as a nations needs to change. We need to start to hold things that deserve it, close to us with great value, instead of looking for cheap replacements of the last POS that broke.
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Chris-Tae, 20 Dec 2006 @ 5:41pm

Re: Great...
You have a point. Most of the movies I remember and think of as 'keepers' are from the 70s, 80s and early 90s. There's very few from the late 90s through today that I actually go back and watch again with enthusiasm. I also see how TV and American music are both going the same route.
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Tmax, 20 Dec 2006 @ 5:56pm

Well...
I'm with you on the movies. I can't say that I even own any from this century. Television is not much better, and as a result, I've pretty much stopped watching it. However, with online streaming of episodes, I can watch what I want WHEN I want to without the need for expensive PVRs and such. I think it's a great way to increase viewership...even for shows that haven't been given the axe.
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Tmax, 20 Dec 2006 @ 5:56pm

Well...
I'm with you on the movies. I can't say that I even own any from this century. Television is not much better, and as a result, I've pretty much stopped watching it. However, with online streaming of episodes, I can watch what I want WHEN I want to without the need for expensive PVRs and such. I think it's a great way to increase viewership...even for shows that haven't been given the axe.
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nuzzy, 20 Dec 2006 @ 8:15pm

Should have done this with Invasion
I wish they would have done this with Invasion last year. A good series that the jackasses at ABC decided to cancel because the almighty dollar wasn't where they wanted it...
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Matt, 20 Dec 2006 @ 9:50pm

Arrested Development?
Man, the perfect candidate for this would have been Arrested Development. In my opinion, it was the best sitcom in years...god I miss that show...
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JessicaTennor, 20 Dec 2006 @ 11:52pm

Arrested Development...
The only reason that show failed was because of David Cross. EVERYTHING that man is in, is destined to fail.

Just look at the record of failed shows he's been in, I swear he's cursed.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2006 @ 4:23am

Re: Arrested Development?
Arrested Development is online at msn.com, and has been for a while.
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Sanguine Dream, 21 Dec 2006 @ 6:14am

Re: Great...
I totally agree. When it comes to TV the networks just jump from fad to fad. NBC is really bad of this. The show I think was called Sunset Strip or something like that (with Tina Fey) is a good example. I didn't watch it myself but heard good stuff about it. And low and behold it's already cancelled. The reason, they are trying to instantly recreate the sitcom powerhouse of Fraiser, Seinfeld, Friends, and Will & Grace. The execs don't realize those shows had to build up their followings. You can't create success like that in 10 episodes.

If NBC hadn't cancelled Commited after like 8 episodes I really think it could have taken off.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2006 @ 6:29am

Re: I don't understand why they don't show the pro
If I could download the show, and watch it completely from my computer I'd be likely to do that.

Try BitTorrent to download the show. That's what I did with "Vanished". Although it might technically be a copyright violation, since the network put it up online, I don't have any ethical issues.

I even downloaded the last 7 episodes of "Joey" that were only broadcast outside the US.
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Chronno S. Trigger, 21 Dec 2006 @ 8:26am

what there doing
There not putting the shows up online to get people to start watching it there doing it so that the people that like the show and don't want to see it end have some closure. At the most sinister, it's an attempt to get more people to watch the channel by showing, or at least pretend, that they actually care about the viewers. I want all the channels to do this so when something I like is cancelled I can still see the end.
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savannah142, 22 Dec 2006 @ 12:54pm

Re: I don't understand why they don't show the pro
Kidnapped was an excellent show and Sony Pictures Television had already outlined a 13 episode wrap up of the storyline in case the series was cancelled. When it was, they had a plan and a storyline already in place. The final episode is up today (12/22) and you can really tell they planned well because fans on the NBC.com Kidnapped are pleased I believe with the results. Sure we lost some things, but what a difference planning makes and it really was pleasing to see the storyline resolved rather than to have the show pulled out from under our feet without a resolution. Good job Sony. Still made an NBC for cancelling Kidnapped, but I have to give them a slap on the back because they at least allowed me to see what happened to Leo Cain.
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