Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

We looked at the shows with the highest likelihood for renewal in Part 1, now it’s time to look at those fighting for their survival.  Science Fiction and Fantasy television shows tend not to pull large audiences, yet they have higher production costs because of their more ambitious nature.  For this reason, networks tend to give them the thumbs down when faced with the decisions over which shows to renew.  Following are this season’s shows whose prospects do not appear too bright at current time.

Better Watch Their Step:
These shows have a chance a getting renewed, but they will have to be on their toes for the Spring months and pull solid ratings.

The Eleventh Hour (CBS) – It seems strange to me, but CBS does not have much confidence in this show despite that fact that it pulled some hefty numbers during Fall.  In fact, among the genre shows, it is second to only The Mentalist and has averaged over 11 million total viewers per episode.  Still, it regularly lost a fair chunk of the lead-in audience from CSI, which seemed to have irked CBS execs.  They only ordered five additional episodes for Spring, so the show needs to make the most of its extended lease on life if it wants to see a second season.

Life on Mars (ABC) – This show performed well competing against The Eleventh Hour on CBS in the 10 PM EST Thursday night slot.  In fact, its earlier episodes topped its competitor in the coveted 18-49 demographic.  But it started to cede that audience as the season progressed and regularly lost a fair amount of viewers from its Grey’s Anatomy lead-in.  Starting January 28th, it will move to the Wednesday 10 PM EST lead-out slot from Lost which would seem to improve its prospects.  However, not too many shows have succeeded in that timeslot in seasons past.

Dollhouse (FOX) – I know, this one hasn’t even aired and the naysayers are already burying it.  But the early behind the scenes struggles don’t bode well and the Friday 9 PM EST timeslot does not look promising.  I want Joss Whedon’s new series to succeed, and I will definitely tune in, but remember which network it airs on.  Sure, they had patience with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but that one (now in the lead-in slot for Dollhouse) is currently on a short leash.  If this one does not pull solid numbers out of the gate, it prospects will diminish quickly.

The Future Looks Grim:
These shows are either on pretty shaky ground or they will be debuting with the odds against them.  Each one needs to pull some really exceptional numbers if they want to live beyond Spring.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX) – No question about it, this show has stunk it up in the ratings in its second season.  With that in mind, we have to give FOX credit for sticking with it and pulling the trigger on a full season order (a rare show of support from the much-maligned network).  Still, they’ve made it clear that The Sarah Connor Chronicles needs to show a significant improvement in performance.  And I don’t have a lot of confidence in it doing that in the Friday 8 PM EST timeslot.  Maybe this one and Dollhouse will find some synergies and make a strong stand on Friday nights, but Vegas isn’t giving very good odds. It wouldn’t hurt for them to spruce up the scripts a bit because the inconsistent writing in Season 2 has only added to its woes.

Reaper (CW) – This enjoyable little romp has the critics on its side, but has yet to attract many viewers.  True, the CW isn’t looking for huge ratings returns for their shows, but in its first season, Reaper’s numbers were anemic by that network’s standards.  It only barely averted a face-to-face encounter with its namesake when it received a last minute pick-up as a mid-season replacement.  Now it finds itself on Tuesday nights in the 9 PM EST timeslot facing some pretty stiff competition from The Mentalist on CBS and Fringe on FOX.  I’d love to see it stick around, but I’m not getting my hopes too high.

Cupid (ABC) – I just don’t get this one.  ABC revives a failed concept from ten years ago that not too many people were screaming to see revived (can you say: Firefly?), then air it as a mid-season replacement and stick it into the Tuesday 10 PM death slot that claimed Eli Stone earlier this season and Jericho the season before that.  I don’t see this one succeeding considering the odds against it, and frankly I don’t think I care.

Kings (NBC) – I like the concept of this one, but I question its viability in the Prime Time arena.  Originally, NBC planned to have this show lead-out a Sunday night Fantasy block that would have included the BBC’s new Merlin (currently in limbo) and Medium.  But they scrapped that idea and moved it to the Thursday 10 PM timeslot leading out their two-hour comedy block.  I don’t like its prospects there, but who knows?  This could become the next big genre “water cooler” show like Lost and Heroes.  But unless it comes out of the gates strong, I doubt it will return next Fall, especially considering the fact that NBC will at that time cede five hours of Prime Time programming per week to Jay Leno (and seeing as Kings will occupy the 10 PM slot, the Leno steamroller is heading in its direction).

Pack Your Bags:
This last show already has one foot out the door.

Knight Rider (NBC) – This one tanked in the ratings and in the quality department pretty much right away.  The peacock network still gave it a full season order because it scored well with the elusive young male viewers and probably also because they did not want to give up on the franchise too quickly.  Still, the numbers went from bad to worse and they cut the back-nine order to only four and insisted on a retooling of the show.  They will keep it on the schedule for now and air the remaining episodes, but expect this clunker to hit the junk-heap before the season is over.

Already Cancelled or Ending Their Run:

Pushing Daisies (ABC) – Cancelled in Fall
Eli Stone (ABC) – Cancelled in Fall
My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) – Cancelled in Fall
Valentine (CW) – Cancelled in Fall

(For more on the four above, see my article Why Were They Cancelled?)

Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi) – Final Season
Stargate: Atlantis (Sci Fi) – Final Season

Final Thoughts:
Series television can be a hard life and only a small number of shows (Science Fiction and Fantasy or not) make it beyond their initial season.  As we close out the current season, I expect Knight Rider to go first followed by The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cupid, Reaper, and Kings.  I hope I am wrong about some of these (Knight Rider not included), but I just don’t see the networks sticking with the more expensive Science Fiction and Fantasy oriented shows in the current economy.

On the bright side, though, even if all of the shows mentioned in this article bite the dust, we will still have a fair number of decent shows in the genre to keep our DVRs busy (see Part 1 of this article).  And already the networks have several new properties in development including the Sci Fi Channel’s Warehouse 13 and Caprica and ABC’s Flash Forward (from David S. Goyer  and Brannon Braga).

As the season progresses, keep up with the weekly ratings and my ongoing Cancellation Threat at our Network Ratings Tracker site.

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