Now Playing: dada - puzzle
so, here's the thing: night stalker got cancelled, right, and i figured that wouldn't bode well for alias. now, cynopsis has this announcement today:
- ABC is expected to slot Alias in the Wednesday 10p time period as of December 7th for a two week play, airing the final two episodes of the previous season. The show will then return with originals in midseason. Invasion will return to Wednesday nights on December 21.
so, here's how i see it going: night stalker's gone so the thursday block on abc is screwed. i mean, what used to be nbc's night is now cbs' night, with nbc getting an easy second and abc pulling sloppy thirds--and that not even in a great demo, as the good demo not already watching cbs or nbc is watching the oc and 20 year crapfest (aka reunion). oh, and wb falls somewhere in there as well, and upn--with programming i mostly don't care to watch but with a great way of running things--settles for last. but, still, abc keeps trying to raise the ratings for that night, cause having a handful of the highest rated shows (ie lost, desperate housewives, grey's anatomy and commander in chief) just isn't good enough. to be fair, the networks would never bother with anything at all good or interesting if they weren't in constant competition with one another, but at some point i say settling for third place should be fine. but, anyway, the thing for abc thursday is alias on its own isn't as easy a sell (or audience grab) as alias partnered with another show. to be fair, primetime live is an ok show, but it can't do for 2 hours every week, and really, it doesn't quite cover the same audience as alias--not that i haven't ended up watching primetime live a few times of late simply cause i don't do er or without a trace and the fx comedies are off for now, and that show's good and all, but not fitting to be with alias (or vice versa), though it's worth noting that those nazi twins were cute... and, i'm allowed to think that, right, even though they're underage, since they're also nazis and all. doesn't that cancel out the age thing, like with the olsen twins--they're so morally rephrensible that it's ok to think about them however you like, that they're hot or that they're not (for the record, the olsen twins are not) or even that they should rule the world (via wal-mart takeover) or be murdered in their sleep... i mean, i'm not perfect, but i'm certainly less morally repugnant than nazi singers, right? except maybe here or here or here or... oh, you get the point
where was i?
right, so, with night stalker gone, alias has to move. so, they stick it with lost again, like last season. but, then, the move will screw with some fans but still likely improve the ratings for a couple weeks. of course, then there are two problems:
- what do the higher ups think when back in its thursday slot (assuming that will happen) alias drops again in the ratings and seems like such a disappointment? will the notion that this seems to be the final season mean they will keep it going just to end it properly? or will the drop in ratings screw the show for good, and the fact that it's nearly over anyway will just make it that much easier to kill?
- what happens to invasion, now that it's getting some momentum going storywise, finding its audience in the lost leavings, and then, oh now, where'd it go for two weeks? will they even bother to put it back? and, if they do, what if its ratings aren't as good as a) alias in that slot or b) its own previous ratings in that slot?
i've learned in recent years that despite my own attention to schedule changes, most people have no fucking idea when even their favorites shows are on sometimes, and when shows get switched (for sweeps (ie the invasion/close to home switch) or post sweeps fuckarounds (this alias/invasion thing) they get lost (pun unintended). executives have to know this, so we can assume switching is done only in desperation, and though it has had its successes (but don't ask me to name any, besides maybe the x-files moving to sunday), it fails more often than not, and it hurts both shows involved and it pisses off the audience members who pay attention (like me) and confuses the audience members who don't, then good shows get cancelled before they have their chance to shine (not to beat a few of my personal dead horses, but i'd cite wonderfalls, firefly and ez streets for a few examples), or just before they get to go out in a proper blaze of glory, like alias really should... maybe bringing back rambaldi and introducing the latest villain in a cliffhanger: alvar honso*
* if you don't get that reference, too bad for you**
** or congratulations on not being a total tv nerd