Fox cancellations and pilots

[yendi]

Well, feh. Of the five shows Fox cancelled, four were ones I didn't care about (Chicago Code felt like a pale imitation of Detroit 1-8-7 with some David Simon tropes thrown in, and Lie to Me was blatantly Mentalist Lite), but I enjoyed Breaking In. That said, as Fox cancellations go, this is one of the least annoying slates in years.

I'm excited about a new Abrams show, of course, and I really hope that The New Girl is forced to recast, as I'm enjoying Happy Endings.

Comments

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

I don't know anything about The Mentalist but Lie to Me is based on a real-life person doing real-life pioneering work in psychology. Tim Roth does an amazing job in his role and the show relies on the inability for most people to detect falsehoods while ironically playing off the the audiences suspension of disbelief.

Usually don't care if someone likes or doesn't like a show or movie I dig but it kind of irks me that you so casually dismiss this show. It's one of only three shows I bother to Hulu/Netflix (since we dont' get broadcast or cable here) and I have long respected your opinion on television.

Maybe I favor Lie To Me because I am an armchair sociologist who totally geeked out on Paul Ekman's discoveries but honestly its got enough critical reviews that I don't think its just me.

[yendi]

I did try it, but I truly was never able to get into it (in fairness, I also don't care for The Mentalist). I don't doubt it's based on a real-life person, but I also don't doubt that Fox deliberately brought it into production to counter The Mentalist (given the similar themes and the fact that LTM came a season later). I love the idea of both shows (and the cast), but neither ever clicked for me.

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

I don't know, Ekman and Dr Sullivan were getting pretty famous for their groundbreaking work and from what I've read of The Mentalist it'd be easy to feel like it's a hokier and more accessible version of LTM because LTM is in fact based on science and real people. Everything in it is very real whereas it sounds like The Mentalist is an updated version of The Incredible Hulk from the 70s with a con man as opposed to a scientist playing the main part.

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

and as I'm sure you know, just because one show premiered after another doesn't mean one was produced before the other by the same time frame. Could be both were in production at the same time and LTM took longer to get picked up. I'm just speculating for the sake of conversation here...

[yendi]

Oh, I'm not doubting that the producers might have been working on this for years, but I don't have the slightest doubt that the success of The Mentalist was a factor in Fox picking up the show.

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

oh definitely... Fox doesn't try to be coy about that sort of thing. But I do commend them for picking up the show that has a realistic background as well as an actual expert consultant. That's what drew me to the show int he first place; Ekman and Dr Sullivan are consultants to the show.

[yendi]

I'd probably more compare The Mentalist to Psych, but from a big studio programming point of view, they all fit into a general con/psychology/lying bucket (in the same way that Surface and Threshhold were both greenlit because networks wanted another hit from the Lost bucket.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

I will miss Lie to Me only because I really love Tim Roth.

[yendi]

That's the primary reason I ever watched it, but his ability to pick projects I find dull (Lost in Space, Funny Games, Hulk) seems to translate to the small screen.

[marajs.livejournal.com]

I'm very disappointed to hear Chicago Code was axed. It may have been only an average drama where plotlines are concerned, but what drew me in were all the pieces of Chicago that I know and love. They went to great lengths to make the series part of its namesake, even including a cameo by a radio celebrity (Mancow Muller) and a former news anchor (Diane Esposito). It remains true to the depth of corruption present in Chicago politics. Or maybe I just liked it because that's my hometown.

[yendi]

I do appreciate shows that convey a sense of place (and that's a plus for D187, too); it's rare to see ones that really delve into their settings, especially ones outside of NYC or LA (I mean, I love Fringe and Leverage to death, but I'm not sure anyone associated with either show has even visited the Boston area).

[littlebuhnee.livejournal.com]

I knew from the very first episode that FOX was going to cancel Breaking In, because I was in love with it from the first two minutes in, and FOX hates me. It's very rare that a sitcom can literally get me to laugh out loud, and this did, so it had to go.

[littlebuhnee.livejournal.com]

I have to say, though, that I am also looking forward to The Finder. I saw a lot of potential from what I saw on Bones.

[wednesday]

I'm with you. Found it completely by accident, looking to see why Whitest Kids U'Know was in its final season. "Oh, Trevor Moore is in this sitcom? And it starts in two hours? Better record that." Didn't even think that it was Fox and thus doomed, or that I would LIKE IT.

We're two weeks behind now, sort of kinda on purpose.