The Fire Ant Gazette - A Midland, Texas Blog

Bye-bye Boomtown
Category: TV & Radio...
Posted Tuesday, November 11, 2003 at 07:45 AM [GMT-6]

The "vast wasteland" that is network TV just got more barren, for me and Jen, anyway, as I finally found confirmation of what I suspected: NBC has canned "Boomtown." It is another victim of the network's impatience and foolish "tweaking" of an intellectually-challenging premise to make it more appealing to the masses. Turns out the masses aren't always as dumb as they make us out to be.

Here's how the Wall Street Journal describes the fate of this and other initially-high quality shows:

Of course, failed programming is nothing new for network television. Of the more than 40 new shows launched each year, between 80% and 90% don't make it to a second season. Not all those new series are bad, either -- some show promise and win critical praise, but don't find an audience right away. It is how the networks handle these shows that says a lot about why their business is struggling.

Take "Boomtown," NBC's much buzzed-about drama that focused on beat cops and prosecutors. The program was lauded for its innovative approach in which stories were told from different characters' perspectives. It wasn't an easy show to follow, but given time it might have worked. It won the prestigious Peabody Award in its first season last year, and NBC decided to give the show a second chance.

But instead of sticking with what made the show unique, NBC instructed producers to jettison the complex story-telling approach, and add former Miss America Vanessa Williams to the cast. "Boomtown's" core audience didn't like the watered-down version much, and when the show failed to draw new viewers out of the gate, NBC canned it after two episodes.

Count me as one of those who was a little disappointed by the new story-telling approach in "Boomtown" -- and yet the storylines and characters continued to fascinate, so I wasn't going to abandon the show. But NBC never gave it a chance. Here's to hoping that another network or cable channel will retrieve and polish this dusty gem.

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Comments

Ah, that is disappointing. I didn't like the watered-down format either, but the characters were still rich. Two episodes is hardly enough to time for an audience to make a determination in any case...

Posted by: jen at November 11, 2003 08:06 AM

That's too bad. I am always reluctant to get too excited about new shows but being reluctant doesn't keep me from doing it. There's always this feeling just below the surface that if I get interested in one they are doomed to be canceled. I'm really into 10-8 a new cop show that comes on here Sunday night at eight and then of course, there is Joan of Arcadia that I am way too attached to and excited about. The kiss of death no doubt.

Posted by: Clarence at November 11, 2003 08:57 AM

Clarence, I haven't seen either 10-8 or Joan. I guess I'll have to check 'em out; I've read lots of good things on various blogs about Joan, and the "critics" don't like it much, so it must have something going for it.

Posted by: Eric at November 11, 2003 09:16 AM

I like Joan of Arcadia a lot too. It's getting good buzz, so I think it'll stick around for the whole season at least.

Posted by: jen at November 11, 2003 05:59 PM

I liked the ABC show (from last year) called...shoot. I can't even remember what it was called.

Skeet Ulrich was a priest in it (as well as the guy who played in Bravheart...can't remember his name either). ABC canned it after five episodes. Which I taped, luckily. I was really irritated, and I don't even like Skeet Ulrich. They also canned the cheesy but fun "Veritas" which was a campy Indiana Jones kind of rip off.

Which I also liked.

This is why I watch DVDs instead of TV. If it isn't "the Bachelor" or "Friends" (which I take pride in never having seen), it gets pulled off the air.

(I only get ABC, since we only use rabbit ears on the TV, no cable or anything. PBS on a clear day comes in.)

What was the name of that show? Darn it.

Posted by: Julie Neidlinger at November 12, 2003 12:22 PM

Julie, are you thinking about "Miracles"?

Posted by: Eric at November 12, 2003 12:26 PM

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