I am a huge Moonlight fan, and agree with your comments about Moonlight.

I also want to point out that Moonlight has much higher quality in every respect than either Forever Knight or Angel. I am not a fan of either show, but adore Moonlight.

I also want to point out that CBS still does not know if a younger demographic would watch Moonlight, because they put it on a night when all the young people go out to parties, clubs and movies. The only people who are staying home on Friday nights are either mature, or married with small children.

CBS never tried to test Moonlight on another night because they had already made up their minds to dump it.

Women of all ages like romance, and I think that CBS is missing the boat when they ignore this part of a woman's nature. Just look at how huge the romance section is in any bookstore, and if you think that only older women are reading romance novels, you should walk over to the teenage fiction section, and see that it is filled with romance as well, especially supernatural romances like Twilight.

If the network execs would descend from their corner offices once in a while and rub elbows with the hoy paloy once in a while, they may have a real education that they never got in business school.

Perhaps “solitary” has a slightly different meaning in French than in English.

I have a thick book called “Faux Amis” that lists all of the words that English speakers may happen to use incorrectly when speaking French, because the word has a slightly different meaning in each language.

Perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 of the English Language contains French words, and it is interesting to discover them once you know how to look for them.

I disagree with your argument that Moonlight and Swingtown didn't work because they weren't different enough from other similar shows. To my knowledge there hasn't been a show about swingers on network TV before. And Moonlight was different from other vampire shows. For one thing, it had a new vampire mythology where stakes didn't kill, they didn't burst into flame and they slept in freezers. They also did something very different in that they used a young vampire rather than an old vampire. Angel was over 200 years old, Nick Knight was around 800 and so having a vampire who is only 80 some years old is new. Whether or not people perceived it as new and different enough doesn't seem to be the fault of the show, but rather the company promoting it.

There is a phenomonon that has been happening since the turn of the century, and that is the way that corporations are tossing the Baby Boomers under the bus with both hands.

I just want to point out to all of these fools that we are still the largest demographic group, and considering the low birth rate, we are going to remain so for a long, long time, especially considering that we are living longer and staying healthier more than ever.

I refuse to accept that I have zero influence on the popular culture for the next half century!

I also think that the networks are stupid to turn up their noses at viewers. If they are going to ignore my preferences and insult me, and I go away, I don't want to hear these trolls whining that they can't attract audiences.

I also want to point out that the Gen X-ers are all grown up now and are acquiring grown up tastes. I think this is why the TV stations fail to attract viewers. They are offering drivel and expect people to look at it.

And Incidently, I turn off my TV because of how lousy it is, and watch my extensive DVD and VHS collection. Or I go on line, or listen to the radio. There are endless options for the Boomers as much as for everyone else, and one day the networks are going to wake up and realize that we have all gone away, and they will regret taking us for granted.

You see I am French, so I use older definitions for words. Solitary awhile back meant “Separate or different from” Sorry to cause so much confusion. And I agree with Angelcrest statement about shows that are slow starters.

Sometimes I think Moonlight is like Louise, who always had it in her to be Gypsy Rose Lee, but Mama Rose spent all her time on Baby June. The suits at CBS had no idea what a superior show they had in Moonlight, and I think they are tossing away success with both hands because they fail to recognize what the average viewer wants to see.

I am a huge Moonlight fan, and agree with your comments about Moonlight.

I also want to point out that Moonlight has much higher quality in every respect than either Forever Knight or Angel. I am not a fan of either show, but adore Moonlight.

I also want to point out that CBS still does not know if a younger demographic would watch Moonlight, because they put it on a night when all the young people go out to parties, clubs and movies. The only people who are staying home on Friday nights are either mature, or married with small children.

CBS never tried to test Moonlight on another night because they had already made up their minds to dump it.

Women of all ages like romance, and I think that CBS is missing the boat when they ignore this part of a woman's nature. Just look at how huge the romance section is in any bookstore, and if you think that only older women are reading romance novels, you should walk over to the teenage fiction section, and see that it is filled with romance as well, especially supernatural romances like Twilight.

If the network execs would descend from their corner offices once in a while and rub elbows with the hoy paloy once in a while, they may have a real education that they never got in business school.

Perhaps “solitary” has a slightly different meaning in French than in English.

I have a thick book called “Faux Amis” that lists all of the words that English speakers may happen to use incorrectly when speaking French, because the word has a slightly different meaning in each language.

Perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 of the English Language contains French words, and it is interesting to discover them once you know how to look for them.

You see I am French, so I use older definitions for words. Solitary awhile back meant “Separate or different from” Sorry to cause so much confusion. And I agree with Angelcrest statement about shows that are slow starters.

Sometimes I think Moonlight is like Louise, who always had it in her to be Gypsy Rose Lee, but Mama Rose spent all her time on Baby June. The suits at CBS had no idea what a superior show they had in Moonlight, and I think they are tossing away success with both hands because they fail to recognize what the average viewer wants to see.

Or when you only use personal evidence – such as how ‘Nobody in [your] senior high school wanted to watch them since they seemed already done.” Aside from the fact that the vast majority of people in a senior high school would be too young for the key 18-49 demographic, they also hardly constitute a random sample of the population. I we could just use personal observation then I could ‘prove’ that the reason Moonlight failed was because CBS didn’t promote it enough. After all, out of my co-workers at two part time jobs, friends from high school and college and classmates in graduate school there was one person who had actually heard of Moonlight – and that was after it had been canceled.

I think that there are a multitude of reasons why show do or do not succeed. But I think not getting enough time to build an audience is a reason why people have stopped watching and why shows have a more difficult time succeeding. People don’t want to watch new shows and risk them getting canceled and networks won’t give shows a second season unless they are huge hits. CBS doesn’t have one of its freshman dramas from last year coming back this year. There is obviously something wrong there for not one new drama is successful enough to merit a second season given that any new show is going to be more of an unknown quantity and thus more of a risk.

Perhaps you mean something other than “Solitary.”

Here are the definitions of “solitary” from the online dictionary:

1. alone; without companions; unattended: a solitary passer-by.
2. living alone; avoiding the society of others: a solitary existence.
3. by itself; alone: one solitary house.
4. characterized by the absence of companions: a solitary journey.
5. done without assistance or accompaniment; done in solitude: solitary chores.
6. being the only one: a solitary exception.
7. characterized by solitude, as a place; unfrequented, secluded, or lonely: a solitary cabin in the woods.
8. Zoology. living habitually alone or in pairs, as certain wasps. Compare social (def. 10).
–noun 9. a person who lives alone or in solitude, or avoids the society of others.
10. a person who lives in solitude from religious motives.
11. solitary confinement.

Perhaps you mean “solidarity?” This also does not fit what you are trying to say. Perhaps you would benefit by the use of a thesaurus.

Moonlight won the 9:00 pm timeslot every week! If CBS was serious, they should have tried it on a different night before cancelling it.

I see now that they are swapping around a lot of these shows that get much lower ratings than Moonlight, trying to find a night that suits them, but the network did not even try this with Moonlight, not even once. They also did not market it as heavily as they are pushing both Swingtown and Flashpoint.

It is my opinion that CBS wanted to get rid of Moonlight because it was not PC enough to suit them, and no amount of winning its timeslot, or winning awards would dissuade them.

I agree a hundred percent that there is a lot of TV shows that are very similar in plot. But most of them have found a little thing called solitary. Things that make them separate and unique compared to the other. Some shows and audiences have found solitary between different shows that make them more comfortable. For example; a person may find “Medium” to dark and violent to there taste. So they would watch “Ghost Whisperer” since it is more of an emotion and faith driven show.

Maybe Audiences could not find solitary with Swingtown and Moonlight. Nobody in my senior high school wanted to watch them since they seemed already done. There were a few that refused to watch Moonlight because the seemed pilferage from “Angel” and “Forever Knight” to others this might not be the case. So maybe Moonlight, Swingtown and (Dare I say this seasons big budget failure!) Bionic Woman did not get the chance to create solitary between similar shows. Or maybe networks just did not give them the chance they deserve. Or maybe they just needed better writers to make these shows unique to the audiences.

So let’s just say we are both right in our own way. And end this argument like civilized Adults.

If you are going to say that “Moonlight” is a rip off of Angel, despite very different characters and situations then you also have to say that NCIS is a rip off of CSI since both are crime scene procedural shows, with a male leading the team. Just because they have different cases doesn’t stop them from being the same type of show.

There are lots of shows that could be considered rip offs of each other – Grey’s Anatomy and ER, Medium and Ghost Whisperer, etc and yet that doesn’t explain why some fail and some succeed.

1) CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York are all by the same creator and producer. CSI: Miami, and CSI: New York are spin-offs, so in a odd way they don’t have to be unique.
2) Comparing the CSIs and NCIS is like comparing apples and oranges. The objectives of the CSIs are forensics and stopping crime within one city. While NCIS is global and main objective is stopping terrorism. Therefore NCIS is not a derivative of CSI.
3) It would be different if Moonlight was created by Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, Barney Cohen or James D. Parriott. Moonlight was a rip-off, plain and simple. Thus you have to be crazy to think it’s unique.
4) You act like I am the only one who thinks that it’s to close to Angel for comfort. At the time the pilot was aired, several critics complained that it was close to Angel.

So there, you have it. That is my side of things. But thank-you for bringing up a good argument and I am sorry if I came off a little mean.

And if shows have to be original to be unique then why are CSI: Miami, CSI: New York and NCIS hits? They are all derivative of CSI.

Because they have been done before! Plain and simple! “Moonlight” was just an “Angel” rip-off!

The reason why “Ghost Whisperer” and “Flashpoint” have caught on is because they are unique! So this article is a waste of time.

We grew up watching TGIF on ABC with “Full House”, “Step by Step” and “Family Matters”. And what stands out to me about the shows is that they were character driven – you watched week after week to see what was going on with D.J., Stephanie and Michelle. But now the shows all have pretty much self-contained episodes. I basically stopped watching TV for four years during college. When I tried to start watching the shows again I found I was bored with them. I could pick them up after four years like I had never stopped watching – and as a result there was nothing to keep drawing me back week after week.

One of the laws of economics is that demand depends on availability of alternatives. In a world of youtube, online Netflix, DVDs, etc there are too many alternatives to TV for the younger age groups. I understand why we get the same old crap – it’s safer than trying something new. But TV is dying because networks aren’t willing to try something new. They pretend and give us “Jericho”, “Moonlight” and even “Swingtown” and then cancel them when they aren’t instant hits. Nobody is willing to stick with it and try to make it work. And my prediction is that until network are willing to be innovative and actually take a risk that people, and especially the 18-49 demo, are going to continue to take advantage of the alternatives at their fingertips.

Thank you for your very informative article. I will not pretend to understand the entertainment industry and the minds that make it turn, but it seems to me that Friday night shows start behind the pack to begin with. As a 39 year old mother(wife) of 2 kids, I would get together with 2 friends every Friday night and watch CBS shows (when Moonlight was on). Why would networks cancel great shows like Moonlight, etc… and keep these reality (crap) shows on??? How many “lets become a star” type shows can we really have??? I would love to know your feeling on these shows?? Would’nt this type of show appeal to a younger audience???

And the Ex-List will do better in the demos than Moonlight? Don’t think so………………….

I still stand by my opinion, though. Moonlight was a good show and by the numbers didn’t deserve to be cancelled. I don’t think it was the advertisers that made the decesion. It was Ms. Tassler and the big shots at CBS. They had it out for Moonlight from the start. That had to be it because Moonlight got solid ratings!

I don’t see this changing anytime soon.

I still think CBS was right to cancel Moonlight.

No, by all logic Moonlight should be coming back for a second season. However, Nina Tassler and CBS had something else in mind and Moonlight was never really given a chance.

Regardless, I think Swingtown’s real problem wasn’t the topic, its promotion, or the move to Friday. Its real problem was that more than half of the people who saw it didn’t come back. If people just hadn’t found it, that would be different. CBS promoted the show like crazy from May sweeps until they started preparing for Flashpoint and the Dog show to premiere. The 2.8 in the demo for the premiere proves that people knew it was there. Even if it maintained the numbers from the second or third week, you could argue that it just needs a chance, but it didn’t. Not counting the July 3rd numbers, the show lost demo viewers every single week even in the Thursday time slot. The one small bump in viewers was because CSI was a lot bigger than night. CBS isn’t going to wait for a show to grow if it can’t even stop dropping. How low does it have to go before everyone agrees that it’s not going to build an audience?

As for airing a new episode against the Olympics… Unless the other nets just want to completely give up for 2 weeks, they will keep airing originals. Besides, Swingtown only lost .1 in the demo and 600,000 viewers from last week, which is on par with it’s usual losses. If it weren’t up against the Olympics, it might have had a few more viewers, but the demo would probably been the same.

Regardless, I think Swingtown’s real problem wasn’t the topic, its promotion, or the move to Friday. Its real problem was that more than half of the people who saw it didn’t come back. If people just hadn’t found it, that would be different. CBS promoted the show like crazy from May sweeps until they started preparing for Flashpoint and the Dog show to premiere. The 2.8 in the demo for the premiere proves that people knew it was there. Even if it maintained the numbers from the second or third week, you could argue that it just needs a chance, but it didn’t. Not counting the July 3rd numbers, the show lost demo viewers every single week even in the Thursday time slot. The one small bump in viewers was because CSI was a lot bigger than night. CBS isn’t going to wait for a show to grow if it can’t even stop dropping. How low does it have to go before everyone agrees that it’s not going to build an audience?

As for airing a new episode against the Olympics… Unless the other nets just want to completely give up for 2 weeks, they will keep airing originals. Besides, Swingtown only lost .1 in the demo and 600,000 viewers from last week, which is on par with it’s usual losses. If it weren’t up against the Olympics, it might have had a few more viewers, but the demo would probably been the same.

Those days weren’t all that great and I don’t have the time or desire to relive them through a TV show. Many of us who outgrew the 70′s (and survived!) also learned from the experience. Now we appreciate creativity and want quality programming! Not that CBS understands that, or gives a damn…

Those days weren’t all that great and I don’t have the time or desire to relive them through a TV show. Many of us who outgrew the 70′s (and survived!) also learned from the experience. Now we appreciate creativity and want quality programming! Not that CBS understands that, or gives a damn…

I’m in their target demo and it wasn’t a show I’d stay home and watch on a Friday night. In fact even if I was home I still wouldn’t watch it.