Comments on: Shhh, Eastwick Will Be Canceled Quietly

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:38:28 +0000

Bill – I thought 24 episodes was a standard order for ABC dramas ? Last season, Greys, DH, B&S, UB all had 24 eps, not the usual 22.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:23:19 +0000

Bill – Actually The Mentalist got 23 episodes and 90210 got 24 I think. If a new shows does really well sometimes it gets over 22. I remember ABC used to give their multi camera comedies over 30 back in 2003. I actually agree with you that Castle wont get a third season. Castle’s pattern is the same as What About Brian and October Road. It does great when it premieres midseason does OK in the fall, gets a full order or lasts until March and then gets axed in May. ABC really doesnt need The Forgotten or Eastwick so when those series finish their 13 episodes in December, they will be gone and replaced. Hank may be axed in November but it will either be replaced or ABC will move things around but will still keep the comedy block.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:58:00 +0000

Tommy, over 22 episodes in a season in today’s broadcast world is quite rare.

By: Tommy (UK)

Tommy (UK) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:47:42 +0000

Thanks Bill. Do networks sometimes add 1 or 2 episodes on because sometimes shows have 23 or 24 episode seasons?

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:34:54 +0000

Tommy, new shows or weak returning shows typically start with an order of 13 episodes. The “back 9″ completes the typical 22 episode season.

By: Tommy (UK)

Tommy (UK) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:30:28 +0000

Me again! Something I forgot to say. What exactly does a back order mean? I’m from the UK and am still trying to comprehend the American television system, especially those confusing demos!

By: Tommy (UK)

Tommy (UK) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:29:29 +0000

Come on Americans! Watch Ugly Betty! It’s such a great show, it’s just a shame. If ABC hadn’t demoted it to Fridays it may have grown. It’s a longshot, but you never know. 5 million isn’t bad for a Friday. It’s not great, but it’s not bad either. Yet another longshot: maybe The CW or another network will pick it up. Please! It got 16 million when it started…where has everyone gone?

By: JJ

JJ — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:06:37 +0000

Re forgotten: If Slater found a razor and washed his hair, it might help the ratings.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:43:38 +0000

I like Castle it is better than some of the shows on TV. Hank and The Middle are just dumb. The forgotten is pretty good too.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:33:26 +0000

Smallville944, if we displayed Nielsen ratings in these posts we would have to remove them after 2 weeks under our agreement with Nielsen. Since we wanted to leave them on the site, the ratings numbers have been removed.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:10:27 +0000

I watch Hank out of loyalty to Kelsey Grammar after giving us 11 of the best years of TV not to mention Cheers. I am really enjoying The Middle. It’s intelligent, fresh, and funny. And Modern Family is fresh and stellar. Cougar Town is great. But the show I look forward to most is Eastwick. It presses all the right buttons to put me in the best mood for this time of year. And I never really went for Charmed. The girls in charmed were superheros always involved in a a battle against evil. Their powers were hokey, and the show was too focused on magic and other worlds and not grounded enough in the real-world and its everyday drama. Eastwick has the same type mystery of Lost, and Flash Forward, a technique I think networks are trying to exploit since Lost became so successful. For anyone who likes to use movies and tv to help themselves get into the autumn/fall/halloween mood, but does not like horror films, I cannot find anything better than Eastwick. There are some good movies like this, but not many. Probably one of the best is Arsenic and Old Lace. Anyone that evaluates it fairly I think should say that it is a very well-done show in most respects, even if they do not care for it personally, and even if it is not getting good ratings.
I cannot get into Numbers, or Lie To Me. I was going to try The Forgotten and Flash Forward, but maybe instead I’ll try Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice since they seem so popular. I’m also going to try that V show and White Collar when they aire. Any advice regarding these shows? What about Brothers and Sisters and Castle?
Anyway, goodbye Hank, sorry Kelsey. The Middle is an excellent show and deserves to stay. And I just really hope Eastwick stays.
Otherwise, Dexter and House aren’t going anywhere. How is Glee doing? I like that show too.

By: Smallville944

Smallville944 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:53:10 +0000

What happened to the rating points being shown on the index are viewers in 18-49?

By: Spike

Spike — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:35:16 +0000

FlashForward is so boring……

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:41:46 +0000

I agree, Michael. I was using it in connection with how the audience for NCIS is growing. Two years ago it was dismissed as a show for old fogeys who are irrelevant in terms of what stays and what goes. Now it’s growing in the demos as well as overall audience.

How a show does with the 18-49 demographic may indicate what advertisers will pay but it’s not an indicator of the quality of a show. NCIS is a good show and the younger 18 – 39 demo is now realzing it.

On House, the ratings have been going down for the past couple of years. It will be interesting to see how it does once the current post-hallucination and tyrant killing storylines are done and the show is back to the Thirteen, Foreman and House/Cuddy storylines of last season. It’s possible that the lower ratings of this week reflect a “softer” audience for the show, those who tune in when it’s on but arent’ willing to stick around to make sure they catch it.

By: Michael J

Michael J — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:49:58 +0000

I think the comparison to House’s numbers may be a little deceptive considering the Yankee/Angel game cut into that episode.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:31:02 +0000

Should the index be adjusted by day of week that the show airs? Private Practice is one pretty bad show but it does well because it’s on Thursday, the most watched day of the week.

I wouldn’t rule out Castle just yet. The media tie-ins (Nikki Heat book, Castle’s twitters) may pull in more younger viewers. Heat Wave was #6 on the New York Times list recently.

I think Castle, like NCIS, could be a sleeper show that gains as it goes on. I noticed that last night’s NCIS not only had double the viewers of Monday’s House episode, it also beat it in the 19 – 49 demo.

By: Heradite

Heradite — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:51:50 +0000

Honestly, of all the networks, ABC keeps on beating the index.

I like ABC.

By: aznfratboy

aznfratboy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:36:44 +0000

The thing about Thursdays is CBS’ Survivor/CSI juggernaut. They need something that can hold their own against those two shows, thus why FlashForward was put up against Survivor.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:21:01 +0000

Ugly Betty wasn’t doing good on Thursdays, that’s why it got moved to Fridays. The only reason it got another season was to get enough episodes for syndication. ABC knew the numbers weren’t going to be good on Fridays, but they really don’t care at this point. If the numbers improve yes they will be happy, but I would say the numbers would need to get up to a 2.0 Demo or better to get renewed for 2010-11.

By: S.

S. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:20:26 +0000

Ren,

UB was doing horrible on Thursdays last season, with a an average demo of 2 in the last 5 episodes. The fact that it is cheap saved it from being canceled, and gave it the season long wake on Fridays.

Because it is cheap, it doesn’t mean that ABC wants to compound losses by airing it on a day where they could make more money with other shows. It means that it can afford the losses of ad revenue on an already low rated day like Fridays, and that only until they fulfill whatever syndication deal they might cut with the show.

By: Ren

Ren — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:17:40 +0000

I really hope Ugly Betty does ok, yes the ratings weren’t good but I can guarantee it will be up this week now that a few people know its on.

What was ABC thinking!? If UB is so cheap to produce as they say why aren’t they worried about putting it on a Friday, when it did perfectly well on a Thursday.

I wish something could be said to ABC like…WAKE UP!

By: ABCFanatic2009

ABCFanatic2009 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:10:48 +0000

Castle should have (P) because it is produced by ABC Studios.

Should get a better timeslot to be saved:
Ugly Betty

Will be canceled:
Hank
the forgotten
Eastwick
Castle

Will get a new season:
The Middle (Better Off Ted treatment)
Brothers & Sisters
FlashForward
Cougar Town
Modern Family
Private Practice
Desperate Housewives
Grey’s Anatomy

ABC is in good shape half of their shows are not in the bubble unlike last season, but it will change once the midseason starts

By: forg

forg — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:15:32 +0000

I actually want ABC to try if B&S could work without DH but they should have done it when the season started, I think it’s too late now for that

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:45:47 +0000

aznfratboy- The only problem their is will Brothers & Sisters be able to hold up on its own on another night. Remember B&S has always aired 10pm sundays following Desperate Housewives. This combo has worked and unless ABC really wants to save Eastwick, B&S isnt moving anywhere.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:45:05 +0000

LOL @ “The Middle” being the in the middle of being canceled/renewed! IRONIC?

Anyway…”Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives”…same story as last year, and the year before, and the year before, and the….ABC really needs to find something because these show’s aren’t gonna be around in a few years.

By: aznfratboy

aznfratboy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:21:18 +0000

Long time reader, first time poster, the calls to switch Brothers and Sisters and Eastwick is a good one. I don’t watch Desperate Housewives, but there is always something about schemes and betrayal and crap, or that’s how Australia promotes it, and Eastwick is all about this “girl power” stuff, makes sense to run it after another “girl power” show, Desperate Housewives. Also, Brothers and Sisters is a family oriented show, which makes sense because nearly all of the sitcoms on Wednesday are family oriented, Cougar Town is a slight exception, but still is family oriented somewhat

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:02:22 +0000

Anna, indeed it should. Fixed!

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:48:20 +0000

Matt, Eastwick and Castle can’t really be compared. Eastwick’s last episode got a 1.7 in the demo. Castle’s last episode got a 2.4.
Aok,it’s got 5 million viewers and a 1.7. What demographic could it possibly have?

By: Gusar

Gusar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:45:53 +0000

I didn’t understand the concept of “guilty pleasure” before. Now I do.
Eastwick is totally and completely cheesy and contrived. But I love it, still. It’s my guilty pleasure. So I’m hoping it somehow sticks around, despite the ratings being anything but good.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:38:45 +0000

Oh yeah and Ugly Betty should have a P, it’s produced by ABC studios.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:38:03 +0000

Ugly Betty was sooooo good on Friday! It’s a shame they anrt payinh more attention to it. But what they should honestly do it move the show to their Comedy Wednesdays. I REALLY think it could do well there if they cancelled Eastwick or something.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:33:29 +0000

Matt, Castle was *not* renewed, it simply received the back 9 order to complete this season. The Index predicts renewal for *next* season as the first, bold line in the text notes.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:25:14 +0000

@Matt, the index doesn’t judge back 9 orders. If you read the post you would have seen that it’s used for predicting renewals and cancellations going for the 2010-2011 fall season.

“Our Renew / Cancel Index predicts potential renewal or cancellation for scripted broadcast primetime shows for the 2010-11 season (includes results through October 18, 2009)”

The index has been used for 2 years now and it is fairly accurate. Are there things that shake out differently – sure just look at Dollhouse. With that said if you look at the index from past years you will see how accurate it is.

By: aok

aok — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:18:52 +0000

Eastwick may be a money maker. Depending on demographics, it doesn’t have to have a big audience if it has a certain type of audience. I can think of one show after another (St Elsewhere, Quantum Leap) that had long runs, but never really were big ratings winners, but had a demographic advertisers wanted. This could be the case with Eastwick.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:06:33 +0000

I guess Castle will move into orange with the possibility of green if the ratings improve enough?

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:05:13 +0000

William – you don’t have to feel bad for Gretchen Mol. She didn’t get the part. She was up for the role of Roxie, but it went to Rebecca Romijn. IMDB has nothing listed for her since LOM ended either.

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:54:48 +0000

Eastwick doesn’t interest me to even bother watching it even though I really like Lindsay Price and Jamie Ray Newman as actresses.

By: forg

forg — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:34:06 +0000

I just hope ABC will let Eastwick and The Forgotten produce all 13 episodes and maybe the writers could pull a closure for those shows

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:25:23 +0000

these indexes are interesting but not very useful…haven’t really been a good indicator for the past few renewals. hell, Eastwick has a chance now if Castle got renewed.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:14:14 +0000

With Castle getting a full season pick up what does that mean for some of the other shows?

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:21:45 +0000

My final guess

Hank will be pulled in November-December (6-8 episodes aired)
Eastwick will air all episodes (or most) and be gone after December
The Forgotten will air all episodes (or most) and be gone after December

Everything else has already gotten a full year, and ABC’s midseason is packed so they dont need Hank/Eastwick/Forgotten.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:18:29 +0000

Addint to my Eli Stone/Dirty Sexy Money comparisons, The Forgotten and Eastwick will both likely get the former’s last year treatment (airing episodes out until December) but after that both 10pm series are gone. Flashforward and Castle have been given full years (as I expected from the beginning) The Forgotten has been squandering its Dancing lead in and consistently losing to another freshman drama The Good Wife. Eastwick has harder competition but a lower rated lead in. In the comedy department with The Middle, mdoern Family, and Cougar Town all given full years, its goodbye for the sole multicamera sitcom which is being preempted on October 28.

By: forg

forg — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:08:09 +0000

^ My post was incomplete haha it should have been

But with its numbers it would only take a miracle for it to survive

By: forg

forg — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:05:50 +0000

I only watched the pilot of Eastwick and I like the concept but the execution of the story was not that good though but it did have a potential. But with its numbers it would only

And I agree Lost should be put at 10pm. Keep MF and CF on their time slot for the whole season, those shows needs nurturing and ABC needs those shows to stabilize because they will be good for the business on a long term basis. I hope The Middle will improve along the way.

By: Darren

Darren — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:50:23 +0000

I can’t see either “The Forgotten” or “Eastwick” lasting much longer considering they’re both getting beat by Leno. I would almost think ABC would be embarrassed by that.

By: Riff Rafferty

Riff Rafferty — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:13:58 +0000

Michael writes, “Anyone notice a pattern? Last year, when Lindsay Price was on Lipstick Jungle, people kept claiming the show wasn’t really cancelled LONG after it became obvious that it was. Now, everyone’s claiming that it’s not over for Eastwick yet.”

NBC got the ball rolling with that one. They were claiming “Coupling” wasn’t really cancelled long after it became obvious they were readying the replacement.

By: phantom

phantom — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:03:47 +0000

If ABC really didn’t put much money into Eastwick it might have a slight chance if it improves to at least 2,2-2,5 in the 18-49 demos. But based on its last two performance, it’s unlikely. I root for this show, I hope somehow it will survive ! (yes, I am thinking of you, Dawn Ostroff, if ABC cancels it, try to do finally something nice)

By: Travis

Travis — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Will the index be wrong about Castle again?!?!? Full season baby! Let’s hope it has the legs for season 3!

By: William

William — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:55:20 +0000

Feel bad for Gretchen Mol. It will be two straight years for her that she is in a show that didn’t make it a year. This show and Life On Mars last year. Poor woman needs to catch a break.

By: killertv

killertv — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:54:42 +0000

UGLY BETTY should have a (P)… don’t know what that means for its odds as I have no idea why it got renewed to a Friday spot when ABC’s had success in the past with their cheaper reality stuff there. Vegas odds aren’t good for the line-up’s ugly duckling