Good News/Bad News for some of my favorite shows on the bubble.

via TV Guide

Alcatraz (Fox)Wrapped March 26; aired Mondays at 9/8c

The Good News: Fox has kept Fringe alive this long — maybe executives will be generous to another J.J. Abrams drama with a small-but-passionate fan base? And they already canceledTerra Nova, which theoretically helps.
The Bad News: The Voice kind of clobbered it, and worse, viewers flat-out rejected this island mystery. Less than half the audience who watched the premiere tuned in for the finale to learn the secret of those disappearing, reappearing prisoners.


Awake (NBC) Thursdays at 10/9c

The Good News: Series creator Kyle Killen, he of the well-liked-but-short-lived Lone Star, is a guy with ideas! A guy creative people flock to! So what if he makes shows for broadcast that would be better off on cable and not enough folks come to watch?
The Bad News: To be fair, airing it at the end of NBC's low-rated Thursday-night comedy block — and immediately after the night's biggest loser, Up All Night — hasn't been a great fit for the somber drama about a man dealing with tremendous loss. Ratings are abysmal. 



Community (NBC) Thursdays at 8/7c
The Good News: After a more than three-month hiatus, Community returned in March to its biggest audience since October 2010. And relative to NBC's Thursday-night lineup, it's pretty coolcoolcool.
The Bad News: NBC's Thursday-night lineup is a bust, led by a flailing-in-its-eighth season The Office, so any ratings fetes enjoyed by Community are still small in the bigger picture — and it will be measured against some strong comedy pilots in contention, among them Justin Kirk-frontedAnimal Kingdom and White House comedy 1600 Penn, starring (Bill Pullman) and Book of Mormon's Josh Gad.

Fringe (Fox)
Fridays at 9/8c

The Good News: Fox has always loved this show, having rescued it from the bubble twice already. Since the network has already canceled Terra Nova and House, it may want to hang on to this cult favorite for a final (probably shortened) season.
The Bad News: Fox has a couple of buzzy new drama pilots, including a serial killer story from Kevin Williamson starring Kevin Bacon, so the network may decide to clear the bench. Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly put it pretty plainly in January that the network's generous pocketbook might be closing when it comes to the costly Fringe: "We're not in the business of losing money," he said.



Parenthood (NBC)
Wrapped Feb. 28; aired Tuesdays at 10/9c
The Good News: This touching family drama is a critical darling with a small-but-loyal fan base, and NBC will need a couple veteran dramas to anchor its fall schedule. Parenthood is neck and neck with Law & Order: SVU to be the second-highest-rated drama at NBC behind the already-renewed Smash.
The Bad News: We're running low on Kleenex over here!


Up All Night (NBC)Wrapped April 12; last aired Thursdays at 9:30/8:30c
The Good News: NBC pulled out all the stops trying to make this one work. After it did so-so numbers on Wednesday, they decided to give it another push, slotting it behind The Office and hoping that viewers would take a second look at Will Arnett and Christina Applegate playing new parents, and Maya Rudolph as a crazy diva talk show host.
The Bad News: The audience actually shrunk in the move to Thursday! NBC already has a few low-rated pedigree comedies it probably wants to keep (30 Rock, Community, Parks and Recreation) and this one has the fewest viewers.

Farewell Terra Nova

So, Fox cancelled Terra Nova. I'm not really surprised... bad acting + slow storytelling made for low ratings, and a gazillion dollar budget meant it wasn't worth a second round. Honestly, I don't think it was that terrible. There were plot lines that intrigued me - What is the writing on the rocks?! Who is sending these people!? Is Taylor bad? Is his son bad? Ahh! - and the finale was pretty great - Are they seriously starting civlization over?! Without any technology or medicine or anything?! The problem is people were too obsessed with bad dinosaurs, they couldn't get to enjoying the actual story. Remember how LOST did not show you the monster? And it was still scary? And when it did turn out to be a weird rope bully system and/or black smoke, you were already invested and didn't care if it was lame? That is what Terra Nova should have done. We didn't need to see bad CGI-dinos to know they were a threat. You just killed your budget.

Any who, Shep from Let's Talk TV thinks this is good news for Alcatraz - also low in the ratings. With openings from Terra Nova and the end of House, Fox needs something to stick around and fill the spot. Good news for me, because I actually adore Alcatraz.

Alcatraz

Yep. I'll watch it.
Yep. I'll get hooked.