Cancellation Anxiety + What's coming on 'Justified'

Particularly good Ask Matt this week over at TV Guide. Some items of interest, including a couple of questions from yours truly:

Regarding the possible cancellation of Nashville: These days, the networks would almost kill for "lackluster," so while Nashville isn't what you'd call a runaway hit, it's doing OK, and because it's going the right way creatively (pulling out of its first-half slump), and like Glee and Smash it has a separate revenue stream with its music downloads and CD releases (which seem to get good reviews, though I'm not a music critic), I'm cautiously optimistic that ABC will renew it. As our in-house ratings guru puts it when we gather to discuss such things, they can't cancel everything.

Regarding seeing Limehouse again on Justified, and this season's 'big mystery' instead of 'big bad': I've heard that Mykelti Williamson may reprise his role sometime this season, but can't say when or how. (I'd like it to be a surprise, should it occur.) Regardless, I'm loving this season, as I have the past three, in part because it's so different from what's come before. Still the same blend of action, intrigue and wry humor that we can't get enough of, but once again the show is taking us into new areas of Harlan mythology, from the brutality of the hill people to the murderous machinations of the Clover Hill power-brokers, with whom Boyd and Ava have memorable dealings this week. This Tuesday's episode gives Elmore Leonard a story credit, and it introduces one of my favorite characters from his recent novel Raylan. I'll let you discover her for yourself, but I'm curious what avenues she'll eventually lead our besotted marshal down.

Regarding my concerns about the fate of Up All Night: The situation with Up All Night brings to mind the metaphor about rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. What is the point? Nothing happening on the show is as fascinating or laughable as what's taking place behind the scenes. If we ever see it again in any shape or form, I'll be amazed. And outside of professional morbid curiosity, completely uninterested as a viewer. Let it go.

Regarding my concern that Happy Endings moving to Fridays is a very bad thing:  Regarding Happy Endings' current misadventures in ABC limbo, I knew it was the odd ensemble out in the current schedule (not unlike Cougar Town before it), but until the news that the remainder of episodes would be burned off on Friday, I didn't view it as necessarily endangered. Now it's hard to see it as anything but. (Which of course will prompt questions about whether someone will swoop in to rescue it, like TBS did with Cougar Town. I usually don't encourage such speculation, but while I'm not especially fond of Happy Endings, it generates enough buzz and media attention to make it a good candidate.)

[Side note: I'm worried Matt and I have nothing in common, as I discovered he likes Big Bang Theory, and as stated above, isn't a fan of Up All Night or Happy Endings. Wha?!]

Christina Applegate leaving. Is this the end for 'Up All Night'?

Son of a b!-%$#.

I really, really like Up All Night, but I fear the show is doomed. There have been so many changes - getting rid of the Ava Show at the beginning of this current season and the plan to move to a multi-camera/live audience format later this season - the show is going to be unrecognizable if/when it returns. And now, it looses it's star? EW reported that they are courting Lisa Kudrow, but for what role? The new Reagan? Just replacing her like on a soap opera? That seems ridiculous. Will they kill off Reagan or something? Also seems ridiculous for a show like this.

Honestly - Can Up All Night survive this? And even if it does - is it worth saving? The 'new' Up All Night would be a completely different show!

Up All Night going multi-camera, live audience

"This was an idea we and Lorne came to in order to infuse the show with more energy," NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said in a statement. "We know what the multi-camera audience does for the live episodes of 30 Rock, plus after seeing both Maya [Rudolph] and Christina [Applegate] do SNL within the past few months, we knew we had the kind of performers — Will Arnett included — who love the reaction from a live audience. We think we can make a seamless tradition to the new format."

Read the full article at TVGuide.com.

[Sigh.]

It seems as if the network is doing anything and everything it can to try to save Up All Night-  and I don't blame them! Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph - this show should be gold, right? Yet despite the stellar cast, the show struggled last year and already has gone through big changes this year, eliminating 'The Ava Show' storyline altogether.

All these changes worry me because I really, really love this show. And I've talked to friends of mine with kids (ie twentysomethings) and they love it, too.

Do I think this new format is the answer? Eh..... I don't know. Will they have to redo the sets to accommodate an audience? Will there be a laugh track?

The New 'Up All Night'

Inspired by reading this post on TVGuide.com....

TVguide thinks Up All Night sans 'Ava Show' cuts back on all the over-the-top antics and scenarios and brings the characters back down to earth. But honestly, as much as I agree with that - I also miss the workplace drama.

The reality in being a new parent - and in life in general - is that it isn't JUST your homelife with your friends and family. We spend 40+ hours at work every week. And when we get home from work, we're either stressed out from it or spend time talking about it with our significant others, friends, family, roommates, etc. Work is a HUGE part of life. And most TV shows ignore it.

They have one 'work drama' episode each season. Or they show characters in suits to imply that they are employed. Or they have a mention of work here and there. The only show I can think of that offers balance between working and living is 2 Broke Girls or a drama like Justified. (Can you think of others?)

I'm not saying Up All Night's first season was perfect. But yes, I miss Reagan having a part of her life that is NOT Chris and Amy. This season, it seems like the couple has infinite time to spend together and with their kid. When are they working?

I'm hoping to see...
- more of Chris and Reagan's brother's business (LOVE him by the way! Great addition to the cast!)
- Reagan have more conflicts as to how to be a stay-at-home mom, and feel the urge to get back to work. Maybe she starts blogging or opens an Etsy shop or something. She seems too ansty and ambitious to not channel that somehow.
- Ava get some direction in her life. Forget Missy, Ava is the real casualty here from the show's cancellation. I don't like her living episode to episode, hoarding and then dating and then finding old friends.

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.

New on Wed: Up All Night, H8R

I'm going to be honest... I didn't watch a full episode of either of these shows. I was distracted by Chef Robert and the shitty restaurant he was revamping on Restaurant Impossible..... but I'm blogging about them anyway.

Up All Night w/ Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph. It wasn't LOL funny, but it had its moments - particularly the fear that their daughter will develop a tick like eating her own hair. I think I'll give it a go, at least for a few more episodes. 

H8R. Okay, please don't hate on me for watching this show. (see what I did there, eh? eh?) I really just flipped it on to see what it was all about and caught some random girl seriously dishing it out to Jake from the Bachelor. Why do these celebs care if some random person hates them? Why do these random people really think they know the celebs well enough to hate them? And seriously, who hates Eva Longoria? I don't care how dumb it is. I'm adding it to the DVR.