Nov 24 2008
NBC Bows to Budget Concerns and Heroes Drives Us Crazy
According to TV Squad , Madchen Amick has been publicly expressing her disappointment over the cancellation of My Own Worst Enemy. The Monday night split-personality spy drama has been axed due to what Amick refers to as the “archaic” Neilsen ratings. She claims ratings on DVR and Internet were high and that the show had a strong following, which I believe. Didn’t anyone learn anything from Jericho? It’s the digital age. A large part of the population no longer watches TV in real time.
Amick no doubt hits the mark as well by mentioning the budget issue. My Own Worst Enemy certainly must cost a pretty penny, especially as compared to your average studio sitcom or reality show. The large budget and non-explosive ratings, coupled with the struggling economy, no doubt helped NBC make the decision to give this Christian Slater vehicle the boot.
See Slater in action:
It’s not the first time NBC has chosen low budget over ratings. Back when Studio 60 and 30 Rock were both on the airwaves, the similar show subjects and so-so ratings meant one of them had to go. Though Studio 60 had better ratings, 30 Rock was a heck of a lot cheaper, and thus Tina Fey won out against Matthew Perry. I’m still not over my disappointment on that score. I own the single season of Studio 60 on DVD and watch it repeatedly. With a first rate cast, intelligent scripts, and snappy dialogue, it’s the kind of TV we rarely have the priviledge of seeing.
But back to My Own Worst Enemy. NBC has so far kept silent on how far the Slater/Amick drama will go on, and is basically acting like nothing’s wrong. NBC promos invite viewers to visit the website and watch special webisodes and learn more details about the plot that could very well end mid-cliffhanger. I guess NBC is hoping most TV viewers don’t surf TV news sites and will be oblivious to the show’s imminent demise.
Just a few words on Heroes. They’re messing with our heads again. Could there please be a few characters on the show whose motives are clear? It’s getting exhausting trying to get behind characters that are constantly changing their minds. Sure, it can be intriguing to have an ambiguous character or two, but you can’t have every SINGLE hero flipping alliances every five minutes. Claire loves her father. No, she hates him. Now she’s suspicious of him. No wait, she loves him again. No, she hates him. Please. Have mercy on the viewers. We’re intrigued by complex characters and multiple storylines, but don’t give characters a drastic personality change just to suit some “Ooh!” plot device. That’s just sloppy writing and it’s going to kill the show.
