TV News and Reviews

Well, we finally have news of the air dates for the final episodes of ABC series’ Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, and Dirty Sexy Money. Critical favorites with strong fan followings, these primetime TV shows got axed in their prime and didn’t even get to finish out their runs during the regular season. The only good news is that ABC seems to be holding to their promise to finally get the finales out this summer. All three shows will air in the Saturday night 10/9c timeslot on ABC:

May 30, June 6, June 13: The final three episodes of Pushing Daisies.

June 20, June 27, July 4, July 11: The last four episodes of Eli Stone (which may include an actual finale).

July 18, July 25, August 1, August 8: The final four episodes of Dirty Sexy Money.

So mark your calendars, fans, to finally see the last of the series’ episodes of your favorite shows.

(Thanks to Zap2It for the scheduling info.)

I’d given up hope of ever hearing about the fate of Eli Stone’s final episodes, but apparently I gave up just before the news broke mid-month. E! Online and other news outlets report that ABC is planning on airing the remaining episodes and finales of Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, and Pushing Daisies in June–at the earliest. The reason for the delay? Apparently the largely crap fill-ins are getting the same or better ratings as the canceled shows they replaced. That’s right, the stupid candid camera show that ran in Eli Stone’s time slot got twice as many viewers.

According to the slew of blog posts and comments on every article talking about Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, and Pushing Daisies, someone was liking these shows. With such a large outcry, and continuous outcry, it’s hard to believe the numbers. I get hits every day to my blog from people looking for Eli Stone cancellation and final episodes news.

There are lots of theories why these shows fail and the crap that replaces them does better. One of them is that the sensationalistic reality shows seem to get promoted a heck of a lot more than the scripted programs like Eli Stone. Another is that the Nielsen ratings are completely outmoded and useless, using too small a sample to truly judge the viewership and not allowing for DVR and online viewing numbers that get larger each day.

With the way networks schedule popular TV shows against one another to try and cancel them out, DVR and online viewing can become a big part of a TV show’s viewership. The audience doesn’t want to miss out on a quality program, so they watch one in real time and then watch the competing show later. That’s the beauty of current technology. You no longer have to choose–you can watch both.

But how many people will DVR or view a reality show online? Except for competition shows like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, I would guess not many. So I theorize that while Eli Stone may have had 4 million real time viewers and 4 million online viewers, the candid camera show only had 7 million viewers in real time and nothing else. The problem is that the networks don’t care about DVR and online viewing because it’s not helping their ad money. Less commercial viewing equals less money. So they’d rather have 3 million real time viewers watching commercials than 20 million loyal online Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, or Pushing Daisies viewers. It’s all about the dollar.

Another problem is the self-fulfilling prophesy problem. Shows get canceled at the drop of a hat these days, so viewers have become skeptical when new shows hit the air. Will it last? Should I bother? A commenter on E! Online dubbed ABC: “Already Been Canceled.” We’re battle-weary. I wanted to check out Pushing Daisies last year, but I kept hearing about low numbers and possible cancellations. Not wanting to get my heart broken for the umpty-ninth time, I skipped it. Other viewers no doubt did the same with Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone. Wary of cancellations, people don’t watch the shows. People don’t watch the shows, so they get canceled. It’s a vicious cycle, and won’t end until the networks stop pulling the rug out from under us.

Check out the E! Online article on Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, and Pushing Daisies here .

Newsarama reports that Marc Guggenheim, co-creator of Eli Stone, is still holding out hope that Eli Stone might be renewed for a third season. Guggenheim admits that it’s a slim hope, but he’s apparently adopted the hopefulness in the face of strong odds attitude that Eli himself has. Guggenheim also does reconfirm that the remaining unaired episodes will tie up a lot of loose ends, and the Eli Stone season finale can make for a satisfying series finale.

Guggenheim backs up ABC all the way on their decisions on Eli Stone, noting that they gave the series a second season even when the first season ratings weren’t that hot. He feels that the network would have continued to back Eli if the economy hadn’t taken such a sharp downturn.

He also make an interesting assessment, that Eli Stone may have been ahead of the curve with its message of hope. With Obama’s political campaign being based on hope and positive change, and his success in achieving the presidency, the country is starting to take a turn from dread to hopefulness. Eli Stone may have debuted too early, before anyone was really buying a glass-half-full type of message. It’s an interesting theory. Personally I think it would be nice if viewers adopted a less cynical view in future and embraced quirkier, more well-meaning shows, rather than just everything that is dark, violent and gory.

Guggenheim thinks it’s possible Eli Stone could swing in for a third season and capitalize on the country’s new attitude.  I suppose the argument could be made that ABC is holding on to the remaining episodes to possibly better position them in support of a follow-up season. They may be waiting to see how the economy fares in coming months, and decide if taking a chance on an underperforming show is worth the risk. This is all just conjecture, mind you, and a lot of Eli-style hopefulness. It doesn’t hurt to think positive, does it?

Read the entire Marc Guggenheim/Eli Stone related article at Newsarama.

Visit the Save Eli Stone website .