"Bionic Woman," "Big Shots" to Get Canceled?

According to TV Guide, there won't be new episodes of NBC's reimagined 2007 version of the cult classic "Bionic Woman" and ABC's Thursday night CEO drama "Big Shots" this spring and they are also not expected to return for the 2008/2009 season.

Some freshman shows like ABC's "Pushing Daisies," CBS' "Moonlight" or NBC's "Life" which showed quite a bit of potential when they launched last fall are expected to return in the fall with a 13-episode order.

The networks are not ready to shell out big bucks to promote their brief returns in the spring, since neither one of them is a blazing ratings success. But they are also hardly a failure, and they will be given a chance next year to continue to build their momentum. Shows like "Bionic Woman" or "Big Shots" however are not expected to get that chance.

NBC's "Bionic Woman" managed to pull off the same trick that made ABC's "Commander In Chief" one of the greatest failures in recent TV history. It started off as one of the strongest new shows this season capturing over 14 million viewers, only to see a massive chunk of that audience quickly abandon the show. It took "Chief" an entire season to do that - "Bionic Woman" however bled to 6 million in only 2 months.

ABC's "Big Shots," on the other hand, got one of the most most valued pieces of TV real estate - the lucrative post-Grey's Anatomy spot on Thursday nights at 10. For over two months, the show kept losing over half of its gigantic 18+ million lead-in audience, averaging 8-9 million viewers. The most recent episodes of the critically-panned series went further down to 5-6 million.

Other freshman series not expected to make the cut for the 2008/2009 season are CBS' "Cane" and NBC's "Journeyman." But since only CBS' mega-flop "Viva Laughlin" has been officially canceled thus far, keep an eye on the network announcements. It may be highly unlikely, but perhaps one of these shows might get a last-minute benefit of the doubt.

Click HERE to see my earlier post on the average season ratings of all new shows launched in the 2007/2008 TV season.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

StarPix: Michael Vartan in Australia

French-born American Michael Vartan who stars in ABC's troubled CEO drama "Big Shots" (final 3 episodes begin next Thursday) is in Australia where he will spend 3 weeks playing poker, watching tennis and looking for a girlfriend.

Former "Alias" star arrived in Melbourne on January 3. He will take part in the The Aussie Millions tournament, which will be held at Crown in Melbourne from January 5-20, with a $10 million prize pool.

Upon his arrival Vartan allegedly said he wants to find a nice Aussie girl to settle downunder with. The actor fell in love with Australia while filming the crocodile thriller "Rogue."



You May Also Like:
"Big Shots" to Get Cancelled?
Can These "Big Shots" Fire?
"Big Shots" Preview

You're Reading:
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

ABC's "Big Shots" On Hiatus; Replaced by "Private Practice" Reruns

ABC is about to try what some have been suggesting since the beginning: air "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice" after its parent series on Thursday nights at 10:00 pm. That means "Big Shots" in going on hiatus, effective immediately.

Although the critically-panned Michael Vartan series did manage to generate a limited following, it also regularly managed to lose more than half of the 17-19 million people who would tune into "Grey's Anatomy" at 9:00pm this fall.

The Alphabet net's fading confidence in the series was reflected in the schedule - "Big Shots" was preempted 3 times over the past 4 weeks, and the only new episode aired on the night when both "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy" were reruns (November 29).

3 more episodes of "Big Shots" have been filmed (8 have aired), and although ABC originally planned to burn off at least 2 of them in December, the show is replaced by reruns of "Private Practice" effective immediately.

Unlike its competitors, ABC has yet to announce its 2008 schedule. Many of its signature shows have either run out of new episodes or have only 1-3 fresh episodes left.

The network is facing a challenge in putting together an effective schedule as some of the shows no longer have a lead-in: there will be 3 new episodes of "Dirty Sexy Money" and at least 3 or more episodes of "Brothers & Sisters," but either none or one episode of "Private Practice" and "Desperate Housewives" to air before them.

ABC is expected to announce the new schedule this week.

The new schedule will reveal what ABC is planning to do with "Big Shots"; where they will air the remaining episodes of "Brothers & Sisters" and "Dirty Sexy Money"; and what timeslots will Lucy Liu's new dramedy "Cashmere Mafia" and the 4th season of "LOST" get.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

ABC to Air New "Big Shots" on Rerun Nights

The next two all-new episodes of ABC's rookie drama "Big Shots" will not have the luxury of airing after fresh episodes of "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy." Furthermore, "Big Shots" will be preempted by a Barbara Walters Special the only remaining Thursday night in 2007 when there will be a new episode of "Betty" and "Grey's." ABC is not exactly helping the struggling drama, is it?



"Big Shots" has already been preempted twice - on November 15 by a special telecast of Friday night procedural "Woman's Murder Club" (which improved its own 18-49 ratings, but did as well as "Big Shots" normally does) and then on Thanksgiving by the 2nd season premiere of "October Road" (which did worse than "Big Shots").

Tomorrow night ABC is finally airing a new episode of the drama titled "The Way We Weren't" (#108). The episode will however lead out of reruns of season premieres of "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy."

The following week, ABC airs new episodes of "Ugly Betty" (#210) and "Grey's Anatomy" (#410), but they will lead into a Barbara Walters Special called "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007."

The last new episode of "Big Shots" in 2007 ("The Better Man," #109) will then air on December 13, but both "Betty" and "Grey's" will go back into reruns that night. 2 more episodes of "Big Shots" will be filmed and hopefully air in 2008.

Season to date the show has averaged 8.77 million viewers and a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49. That means the show loses more than half of 20.78 million people who tune into lead-in "Grey's Anatomy."



Finally, here are the spoilers for the next 2 episodes of "Big Shots":


THE WAY WE WEREN'T (November 29)

Duncan tests his sense of adventure as he goes to great lengths to reclaim his title at Reveal;

James puts his current relationships aside to focus on a custody battle when Stacey tells him she's moving to California;

Karl confronts his past when his high school bully makes a bid for membership at Firmwood;

and Brody taps into his creative side when he discovers hidden love-poems written to Janelle by old lovers.


THE BETTER MAN (December 13)

As the eve of Lisbeth's wedding to Terrence approaches, Duncan turns his attention to business and stealing a rising supermodel from a rival cosmetics company;

James decides that the wedding is the perfect opportunity for him and Katie to go on a real date;

unable to deal with Janelle's badgering, Brody finds the charms of a sexy stranger (Charisma Carpenter guest starring as Heather) increasingly irresistible;

and Cameron learns the truth about Zack.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

ABC's "Big Shots" To Get Cancelled?

The production on ABC's freshman drama "Big Shots" starring Michael Vartan is shutting down and the studio has informed the cast and crew on Thursday they won't be coming back after the strike, reports Nikki Finn.

The show which airs on Thursdays at 10 regularly loses over half of the audience of its blockbuster lead-in "Grey's Anatomy."

Last night, an extended episode of "Grey's" which ran till 10:07 scored 19.30 million viewers, while "Big Shots" retained 8.62 million.

Those figures are however heavily impacted by those 7 minutes, and once the final ratings are released, the ratings for "Big Shots" will be even worse.

The network has already preempted "Big Shots" the next two Thursdays; an all-new "Women's Murder Club" airs on November 15 and the 2nd season premiere of "October Road" airs a week after, on Thanksgiving.

ABC has yet to make any official statements about the fate of "Big Shots."

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

ABC Schedule Changes: "Cashmere Mafia" Delayed; "Big Shots" Pre-empted

ABC has delayed the series premiere of the new Lucy Liu-fronted series "Cashmere Mafia" until an undisclosed later date, while pre-empting the November 15 episode of troubled "Grey's Anatomy" lead-out "Big Shots" and replacing it with "Women's Murder Club."

"Cashmere Mafia" from "Sex and the City" producer Darren Star was originally supposed to premiere at a special time on Tuesday, November 27 after the season finale of "Dancing with the Stars," and then move to its regular Tuesday at 9 timeslot the following week.

Because of the writers' strike, it makes no sense to burn off fresh episodes in the repeat-heavy month of December. The network may however ultimately decide to save the 7 already filmed episodes of "Cashmere Mafia" until the spring, depending on the writers' strike developments.

Meanwhile, it appears ABC wants to give its freshman hit series "Women's Murder Club" a tryout on Thursday nights after "Grey's Anatomy," since the show currently occupying the timeslot is losing more than half of "Grey's" audience.

"Women's Murder Club" has averaged 10 million viewers on Friday nights, but also a very low 2.0 rating among adults 18-49. If the show does well on Thursday, November 15 (especially in the demo), ABC may decide to keep it there.

"Big Shots" will also be pre-emted on Thursday, November 22 because of the 2nd season premiere of "October Road" which then moves to its regular timeslot on Monday nights the following week.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

TV Ratings: "Big Shots" Hits Series Low

Baseball World Series on FOX continued to rule the prime-time as ABC's freshman drama "Big Shots" lost 55% of the rising "Grey's Anatomy" audience and dipped to a new series low of 8.08 million viewers.

The Dylan McDermott drama has now lost about 30% of its September 27 debut audience when 11.56 million viewers tuned in to sample the new show.

The show actually lost over 2 million viewers as the hour progressed, ending up with a little over 7 million in the final half hour. Needless to say, the show's toast.

"The Office" is still the strongest link in NBC's comedy line-up pulling in almost 9 million viewers. Furthermore, the comedy scores the highest 18-49 rating in NBC's entire Thursday night line-up beating veteran drama "ER" by an entire rating point (4.7 vs. 3.7).

ABC:
Ugly Betty (9.84 million)
Grey's Anatomy (17.95 million)
Big Shots (8.08 million)

CBS:
Survivor: China (14.16 million)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, (R) (14.76 million)
Without a Trace (12.75 million)

NBC:
My Name Is Earl (8.23 million)
30 Rock (6.53 million)
The Office (8.98 million)
Scrubs (7.03 million)
ER (9.12 million)

FOX:
Baseball World Series (15.64 million)

The CW:
Smallville (4.50 million)
Supernatural (3.27 million)

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

Top-5 New Shows Last Week: "Big Shots" Rises' "Private Practice" Still #1

A brand new week has begun, so here's a quick look at which 5 freshman shows did best in week #3 of the current TV season.

Capitalizing on the blockbuster power of its parent series "Grey's Anatomy" as well as the star power of Kate Walsh, ABC's "Private Practice" has now emerged as this season's highest rated new series in both total viewers and adults 18-49.

Although the show initially battled its timeslot competitor NBC's "The Bionic Woman," the re-imagined version of the sci-fi classic has lost some ground since the premiere, while the doctors from Ocean Wellness Group appear to possess much stronger ratings power.

There were two surprises last week. The first was the unexpected strong premiere for ABC's new procedural "Women's Murder Club" based on James Patterson's books. The show pulled in almost 11 million viewers on generally low-rated Friday emerging as the night's #1 show.

The pilots usually get inflated numbers because they are sampled by curious viewers. WMC however posted growth within the hour which may indicate the show's staying power. On the other hand, the drama didn't do equally well among adults 18-49.

The second surprise was the unexpected growth in week #3 for ABC's critically-panned "Big Shots" which added about a million sets of eyeballs. Although the show still loses 50% of "Grey's Anatomy" lead-in audience it surpassed "The Bionic Woman" and "Pushing Daisies" in the 18-49 demo.

If "Big Shots" manages to hang on to those viewers or even pull the same trick again and grow (especially in the 18-49 demo), whether you like it or not - it may be here to stay.

Whatever the case, 3 weeks into the new season, ABC's development still seems to be the strongest of all networks with 4 ABC shows in the top-5 on both charts.

Take a closer look:


Top-5 new shows on network TV (October 7-13, adults 18-49)

1. PRIVATE PRACTICE, ABC (4.8)
2. BIG SHOTS, ABC (3.9)
3. THE BIONIC WOMAN, NBC (3.8)
4. PUSHING DAISIES, ABC (3.6)
5. DIRTY SEXY MONEY, ABC (3.4)
THE BIG BANG THEORY, CBS (3.4)


Top-5 new shows on network TV (October 7-13, total viewers)

1. PRIVATE PRACTICE, ABC (12.2 million)
2. WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB, ABC (10.8 million)
3. THE BIONIC WOMAN, NBC (10.1 million)
PUSHING DAISIES, ABC (10.1 million)
5. BIG SHOTS,ABC (9.26 million)

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

"Big Shots" Take Big Dip (TV Ratings, 10/4/07)

ABC's new Michael Vartan drama "Big Shots" declined in the second week keeping only 8.66 million of that plum "Grey's Anatomy" lead-in audience (18.13 million). Last week the show opened with 13 million people, but dropped to a little below 10 million by the second half hour. With last night's retention dipping below 50%, the show is officially in trouble. Here's how the other shows did.

As expected, all shows lost some of their season premiere audience. ABC's "Ugly Betty" for instance pulled in 9.78 million (last week the show scored over 11 million viewers).

Betty's losses are however more drastic on year-to-year basis (the show averaged 14.26 million viewers on a comparable Thursday last year). I certainly hope the decline stops there, or 'Betty' may also be in trouble.

Since "CSI" posted 20.81 million viewers, CBS won the 9 p.m. battle in total viewers. The medical drama was as always superior in the 18-49 demo.

Over on the CW, "Smallville" remains the netlet's top show for the week topping "America's Next Top Model's" 4.52 million viewers, by luring 4.56 million fans. The show lost about half a million viewers week-to-week.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

TV Ratings: "Big Shots"? Big Losers! (UPDATED) (9/27/07)

Almost half the people who watched "Grey's Anatomy" last night didn't even bother to give Michael Vartan's critically-panned "Big Shots" a shot and one quarter of those who did were gone by 10:30. Meanwhile, after losing some ground to "Grey's Anatomy" in 2006, C.S.I. was back stronger than last year easily beating Seattle docs by 4 million viewers, its largest lead over "Grey's Anatomy" to date. Check out the details and ratings for "Ugly Betty."

The battle royale between blockbusters CSI and "Grey's Anatomy" ended with the former beating the latter (24.85 million vs. 20.48 million). Meredith and the gang, however, pulled in much stronger 18-49 numbers (8.0 vs 8.7), and those are the figures that really matter to advertisers.

"Ugly Betty" launched its 2nd season at 8:00 p.m. with 11.05 million viewers. Although many of the fans may now be keeping up with the show on DVR, this is still quite a significant drop compared to last year's series premiere (16.32 million).

Finally, "Big Shots" proved to be a weak lead-out for "Grey's Anatomy." 12.98 million people began watching at 10:00, but then over 3 million of them abandoned the show within half an hour, so the show scored an average of 11.56 million. Last year's flop "Six Degrees" posted 12.56 million.

Now, if those numbers continue to go south and the network either pulls or reschedules "Big Shots" to a different timeslot, it will be interesting to see what replaces it. Will it be "Men In Trees," "October Road" or even "Dirty Sexy Money"? In any event, I smell blood.

UPDATE: How silly of me to forget about good ole "Smallville." As you can see I only choose to report ratings for shows I cover on this blog, but since "Smallville" is one of them, and I've always loved that hunkfest of a show, here we go:

"Smallville" actually did pretty well for its 7th season premiere (given the somewhat weak start for both "Reaper" and "Gossip Girl" I bet the CW is happy about that).

The show pulled in 5.08 million viewers, pretty much on a par with last year's premiere ratings. Since "America's Top Model" slid a little below 5 million the night before (blame it on "Dancing with the Stars"), "Smallville" will be The CW's top show this week. Not too bad for a drama in its 7th season.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

Can These "Big Shots" Fire?

Michael Vartan's new ABC dramedy "Big Shots" will try to do this fall what "Six Degrees," "Men In Trees" and even "October Road" have failed to do before - hold on to that plum "Grey's Anatomy" audience. But can this critically-panned series succeed?


The show described by some as the male version of "Sex and the City" about four CEOs who "find sanctuary in male bonding" marks the return of Vartan to series television over a year after ABC's Jennifer Garner-fronted spy series "Alias," that made him a household name, ended.



Former "Veronica Mars" producer Rob Thomas was added over the summer to the show's creative team as a consulting producer to help buzz-challenged series. The producers also hired Paul Blackthorne ("The Dresden Files") to play the fifth CEO. Dylan McDermott, Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina play the remaining three men.



Some TV critics and journalists (namely Michael Ausiello of TV Guide) have been highly critical of the pilot. The Futon Critic reviewed "Big Shots" as "underwhelming" calling its characters "unfunny walking cartoons."



Obviously, the power of "Grey's Anatomy" will give "Big Shots" a strong launching pad. But unless this hunky bunch of metrosexuals can come up with more compelling stuff, perhaps even the "Power of Vartan" may not be enough to keep viewers from flipping away.

You're Reading
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

New ABC Shows: "Big Shots"

ABC's "Six Degrees," "Men In Trees" and "October Road" have all pretty much failed to meet the high network expectations in the plum post-"Grey's Anatomy" Thursday night timeslot. Will this new Michael Vartan-fronted drama be any different?

The drama revolves around four friends at the top of their game...until the women in their lives enter the room.



Lines between boardroom and bedroom blur when these competitive but dysfunctional CEOs take refuge in their friendship, discussing business, confiding secrets, seeking advice and supporting each other through life's surprising twists and turns.



First we meet James, who is about to become the latest casualty in a corporate shake-up until a twist of fate makes him the newest member of the corner office club.

Then there's Duncan, a cosmetics CEO who can't resist sex with his age-defying ex-wife.



Next, Karl is a loveable pharmaceutical big shot whose life turns upside down when his wife and mistress become best friends.

And finally, Brody, the edgy Harvard B-school executive is so whipped, he spends more time planning his wife's birthday than running his company.



This foursome take refuge at their country club where they can discuss business, confide secrets, seek advice... and, yes, even men will gossip.

It's lonely at the top and they have to trust someone to cover their back. And when you're a desperate executive, you may have to do everything wrong for the right reputation.



"Big Shots" (a.k.a. "Perfect Gentlemen") was the network’s highest-testing pilot and stars Dylan McDermott, who has a track record on ABC ("The Practice").

But ensemble dramas about dysfunctional men who confide their insecurities and feelings to each other haven't worked in the past.

ABC President Stephen McPherson said the reason they failed is that "there's never been a good one."



Starring: Michael Vartan as James Walker, Dylan McDermott as Duncan Collinsworth, Joshua Malina as Karl Mixworthy, Christopher Titus as Brody Johns, Wendy Moniz as Stacey Walker, Peyton List as Cameron Collinsworth, Nia Long as Katie Graham, Amy Sloan as Wendy, Jessica Collins as Marla, Paige Turco as Lisbeth, "Big Shots" will air Thursday nights at 10/9c on ABC.

This is TELEVISIONISTA