Still No Word On Final Episodes of "Pushing Daisies", "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone"

Big thumbs down to ABC for not being respectful to supposedly small (hey, we're talking millions here) but loyal audiences of three of its recently canceled dramas: "Pushing Daisies," "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone," who still don't know when the remaining 3-4 episodes of these shows will air (or if they'll ever air).

Once they give up on a show, it's common practice for broadcast networks to disregard pleas of fan bases and pretend the show never existed. In fact, the fans are lucky if they get to see the last filmed episodes of a show burned off on a Saturday or during the summer.

One alternative these days is obviously putting the show online, as FOX did with final episodes of its failed mystery drama "Vanished" back in 2006. But, as we have seen, with a recently dumped Thanksgiving clip episode of "Dirty Sexy Money" (preempted by a Barbara Walters Obamas special), that doesn't always happen.

Will the fans have to wait till the shows' sophomore seasons are released on DVD? According to some unconfirmed reports, ABC is "contractually obliged" to air the final 3 episodes of "Pushing Daisies" and may do so on a single night. Whether "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone" get the same treatment is anyone's guess at this time.

ABC Wednesday Ratings Meltdown

Highly-anticipated ABC Wednesdays got off to a lackluster start this week as the trio of sophomore dramas "Pushing Daisies," "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money" pulled in just 6.5-8 million viewers.

ABC tried to spin the numbers in their press release, but the best they could do is say that the 2nd season opener of whimsical "Pushing Daisies" beat NBC's "Knight Rider" in key female demos.

The truth is the show generated only 6.32 million viewers vs. the hideous "Knight Rider", which actually went up in the ratings to 7.56 million.

"Private Practice" at 9pm pulled in only 8.05 million viewers, a far cry from the 14 million who tuned into the series premiere last September, or the 11 million that the show averaged during its short 9-episode run last fall.

Finally at 10pm, Dynasty-esque sudser "Dirty Sexy Money" kept 7.15 million viewers tuned to ABC. That is a little higher than its last episode last year (6.7 million) and the show did retain almost 90% of the PP audience.

Unfortunately, only "Private Practice" built its audience during the hour, both "Pushing Daisies" and "Dirty Sexy Money" shed viewers during their respective hours.

"Pushing Daisies" Season 2 Stills

Unlike its bona fide hit lead-out "Private Practice," ABC's whimsical Wednesday night procedural "Pushing Daisies" will be one of the sophomore shows which will need to rebuild its audience almost as a new show.



Marred by costly production delays (the show's ambitious scripts abundant with scenes took a long time to film as well as edit in post-production), "Pushing Daisies" barely put out 9 episodes before the writers' strike cut its inaugural season short.

The show which got a lot of buzz prior to its launch last fall premiered to about 13 million viewers, but quickly lost a quite a few eyeballs with some of the episodes going down to about 8.5 million.

ABC honchos who were supposedly afraid the show was getting a little too cartonish, made some changes this year to ensure smoother production, but the producers promise to fans who fell in love with the show last year, its quirky tone will remain, as evident in upcoming episodes dealing with bees, circus and taxidermy.

"Pushing Daisies" airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on ABC, beginning October 1. A total of 13 episodes has thus far been ordered for its 2nd season.

This is TELEVISIONISTA.Net

"Pushing Daisies" to Return Next Season?

TV Guide is reporting today that ABC's fantasy procedural "Pushing Daisies" may be coming back as late as September even if the writers' strike were to end shortly. Get the latest, plus new midseason cast stills, after the jump.

The show's elaborate special effects-heavy production, which had already been behind the schedule even before the strike, may not be able to churn out more than 4-5 new episodes before the end of the season.

Since "Pushing Daisies" is a new show, it needs to build momentum. Taking the show off air at Christmas certainly didn't help. The dramedy was renewed for a full season of 22 episodes, but due to the strike, only 9 episodes have been completed.

ABC doesn't appear to be willing to launch another costly marketing campaign to bring the show back for only a handful of episodes. Especially since some of those episodes might get slaughtered by FOX's "American Idol."

Although no formal announcements have been made, the show creator has said to TV Guide "Pushing Daisies" might be back with a whole batch of new episodes next fall. No word yet on the rest of ABC's regular Wednesday night line-up.

The show may not be back in the spring, but the network has nevertheless recently released a bunch of new cast stills. Scroll down to check them all out.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed