The Fox Network has gone cancellation crazy! They’ve pulled the plug on five shows in one fowl swoop leaving hundreds of actors and crew members without jobs. If you’re a fan of Breaking In, Lie to Me, Human Target, Traffic Light, or The Chicago Code, accept our condolences.
The big announcement was made last night when the network revealed that they were cutting the fat for the upcoming fall season. Most of the shows they pulled were mid-season replacements, but some showed promise. Breaking In had great numbers when it first began and it was pretty funny. We can’t help but feel like Fox jumped the gun on some of these.
Breaking In marks Christian Slater’s third failed TV show. We’re beginning to think he’s cursed! He was the veteran and headliner of the show and despite its positive start it still got the axe. Apparently, the ratings have steadily declined since its successful premiere. The same goes for Chicago Code, which also fell down a slippery slope.
We think the biggest surprises were Human Target and Lie to Me. They weren’t freshman shows. Lie to Me was in its third season and was brought in as a replacement for the quickly cancelled Lone Star. It obviously carried some type of clout if they pulled it out of retirement to repair the damage another show caused.
On the other hand, Human Target had a winning formula in the beginning but began to switch things up for their second season. They added new blood into their cast and according to EW “averaged 7.6 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in adults 18-49 this season, including DVR use, but was down from its first season average of 2.9.” Maybe they should have left well enough alone? We get that the network was unhappy with the numbers but they could have sent the producers notes and told them to rework the show.
A good example of a network repairing a failing series is NBC’s Law and Order: Los Angeles. When it first began it was a mess. It had a bloated cast and boring writing. The network put it on hiatus, got with the producers to make some serious changes and they did. When the series returned it was revamped and better than ever! Why couldn’t Fox do the same with at least ONE of their shows? We don’t know if they were being efficient or just lazy. What do you think?
