What's Staying? What's Going? Renewals/Cancellations: 2012

What a year this was for prime time TV. My take on all of the shows that I currently watch or have some kind of interest in that were up in the air for Fall 2012.

Ringer: “Whores Don’t Make That Much”

Some real inventive episode titles, aren’t they?

I was pretty intrigued with this episode, for the most part this time with the actual main characters’ back story. At times when I’m following this show, it can be difficult to keep up with some of the issues behind Siobhan and Bridget. This episode however, set up what is quite obviously the biggest thing that could estrange family members up with quite clearly. We’ve seen flashbacks of things like Siobhan bailing out a drunk Bridget and so forth, but this took the cake.

Misha Collins also did really well in the role of Dylan, the father of Siobhan’s now deceased child. And Siobhan really had Dylan beaten up? Wow, don’t mess with this chick. The only thing I find off about it is that it’s going to be really awkward and weird if the real Siobhan were to ever cross paths with Dylan ever again.

The story involving Juliet, Tessa, and Mr. Carpenter got to a whole new level of bizarre though. Catherine is behind the whole plan?! Really? I thought Juliet hated Catherine's guts. I hope this is explained well next week. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good twist in the story, but right now it looks like it was pulled out of nowhere.

Ringer: It's Easy to Cry When This Much Cash is Involved

I was pretty intrigued as Bridget continued to go through her twin sister Siobhan's history and get a little closer to finding the truth yet again with this episode. With her, as always, it's a slow, but sure path to getting there. The restaurant with the secret wish design was pretty clever. What could Siobhan have possibly needed to forgive Bridget for? They obviously had a rocky relationship, so it could be a number of things.

The most out-there part again though had to be the story with teenage daughter Juliet. So basically she is just a scheming individual. Both girls are. I can't believe that for one moment I thought she had a legitimate bone in her body. That feeling didn't last long, but still, I fell for it. Now I'm wondering what in the world Mr. Carpenter would want to do with this scheme with these two teenage girls. Really? What is he getting out of this? Why would he be so willing to ruin his own career for them? Confusing, and creepy, for sure, but then again, this is the part of the show that I think is really supposed to be the headscratcher.

Ringer: What Are You Doing Here, Ho-Bag?

Yes, you read that correctly. That was indeed the episode title for this week's show. I actually found this to be a very enjoyable episode of the series.

There was the really perfect soapy interaction between Juliet’s mother and Andrew’s ex-wife Catherine, and Siobhan… (or shall we say in this case, Bridget?). Catherine’s certainly a hot mess, isn’t she? Bridget also seems to be improving since she’s stepped in Siobhan’s shoes. Even though Siobhan is always ahead of her, it should only be a matter of time before she figures out her twin sister is actually alive.

What really got to me this week was the whole issue of Juliet and her teacher, Mr. Carpenter. At first I was convinced she was completely full of it when she said her teacher forced himself on her because she already has a very long history of being mistrustful and acting out. Now here comes the surveillance video tape of her and the teacher, and he wanted none of her advances. It looked like she was caught in another lie, but then the other student Tessa shows up and drops the bomb that he did the same thing to her. I don’t know what to think now, but then again, that’s what’s supposed to happen. It's something story wise that I should be confused about. There's the possibility that they're both being honest; or Juliet could be lying, and the other kid could be telling the truth. You just can’t tell this soon and I‘m intrigued to find out what happens next. Plus one would only hope that Juliet wouldn’t actually be low enough to lie about something as horrible and awful as this.

Since it’s debuted, I’ve been hot and cold about how the show’s been progressing. As much as I’ve enjoyed seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar on a new series, it can be confusing and difficult to keep up with at times. But I guess it just goes to show that some shows need a few episodes in the beginning to even itself out and begin to get itself together. Ringer obviously is one of those shows. If it keeps up after this, I think it could be appointment television for a really good length of time.

I don't get The CW... I really don't.

Sooooo... fans were not happy one bit Thursday when they found out that new mid-season premiere Supernatural and Smallville episodes that were going to air tonight were going to be pushed back a week for reruns of The Vampire Diaries and Nikita. And then we found out their excuse:

"Contrary to rumors, it's not about preemptions. The CW hopes that re-airing the "The Vampire Diaries" in a timeslot that doesn't compete with ratings juggernaut "American Idol" will help to boost total viewership."

This reasoning makes no sense. Idol to me is no excuse. They should have known for months that it'd be competition; hell, Idol has existed for longer than the CW.

Not to mention Supernatural and Smallville have both been up against other popular shows on the other major networks for years (CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, The Office, Survivor, etc.) and they never got the kind of treatment The Vampire Diaries and Nikita are getting with Idol. Oh, and they'll just be in the SAME EXACT predicament next week, which makes this schedule exercise all the more pointless.

I think the worst thing about it is the little notice. If they made this decision a week or two ago, then I'm sure most people wouldn't have been so pissed. Or if they were, people would have been like "well, this sucks" and then moved on with their day instead of flooding the CW with tweets and phone calls. And people ARE pissed. Twitter exploded when this news came out. I don't venture into fandom often, but today it proves all the more that fandoms of any kind don't like to be toyed with.

I think most networks would not make schedule decisions like this at the last minute. You don't get all your fans' hopes and expectations up with two months' worth of hype and promotion (especially when said promotion is minuscule in comparison to a show like The Vampire Diaries) and randomly decide to make a change for a ridiculous reason like this with just barely over 24 hours' notice. It's certainly not the end of the world, but it IS a poor programming choice.

Smallville has served The WB/CW for 10 years and is in its final season, and Supernatural has been going for 5 years into 6; both have fans worldwide (and if you don't believe me, Google for pics of Supernatural fan conventions in Australia, the new animated series that's being made for Japan, and check out YouTube videos of promotional ads and so forth for the show in places like the UK, Canada, and Australia) and deserve better treatment than this.

But considering this is the same network that canceled Everwood, treated Reba like crap even though it was one of their most successful shows, and gave 7th Heaven an extra season it desperately didn't need after a much hyped original series finale, I'm not surprised.

Oh, and one final note: I would appreciate it in the future when publications report on Supernatural that they would be so kind as to mention that dudes like the show too. Thanks.

Supernatural: Season 4 Premiere

I really, REALLY enjoyed the season 4 premiere of Supernatural last night.

A lot of the minor things I really loved. I loved how defensive Sam and Bobby were when they first saw Dean. What a touching hug between Sam and Dean. And Bobby splashing holy water on Dean was so funny. Can’t blame them for being protective at first since they fight demons and evil spirits pretty much for a living. There’s also that bit about the iPod in the Impala; of course Dean would hate that.

I am curious about the angle on the angel of the Lord but I am definitely looking forward to seeing how it goes. The mystery element is very intriguing, and will really be worth trying to find out. And I’m definitely glad that the show didn’t waste too much time reviving Dean. Even Jensen jokes that if Dean weren’t to come back, it’d be the Sam Winchester show, so there’d have been really no point to tease the viewers any longer with that in my eyes, so I’m glad they didn’t go that route.

Supernatural is my favorite current series right now and I am really glad this show pretty much doesn’t disappoint at all. I’m always on the edge of my seat. And what’s more, I’m behind on my DVD buying, and I had finally bought season 1 a couple weeks ago. I didn’t begin watching until towards the end of that, so there were plenty of episodes I hadn’t seen yet. I finished with that, and what I noticed is that this show is addictive as it is when seeing it in first run… it’s been the first time in quite a while where it’s like “I cannot miss a single episode of this” with a current show. And with the DVD’s, it was so hard to stop watching. This show is just so addictive, especially with having multiple episodes on hand.

Here’s to a great new season of Supernatural!

The CW: Fall 2008 Schedule

Here it is, the CW's prime-time schedule for the fall 2008 season:

Monday:
8 PM Gossip Girl
9 PM One Tree Hill

Tuesday
8 PM 90210
9 PM Surviving the Filthy Rich

Wednesday
8 PM America's Next Top Model
9 PM Stylista

Thursday
8 PM Smallville
9 PM Supernatural

Friday
8 PM Everybody Hates Chris
8:30 PM The Game
9 PM America's Next Top Model rerun

Sunday
TBA


I cannot tell a lie: I am really not psyched at all about The CW. Honestly, if it weren’t for Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Smallville, and Reaper, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be watching this network at all. I must admit, I am not a fan of televised wrestling these days, but I really don’t think it’s smart to get rid of one of their highest rated shows. But then again, the person in charge is the same person that got rid of Everwood so 7th Heaven could have another season that it desperately didn’t need. And Reba would have been cancelled if it wasn’t for a syndication deal, despite the fact that it was The WB’s highest rated sitcom. So I can’t say I’m not that surprised to hear that they’re getting rid of another high rated show.

As for the shows I do watch, I’m ready and eager for season 4 of Supernatural. That is my favorite current television series, and boy was the season 3 finale one hell of a cliffhanger. And I’ve heard that this will be the last season for One Tree Hill. I wouldn’t say season 5 was the show’s best season, but despite that I say let’s see if Dan can cheat death for the umpteenth time. Has anyone else noticed how much that show loves to play with that character’s life at the end of a season? Smallville will be gone too after this fall. And I don’t feel too psyched about Smallville’s last season after hearing Michael Rosenbaum is leaving the show. Kristen Kreuk’s departure to me won’t be that big a loss, but how can you have Smallville without Lex Luthor? I’m not a huge fan of Reaper but it has grown on me a lot, despite the fact that the Sock character still annoys me. I’m glad to see Bret Harrison get another shot at a series and I enjoy seeing him on it. I'm a bit disappointed though that we won't be seeing a full season of it. That's not coming back until mid season.

Despite my love for the four shows I’ve mentioned, this network is a perfect example of something in my eyes that wasn’t broken and doesn’t need fixing. The WB and UPN should have never merged. Ever.