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Monday, November 27, 2006
The “None”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And then there were (virtually) none.
ABC has put “The Nine” on hiatus, effective immediately. The network says the well-made serialized drama about the post-release lives of a group of people taken hostage in a bank will return later this year, just not when. Prediction: The show has about as good a chance of airing anytime outside the dead of a Saturday night in mid-March as Tim Daly and Chi McBride’s characters had of just going back to business of usual after their hours of terror in the vault.
This pretty much sticks a fork in the fall’s once-redhot serial trend. Viewers just couldn’t or wouldn’t keep up with more than a half-dozen new shows that tried to jump on the “24”/”Lost” bandwagon by making them tune in week after week lest they become confused about the storyline (in the case of Fox’s “Vanished” make that “hopelessly confused,” even if you didn’t miss any episodes). For those of you keeping score at home, here’s what’s already come and gone, although some live on on the Internet: “Six Degrees,” “The Nine,” “Smith,” “Kidnapped,” “Vanished” and “Runaway.” Only “Heroes” and “Jericho” have caught on, but CBS has already announced that the latter will take a good, long “Lost”-like break after this week. Meanwhile, the Serf suspects ABC’s new serial, “Day Break,” is already on life support after last week’s dismal debut.
What went wrong? There’s no one easy answer to that question (which, come to think of it, is sort of the serial-maker’s mantra). Several of the shows were actually quite good, namely “The Nine” and “Kidnapped,” whose networks did them no favors with their quick trigger fingers. Others, well, if you can’t say anything nice about someone … (but seriously, has Ray Liotta’s face moved yet on “Smith?”). Chalk it up to too much of a good AND bad thing. But let’s hope this doesn’t mean the networks give up on high-quality drama that actually require you to think from week-to-week. After all, the next “24” is out there somewhere …
Oh and one more thing. However long they lasted on air, I’m betting all these shows get the full Season 1 DVD treatment. Nothing’s been announced on that front yet, but recent experience (“Commander in Chief” and “So NoTORIous”) suggests you can take it to the bank.
Just not the one on “The Nine” …
