It's time for BuddyTV to face the music: did our picks for the new seasons hits and misses display an uncanny prescience, or should we try tea leaves and Oujia boards next time? Let's tick through the shows that we picked as hits and misses and see how close, or far, away we were.
The Hits
We predicted these shows would make it, for whatever reason.
Journeyman
NBC decided to give West Wing alumni another shot at the Monday 10pm time slot, this time with an edgy character driven Science Fiction/Drama. The show started out with mediocre ratings, but was able to hold onto those viewers for the first week, and has been on the down slant ever since. NBC has requested three more scripts for the show, but the future is not rosey for Journeyman. We predicted it was a hit because it was an obvious choice for Heroes viewers, but Heroes itself has lost its base rapidly, taking Journeyman down with it.
Kid Nation
CBS was praising the tenant of “No promotion is bad promotion” as Kid Nation's debut approached, but the show has failed to penetrate the ratings ceiling maintained by it's previous season's placeholder, Jericho. Critically, the show has faced a range of predictable complaints from the entertainment press, but the bottom line is Kid Nation built a strong following in an irrelevant demographic, and failed to maintain impressive overall numbers.
Dirty Sexy Money
Dirty Sexy Money came on strong, but quickly dipped into the single digits. The hedonistic soap is still a man pleaser though, holding onto a strong slice of the male viewer demo, which is a distinction that networks like. But what about the low values of the show? With a name like Dirty Sexy Money, does anybody really take all the complaints of the shows deprecated morals seriously? Dirty Sexy Money is one to watch during sweeps, because it has the strongest base to break taboos from.
The Misses
Samantha Who?
I called it a train wreck, the critics called it a me-too of ‘My Name is Earl,' but those cronies who coast from Dancing with the Stars to The Bachelor love it. Samantha Who? is an enormous hit, sustaining one of the largest audiences of any new scripted sitcom. Will those numbers sustain when it's lead in and lead out change to less hospitable programming? Time will tell.
Nashville
Wow. Who didn't see this coming. Does it even need description? Burn, baby, burn.
Viva Laughlin
On the other hand, Viva Laughlin is actually worth a little more text. Viva was a horrendous concept, studio high concept at its worst, and a pathetic exposure of televisions vision of audience gullibility, throwing a mainstream actor, Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman, in as a draw. Sorry, no winner.
All around, none of us will show up on ‘Phenomenon' next season as clairvoyants – providing they make it back – but then again, it's not about being right, it's about playing the game. Until next season, our crystal ball will be put in the shop for a major buffing.
- Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of ABC)