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How did FOX's On the Lot go so horribly wrong? I love the behind-the-scenes struggles inherent in the filmmaking process, and when you throw a bunch of crazy directors into a reality show produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett, you should have television gold. Instead we got this boring, uninspired, seemingly endless reality series that left me longing for the glory days of Project Greenlight.

On the Lot felt like a slam dunk prior to its premiere.  The concept (competitive reality show for up and coming filmmakers) was rock solid.  The creative team behind the show (Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, along with Carrie Fischer and Garry Marshall) was more than formidable.  When it was announced that FOX was producing On the Lot, who would've bet against the show's success?  FOX has proved to be a master of shepherding reality franchises into the troposphere.  After weeks of promos on FOX, most of which appeared during American Idol, On the Lot premiered and the let down was almost immediate.  FOX, Burnett, and Spielberg had failed miserably in delivering on the promising concept of On the Lot, leaving audiences with a troubled, contrived, and arbitrary reality show.

FOX is so damn shameless, it hurts sometimes.  Tonight, we got an hour of On the Lot that contained only three seconds of footage that anyone really cares about: who won the whole thing.  There were no new films to be screened.  So, then, what did FOX fill up the hour with?  Montages and recaps.  It was reported that Steven Spielberg would be appearing tonight's finale and, while technically true, he didn't make an in-studio appearance as I assumed he would.  He merely welcomed the winner to the Dreamworks lot at the end of the episode in a pre-taped bit.  Oh, yeah, that's another thing.  Tonight's episode wasn't live.  First clue: it was dark outside and it's not dark in LA at 5PM.  Anyway, here's what went down.

All right.  This is it, everybody.  Steven Spielberg will be in the house tonight to preside over the final episode of On the Lot.  In fact, there's a better than likely chance that this will be the last On the Lot ever, thanks to disappointing ratings.  Nonetheless, it'll be fun to have Spielberg grace us with his presence.  He's in the middle of shooting Indiana Jones right now, so it's kind of incredible that he fit this in.  Will Bigham, Jason Epperson, and Adam Stein are the last three filmmakers standing and tonight we'll find out who wins the million dollar film deal with Dreamworks.  I'll be here throughout the hour giving live updates as the show moves along and eventually announces a winner.

The finale for On The Lot begins with the elimination of one contestant, bringing us down to three potential auteurs.   The selection is Jason Epperson, Adam Stein, Will Bigham, and Sam Friedlander.  Did America make the right choice?   Unless that choice was to change the channel to IFC to see real up and coming film makers, the answer is no.  Seriously though, Sam makes the walk of shame, waxing about how the experience taught him more about being a director.  Funny, I actually feel like I know less about film making since starting to watch this show, its like it is sucking the knowledge from my skull.

The best film of the night was a 30-second Mountain Dew commercial featuring a killer ferret brandishing a chainsaw.  Now, you may think such a statement is a slam against the remaining On the Lot filmmakers.  Really, it's not.  The Mountain Dew commercial was just spectacular.  We're down to six contestants now, and that means that two of the filmmakers from last week had to be eliminated.  In another one of the canned segments, Adrianna Costa cleavage-ly arrived in the filmmakers' patio to tell them who America liked least.  Mateen Kemet and Kenny Luby were then eliminated.