Tagged: FlashForward

V renewed!

After back-to-back weeks of improving ratings, ABC has granted sci-fi thriller V a second-season renewal. That means more lizardy goodness in store for fans next fall, and a guaranteed post-LOST life for series star Elizabeth Mitchell.

In the meantime, the alphabet network isn’t sending out any high-hopes vitamins to the show they bet on to replace LOST, FlashForward. Ratings have been dismal and sinking, rather than rising, but ABC remains firm in their stance that they’ve not decided on the show’s cancellation just left.

Another presumed-dead series, Scrubs, apparently still has the slimmest of slim chances at renewal, though Twitter posts by former series star Zach Braff have indicated the prospects are less than zero for renewal. Still, with most of the expensive stars now gone, Scrubs was a half-decent performer in the ratings and less expensive than it had been to produce.

Better Off Ted, unfortunately, is dead.

FlashForward struggles in Thursday return

ABC’s hoped-for LOST successor, FlashForward, returned to TV this past Thursday, but drew a meager 6.5 million amid heavy competition from the opening rounds of NCAA March Madness, NBC’s comedy lineup and reruns of Bones and Fringe on Fox. While no one expected FlashForward to blow away March Madness’ numbers, getting bested by NBC and nearly matched by Fox reruns is not the best way to return a show the network hopes will ease viewers’ grief over the impending end of LOST.

FlashForward is a drama exploring the mystery behind a worldwide blackout by everyone on Earth, and the glimpses of the near future they gained while unconscious. While there are no barcode scanners behind the scam, the show is like LOST in that it uses its concept to explore larger intellectual themes; the primary question behind FlashForward has been, “Is our future predetermined, or can we make choices that affect a real change to our0 future.

Goyer out as FlashForward show runner

David Goyer, the writer-producer who helped create the SF drama based on Robert Sawyer’s novel, is out as show runner for ABC’s FlashForward. Goyer was preceded by Mark Guggenheim, who was brought in to help the less-experienced Goyer, but stepped away last fall to work on other projects.

No replacement for Goyer has yet been named; the show is currently shooting episodes 17 and 18 of a 23-episode order this season, but all these behind-the-scenes shake-ups can’t be good for a show in its first season. It also probably isn’t much of a testosterone booster for Goyer.

FlashForward won’t until March

FlashForward, arguably the freshest ABC drama this year, is on a three-month hiatus following last week’s episode. The word coming down from ABC is that by allowing for the big gap, FlashForward can air with no repeats or long delays between fresh episodes once it returns; in the meantime, ABC can avoid reruns and try out other shows waiting in the wings for the Winter Season.

Sure, the news is about as welcome as first communion invitations among the faculty at UC-Berkeley, but few people question such a move when Fox or USA do it; so why not ABC?

In all honesty, ABC is worried about FlashForward’s ratings decline; the show is shakey at best for a second season order, but given the limited-run nature of the concept, maybe it’s better off as a one-season-and-done proposition. After all, once The Date comes and goes and we see how things turn out for the cast, wouldn’t a second global blackout be a bit of a stretch?