Fox cancels John Doe

[Aleck]

According to The Futon Critic (http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/gofuton.cgi?action=newswire&id=5931), Fox has cancelled John Doe. That means that Fox has now cancelled 2 of the 3 shows I considered watchable on Fox (Firefly, John Doe, and 24).

Well, hopefully the reality TV craze implodes sometime soon and we get back to having TV that isn't just schadenfreud (sp?)

asjunk

[Ergo]

Is this really a surprise? Fox cancels anything that doesn't show huge numbers almost immediately.

[DennyA]

Fox has a habit of getting some surprisingly decent shows and then cancelling them before they get a chance.. :sigh: Never watched John Doe, but there have been a number of Fox shows I really dug that went way quickly

Undeclared
Firefly
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
etc...

I'd expect Oliver Beene will die quickly -- it's too good. I'm surprised Malcolm in the Middle has survived -- guess it's just because of the "high schadenfruede content" for a sitcom.

As much as I hate to say it, it's looking like it's getting to be time to wind down the Simpsons. (Or at least bring in new writers... They've jumpstarted it before when it was flagging.) Once the self-parody content is greater than 50%....

[Troy S Goodfellow]

Denny,

You think Oliver Beene is good? Why?

Another "Why?" moment - NBC will likely continue with Good Morning Miami.

Troy

[DennyA]

You think Oliver Beene is good? Why?
How do you answer a question like that? I enjoy it. It's funny, and has no laugh track.

[Dirt]

I still miss the Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. My God, was that 10 years ago????

[Troy S Goodfellow]

You think Oliver Beene is good? Why?
How do you answer a question like that? I enjoy it. It's funny, and has no laugh track.

How do you answer a question like that? I guess you just tell me what you like about it. Isn't "The Wonder Years" almost self-parody at times? I find the adults shrill and the kids cartoons. People like it, I'm sure. I was just curious as to why you did.

I'm with you on the "no laugh track" thing, though. A laugh track in a show like this would make it seem even more peculiar. Exhibit A: "Watching Ellie"

Troy

[Aleck]

I still miss the Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. My God, was that 10 years ago????

Yeah, sadly. I know it was in reruns a few years ago on cable, but that was before I had my replaytv. *sigh*

Briscoe, we hardly knew ye...

And I'd forgotten that they canned Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks -- both of which were great shows!

asjunk

[Supertanker]

They also canned Action (http://208.186.112.193/Marta/action.htm), and I still have not forgiven them.

[Brad Grenz]

I still miss the Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. My God, was that 10 years ago????

Yeah, that's a good one. People still post episodes in SVCD format on usenet pretty regularly.

I was a big fan of Space: Above and Beyond too. Brimstone was also pretty good. John Glover played the Devil, he was awesome.

[Toddy]

Have they canned Andy Richter? 'Cause, aside from being really, really funny, it was getting all sorts of media attention when it had its six-week run late last year or whenever. Seems bizarre to dump a show that was getting that much positive PR. And to get rid of Richter and air that horrible Oliver Beene show? That thing is Sitcom 101. I know they're going for the whole retro Golden Years crap, but do they have to crib plots and jokes from fucking I Love Lucy?

[Toddy]

BTW, speaking of idiotic Fox decisions, did they ever make an announcement over what the hell happened with Futurama? Last I heard last summer was that no decision had been made on the show's future, and that there were 13 episodes in the can to be shown after the NFL season ended. Didn't see too many Futuramas this spring, though. Anyhow, just bought the season one DVD and was reminded again just how great this show is/was. I like King of the Hill okay, but couldn't they have killed it and paired The Simpsons with Futurama? I mean, the pairing was perfect.

[Chris]

Futurama was cancelled. The show is still supposedly going to air as Fox as a season or so's worth of episdodes they never aired due to sports preemptions, but production on the show has ceased. Right now Cartoon Network airs it during the week at 10pm CDT I think.

[Toddy]

Actually, I did some research after making that post, and it seems like Futurama hasn't been officially cancelled. Work on the show has stopped, etc., but Fox never announced an official end to the airings and continues to dribble the shows out whenever it feels like it. You've really gotta wonder why Fox would fuck around with Matt Groening like this, considering The Simpsons is really the main reason why the network survived its first few years on the air. And remains the biggest show that Fox has, American Idol notwithstanding.

[Alan Dunkin]

Fox was going to make an official decision whenever they finished airing all of the done episodes (this year) so technically it hasn't been cancelled. However, since the people that did those episodes would have to wait at least 12 months to find out (since the non-decision was made) I'm pretty sure most of gone on to other work and that Futurama is fairly dead.

That being said, I've heard that it's the highest rated Adult Swim show in the history of the Cartoon Network.

--- Alan

[mudpuppy]

I'll never forgive Fox for canceling "Get A Life."

[Tom Ohle]

Their cancelling of Action just drove me insane. I mean, they only aired 8 episodes, but they were all absolutely gold. As for people slagging the Simpsons... well, I think the show has actually gotten funnier these past few years. They've gotten away from making sense with a lot of the jokes, which allows for more freedom. I love it.

[Ben Sones]

Fox also cancelled Firefly, and Family Guy, and the Job. It's like they seek out interesting and creative shows just so they can crush them. They should make it their motto:

"Fox: We kill the shows that you love"

[Tyjenks]

Fox also cancelled Firefly, and Family Guy, and the Job. It's like they seek out interesting and creative shows just so they can crush them. They should make it their motto:

"Fox: We kill the shows that you love"

Another one which was better than John Doe and Firefly....put together:

Millenium. I really dug that show and its surrounding mythos.

[Brad Grenz]

Well, the second season of Millenium was great. Morgan and Wong, who created Space: Above and Beyond, and did the best stuff on the X-Files, ran the show that year.

[Tyjenks]

Well, the second season of Millenium was great. Morgan and Wong, who created Space: Above and Beyond, and did the best stuff on the X-Files, ran the show that year.

Didn't it end with his wife killing herself and he walked off into the woods? Yikes that was a miserable downer for a series finale. I thought it was still coming back at the time, IIRC.

[Brad Grenz]

It did come back after that, they pretended the apocalypse was localized. Frank goes back to the FBI and gets a black female partner. It wasn't very good then.

[Tyjenks]

It did come back after that, they pretended the apocalypse was localized. Frank goes back to the FBI and gets a black female partner. It wasn't very good then.

Ooops...that's right with the dad that had Alzheimer's. She was a horrible, horrible choice. Never seemed comfortable in that role, IMO. I really liked his wife and little girl....oh well.

[Brad Grenz]

Yeah, they really played up the wife during year two, and she became a great character. I've actually heard it was politics that led to her death on the show, Lance Henrikson wasn't happy with the amount of screentime she was getting versus him. But that's a dirty, dirty rumor I can't be sure of the validity.

[Tom Ohle]

Was American Gothic a Fox show? If it was, there's another piss-poor cancellation on Fox's part. Solid show.

[Tyjenks]

Was American Gothic a Fox show? If it was, there's another piss-poor cancellation on Fox's part. Solid show.

Oooh..good call. I believe it was. That Slingblade kid was terrific.

[Captain Cookiepants]

I believe I read somewhere that Fox was fucking around with 'Futurama' to spite Groening, they didn't want him to have too much 'power' and they didn't 'get' the show, so he threw his hands up in the air. That show actually made me cry with the dog episode, I actually cried over a TV show. And they canceled it.

'Andy Richter' was HILARIOUS. 'Hiiiiiitttllleeeerrrr!!!' Oh my God that show made me literally laugh out loud, even when watching it by myself!

'Family Guy' was fan-friggin-tastic.

'King of the Hill' SUCKS ASS. The paranoid guy is funny but that's IT. It's like having your God damn most annoying family member get their own show. Maybe in Texas people with OCDs is funny, but to me it's annoying as all fuck. 'Ohh look, everything makes me uncomfortable, maybe if I stutter enough people with laugh uuuhhh.' Fuck Mike Judge,

'Undeclared' was great, I made a list of my favorite shows and this was on it. Every show on the list except 'Scrubs' was canceled.

I even liked the 'Lone Gunmen' show and I didn't like 'X-Files'.

Fox seems to have forgotten that they started out with HORRIBLE shows that got better and became classics, 'Married with Children' was terrible unfunny for YEARS, as was 'The Simpsons'. But since Fox had nothing else they couldn't cancel them, they they became GOLD.

Not they seem to be running things just randomly, I don't understand why they cancel award winning shows like 'Futurama' or 'Family Guy' and keep ass-tastic shows like 'Oliver Bean' and the fucking reality shit. And 'Boston Public', fucking 'Boston Public'.
I'd honestly pay to see the decision making process that goes into canceling a fantastic show (Andy Richter wasn't even on for a full year and was nominated for a bunch of awards.) and deciding that 'Celebrity Boxing' was good enough to deserve a second episode.
They even fucked over 'Married with Children' eventually. Why?

[Ragnar Oppedal]

Apparently friday night is the Fox Death Slot (TM). Only show that has survived it is X-Files.

Simpsons has definitely gone sharply downhill the last seasons. It's like they've run completely out of ideas, so they just sit around a table trying to come up with anything they can base an episode on.

Fox does however have some excellent shows... 24 comes to mind.

[Bub, Andrew]

What award did Family Guy win?

[Tyjenks]

Simpsons has definitely gone sharply downhill the last seasons. It's like they've run completely out of ideas, so they just sit around a table trying to come up with anything they can base an episode on.

I think the Simpsons is still more expertly written than the majority of sitcoms which air on the networks in prime time. Any series that lasts 13 - 14 years is going to have dry spells and the recycling of ideas. The best thing about the Simpsons is that the subjects are often very timely and poke fun at real world events within weeks of their occurence. The news, whther entertainment, political, or other news, is a never-ending source for material.

Give me one hundred random shows to watch, including The Simpsons of course, and it will be in the top 3 every time.

[Ragnar Oppedal]

Simpsons has definitely gone sharply downhill the last seasons. It's like they've run completely out of ideas, so they just sit around a table trying to come up with anything they can base an episode on.

I think the Simpsons is still more expertly written than the majority of sitcoms which air on the networks in prime time. Any series that lasts 13 - 14 years is going to have dry spells and the recycling of ideas. The best thing about the Simpsons is that the subjects are often very timely and poke fun at real world events within weeks of their occurence. The news, whther entertainment, political, or other news, is a never-ending source for material.

Give me one hundred random shows to watch, including The Simpsons of course, and it will be in the top 3 every time.

I dunno... I used to love The Simpsons, but nowadays when i watch a recent episode i just don't find any humor there. When i see an old episode I'm laughing away. The jokes just seem so... stale in the new episodes. I haven't seen a single recent episode that has made me laugh (then again, I don't watch The Simpsons much nowadays).