A Quick Farewell To The Unusuals

It's the end of the line, folks. This evening marks the series finale of ABC's quirkiest cop show in recent memory, The Unusuals.

The show debuted in April to somewhat promising numbers on the middling side and the network tried moving it around a bit, seeing if a certain lead-in could help, what time slot was best. There were even rumors that network execs really liked the show and wanted to bring it back for a second shot next year...But it hasn't worked out.

Sometime last year, when I heard there was a new Amber Tamblyn pilot floating around I was pretty excited. When word came it would be appearing in April and would not only have Tamblyn but also Harold Perrineau and Adam Goldberg (as partners, no less!), I couldn't wait.

I'll admit, when the pilot premiered and the voice-over of a police dispatcher made some terrible joke in the first 5 seconds of the show I lost a bit of the wind in my sails. After watching the pilot I thought to myself "Definite potential...Let's just hope they figure out what works and what doesn't fast enough to save the show."

And guess what: they did. Pretty quickly the producers, directors, actors, et al, smoothed out the edges, streamlined some things, made the show more enjoyable. Unfortunately by the time they had worked out whatever needed to be worked out, it was too late. The audience had disappeared or the network had given up, depends on who you talk to.

Truthfully, I never really thought ABC was a good fit for the show. The network does quirky femme-centric drama really well. Non-disgusting reality TV, they know what they're doing. Interesting sitcoms...Well, they're kind of trying.

Since day one, I always kinda wondered if The Unusuals may have done better had the pilot script been seen, tweaked and given the go-ahead by a cable network. A certain cable network. One known for quirky cop/law enforcement-esque shows. A cable network that really likes strong characters.

I imagine that, had this come about the show would have looked radically different yet still hold what, in the end, charmed us about the series.

Someone behind the scenes at the show Twittered a quick note a couple weeks ago about talks to move the series to a cable network but I haven't heard a peep about it since, so I doubt that will come to pass.

Let's take a moment of silence for The Unusuals. It brought back the quirky cop to a world full of overly dramatic and often disgusting procedurals. It also portrayed New York City and the weirdos that make up the common man more realistic than most shows, especially scripted, unless you count the fact that one of the cops lived in an old diner. Does anyone really believe commercial real estate is cheaper than residential in NYC? Yeah, residential rents are astronomical but commercial even more so. But I digress. A moment of silence, please.

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ABC Picks Up Cougar Town

A quick update to yesterday's post "Lot's of Upfront News".  Since this is an email update, I'm not giving much info just yet but will follow later with a more proper post when at a computer I can use to update the blog (that's a no-no at work).

 

ABC announced today that they picked up the new Courtney Cox comedy "Cougar Town", which I wrote extensively about.  They also picked up a murder-mystery series called "Happy Town" which I had neglected to post about.  That once kinda came out of nowhere to surprise me. 

 

Other ABC related rumors is that "The Unusuals" won't be returning, which is bad news as the show has really found itself lately.  The pilot episode was kind of annoying, I thought, but producers and writers worked out the kinks and have put together an enjoyable and quirky cop show, a real rarity.  ABC's other new cop show, "Castle" is really on the bubble but apparently has a better chance of returning than "The Unusuals".

 

Word is CBS will not be renewing "The Unit", which is not a surprise but a shame.  It's a good show but running after football has really killed it.  There's not many people looking to watch a special ops drama until 11:15 or so on a Sunday night after a late ending to whatever game was on.  I think the show would be doing fantastic if it were paired up with "NCIS" and it's early prime time slot.  In my opinion, "NCIS" is the weaker or the two and only flourishing because of it's good time slot.  That's the luck of the draw, though.  The better show gets a bad time slot and suffers while the lesser shows gets high ratings and a spin-off.

 

NBC let it be known that "Day One", which I posted a clip of previously, is only a limited run, mid season player.

 

As previously posted, Fox picked up a half hour comedy called "Sons Of Tucson", which I'm not holding out hope for.  They also picked up another half hour comedy called "Brothers" starring real football people (I am not a sports fan, obviously) in a show about an ex-football star that returns home to Texas to rejoin his disabled brother and get his life back on track.  Sounds like a lame version of HBO's trashy but funny "Eastbound And Down". 

 

And in completely shocking news: "Til Death" has not only not been canceled, but it's been renewed for 22 episodes next season.  Color me surprised.  I hadn't heard a peep about this loser in quite some time and figured it had been buried with the other lame comedies it premiered with (I can't even remember their names...one was about cocktails or something...).

 

In good Fox news, Variety says the network is getting real close to renewing "Dollhouse".  Plans are apparently to leave the show in it's Friday night slot where it's been getting super low but consistent ratings while it blows up on the internet.

 

 

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Incoming!

Tonight (Tuesday)
Fringe. Finally got caught up from that American Moron debacle and must say the show has come back from hiatus with a vengeance.

The Unusuals. As posted earlier, ABC is running two new episodes of The Unusuals this week, hoping to see if a new time slot and lead-in will bump ratings up. That means there's some high hopes for this show in the upper echelons of the network.

Rescue Me. The season is off to a funny start, as per usual. With all the build up towards the section 8 hearing, the outcome was a bit flat but...probably more true to life than if anything crazy would have happened.

Wednesday
Lie To Me. Each week brings up another intriguing story. I wonder how long they can keep it up, though. Seems like the stories could get stale after a bit but Tim Roth's facial expressions and dead pan, though sometimes squeaky, acting will probably make up for that.

Better Off Ted. I'm not a fan of multicamera sitcoms but I have to admit to much chuckling during this show. Perhaps it's making fun of corporations that I love so much, but the off and on again romantic story line between Ted and Linda is rather cute and the bickering between Lem and Phil is quite comical. Veronica, though, is just creepy. Those Veridian Dynamics mock commercials are hilarious. ABC should have broadcast those as a mystery campaign before the show aired.

Lost. Very excited to see what Faraday has to say about what's going on. And where the hell is Sayid?

The Unusuals. It's a double shot this week.

Thursday.
My Name Is Earl. So sad the ratings for this show have been in declined because it probably creates the most laugh out loud moments of any show on my DVR.

Smallville. Who would have thought this show could last so many years and not get tiresome? Chloe is now in charge of keeping Davis from becoming Dr. Doom. That's a pretty big job. When she closed the basement door at the end of the last episode...Well let;s just say it was creepy.

Supernatural. This season has been ruling. The addition of the angels has made for some great moments (and great visuals). While I route for Sam and Dean to defeat evil, I take great pleasure in watch Dean wield his power...even if it is evil.

Parks and Recreation. The show has been getting a lot of hype and decent ratings...But I'm not really feeling it. Maybe because it's just storylines from The Office being reused.

Grey's Anatomy. When we last left them, Izzie had surgery, Meredeth and Derek were engaged, George was pouting, Alex was hiding his feelings (surprise!) and Owen and Cristina broke up. I'm hoping we start seeing more George lately. I miss him.

The Office. The new story line with the Michael Scott Paper Company has been pretty fantastic. Good job to the writers for freshening things up a bit. This is probably the best season since the second.

30 Rock. They've thankfully gotten out of the guest star slump the season started off with and the wit and charm has returned. When watching this show always listen carefully to catch all the great one-liners.

Southland. Episode three airs this week so the blog reviews should start flooding in. I'll just go ahead and say 'stunning'. Great new show that I look forward to weekly. Benjamin McKenzie portrayal of rookie officer Ben Sherman has been flawless and, much like Tim Roth but in a very different manner, he makes his facial expressions do most of the work. At times I have trouble watching an actor from a beloved show (The O.C.) take on a new part with out my mind unconciously melding the two characters together, but McKenzie, through sheer talent alone, managed to break that habit this time. I thought last week's episode was lacking in screen time for him, though.

Friday.
Flashpoint. Those Canadians know how to pack an emotional wallop, don't they. An upper-middle female aged coworker of mine had this to say about the series: "I love how these big burly men do manly things but are also so sensitive...but manly."

Dollhouse. The new blogger darling. Too bad 90% of the shows audience is watching it via illegal torrent downloads. Some may say that's what the network gets for scheduling the show on Friday nights but atleast you can get it at Hulu, people.

Numb3rs. For someone that failed pretty much every math related course offered at my high school, I still find this show pretty intriguing. Without continuing storylines, though, there's not much to write about.

Saturday.
Kings. Perhaps the move to Saturdays was warrented...I can see where the storylines are getting a bit tedious.

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ABC Moves Cupid, The Unusuals/Southland Does Well For NBC

ABC has high hopes for their new quirky cop show The Unusuals so they're playing around with it a bit. This week the one hour show will air two new episodes, bumping Cupid on Tuesday night and then also sticking with it's usual Wednesday night airing. Not a good sign for Cupid fans, but great for The Unusuals.


The move is to see if a Dancing With The Stars lead-in will help the new show as it's current lead, Lost, isn't doing much for it. In the long term I'm not sure where that leaves Cupid, but in the short, it'll be back next week.




In other news, NBC's new cop drama, Southland, managed to keep it's ratings the second week just as high at it did for the premiere. That's a feat, considering NBC has been offering the show on demand and it's Thursday 10pm slot was previously filled by ER. ER may have gotten a ton of hype this last season with old characters returning and it being the final season and all, but if I recall correctly, this time last year when they announced the show would finally end most people replied "That's still on?".

I'm happy to hear Southland is doing well, too. If the rest of the season is as good as the first two episodes, I think NBC may have a long runner here.

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