The season has barely started, yet the blood-letting is well under way. Yesterday, CBS canceled the Hugh Jackman-helmed quasi-musical, "Viva Laughlin,". Billed as 'an offbeat song-and-dance drama' it achieved such jaw-droppingly bad ratings, CBS pulled the plug after just two airings.
This is the second cancellation in what is still a young season. The [dubious] honor of being first went to "Online Nation," on the CW. "Laughlin," meanwhile, debuted last Thursday with only 8.4-million viewers — dropping over half the 21.2-million fed to it by that time-seasoned ratings superstar, "CSI". The second episode scored only 6.8-million. On the radar of TV numbers, that's not even a blip.
But is this dismal performance really such a surprise? 'Laughlin' was a copy of the BBC show, 'Viva Blackpool,' which itself was a copy of BBC's 'The Singing Detective," which was the sequel to "Pennies from Heaven" - a musically tinged example of the peerless production values of the BBC, which debuted to rave reviews in 1980.
So we're talking about a show that is....was!...a facsimile, of a clone, of a sequel, of a classic.
Who in their right minds ever green-lit something with that weak a lineage?? And why only cancel the show -- Let's also delete the aesthetically-stunted overpaid suits who approved it!
'Laughlin' will be replaced with a warmed-over "CSI" for one week, then "The Amazing Race" will start its new Season. Let's hope CBS achieves better numbers with the Racers.
After the laughable 'Laughlin' their numbers have nowhere to go but up!
This is the second cancellation in what is still a young season. The [dubious] honor of being first went to "Online Nation," on the CW. "Laughlin," meanwhile, debuted last Thursday with only 8.4-million viewers — dropping over half the 21.2-million fed to it by that time-seasoned ratings superstar, "CSI". The second episode scored only 6.8-million. On the radar of TV numbers, that's not even a blip.
But is this dismal performance really such a surprise? 'Laughlin' was a copy of the BBC show, 'Viva Blackpool,' which itself was a copy of BBC's 'The Singing Detective," which was the sequel to "Pennies from Heaven" - a musically tinged example of the peerless production values of the BBC, which debuted to rave reviews in 1980.
So we're talking about a show that is....was!...a facsimile, of a clone, of a sequel, of a classic.
Who in their right minds ever green-lit something with that weak a lineage?? And why only cancel the show -- Let's also delete the aesthetically-stunted overpaid suits who approved it!
'Laughlin' will be replaced with a warmed-over "CSI" for one week, then "The Amazing Race" will start its new Season. Let's hope CBS achieves better numbers with the Racers.
After the laughable 'Laughlin' their numbers have nowhere to go but up!
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