Southland Cancelled Before It Even Airs

By Brent Furdyk, Editor, TV Week | Oct 9, 2009

Just when you thought it would be impossible for NBC to screw up even worse than it already has comes the news that it's canceling second-season cop show "Southland" — weeks BEFORE the season premiere was scheduled to air.

Think about this for a minute. The show (produced by ER's John Wells) had a short run last season, and did well enough that NBC renewed it for a new season. Episodes were filmed, a timeslot was chosen and the network even had a Q&A interview session with cast and producers during this summer's Television Critics Association press tour.

Scheduled to return in two weeks, NBC suddenly decided to pull the plug, with no official explanation offered. But what's baffling to me is why a network that's become so cost-conscious (i.e. airing "The Jay Leno Show" five nights a week, despite the lousy ratings, because it's cheap) would pay for new episodes of a show and then not air it.

According to "Variety," anonymous "insiders" are saying the reason behind the decision was that execs felt the show was too dark and gritty for its 9 p.m. timeslot, and really would have been better suited for a 10 p.m. slot — which NBC no longer has, thanks to Leno.

The network plans to air another edition of "Dateline" in the timeslot because, well, it's cheaper to produce than an hour-long drama, and since they don't expect anybody to watch anyway . . .

If you follow this logic to its ultimate conclusion, then why not just air static in prime time? It costs nothing to produce, and so what if no one will watch — NBC will save millions!

NBC — the network that practically dares you not to watch.

How sudden was this decision? The show was filming YESTERDAY. Upon hearing the news, John Wells released the following statement: "I'm disappointed that NBC no longer has the time periods available to support the kind of critically-acclaimed series that was for so many years, a hallmark of their success. We remain extremely proud of Southland and are actively looking for another home for the series."

Star Michael Cudlitz was a bit more succint via a Twitter post about NBC: "Dumb ****in people."

5 Comments in Blog

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Comments

Pure stupidity...

Submitted by Bluekat on October 9, 2009 - 12:35pm.

And still it holds true... if I marginally like a show it's going to get cancelled (well, except for Dollhouse, but we'll see how long that lasts).

This one was good, not too cookie cutter and fluffy. Ah well.

Southland

Submitted by Anonymous on October 10, 2009 - 12:02am.

I'm not sure what kind of a brain trust is in charge of programming at NBC these days, but they seriously are not in the right line of work. "Southland" was a sharply produced and compelling drama. Why even go to the bother of ordering a second season if you do not even have a slight glimmer of faith in it? Scrapping it a week or two before it even gets a chance to air is pure nonsense. For all they know it may have clicked with an audience in its second go-around and been a breakout hit for the network. Perhaps John Wells will have better luck with one of the rival networks or cable channels; the show was too good just to die so early. Bravo was also airing episodes earlier this year; perhaps they'll at least be able to air the six second season shows produced.

Was looking forward to this show...

Submitted by Anonymous on December 24, 2009 - 1:00pm.

Well it really sucks that they just cancelled this show. I think there is a high demand for shows like this but the networks only care about the bottom line and not making quality tv.

If any one of the cast is reading this well you did a great job and im pissed that its over.