or


[04/05/04 - 12:00 AM]
'Wonderfalls' Sent Packing by Fox
By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC)

CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- "Well, not sure what to tell ya'll -- but we're cancelled," "Wonderfalls" executive producer Tim Minear told readers of his "Minearverse" section of Buffistas.org on Saturday afternoon.

"The cow creamer will be silent this Thursday and forever forward. Once we recover from the not-shock, Todd [Holland], Bryan [Fuller] and I will see if there's some venue in which to air the remaining episodes," he continued. "As I have said from the start, the thirteen taken as a whole tell a story and go to a place, so a run of this "limited" series would not be unsatisfying elsewhere. It's a question as to whether the studio will want to invest in a DVD release of a failed series. Maybe the episodes will sit in a warehouse someplace with that sled and the arc of the covenant. Thanks for all the support and enthusiasm."

The news comes as little surprise as the FOX series posted a mere 2.0 rating/3 share in households and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49 for its time slot premiere on Thursday, according to fast national data. Only one other broadcast - an October encore of "24's" season premiere - has performed as badly in the Thursday, 9:00/8:00c hour for FOX this season.

With 13 episodes in the can, that leaves nine installments of the series still on the shelf. Encores of FOX's new reality series "The Swan" are set to fill "Wonderfalls'" former Thursday, 9:00/8:00c home beginning this week.

Later on Saturday when asked about what fans can do to revive the series, Minear added: "In terms of 'saving' the show? Not really anything you can do. The network is a non-starter here. The studio, 20th, is possibly a different matter. If they get the sense that people would buy a complete series DVD set, it might happen that the series becomes available in future. But please don't waste your time or money on trying to revive 'Wonderfalls' for a pick-up with Fox. Ain't gonna happen."

"When we first began this series, I was asked by many why I would put my trust in the network that mishandled 'Firefly' so terribly. Well, because it felt different to me. Initially, there was real excitement and belief in 'Wonderfalls' at the network. My feeling with 'Firefly' was always that since they didn't much like or understand it from the brilliant pilot, that we were kind of doomed. I felt that if a network didn't believe in a show, no matter its potential, that it couldn't launch it or sell it with any measure of success."

"And again, 'Wonderfalls' felt totally different to me. At first. Then, at some point in the process, I could sense an erosion in enthusiasm. Even as we were finding our footing and delivering to them some really exceptional episodes (ones you never got to see!), things got chilly. Then they couldn't seem to find any place on the schedule for us. Then they did... and it was Friday night. I tell you now, the moment that was announced, I knew it was over. They were dumping us into Friday nights and that was that. When the smashing reviews started coming in... and coming and coming and coming... I think they didn't know what to think or do. You have but one chance to make a good first impression. But they'd given up on the show before it ever aired, and even when the lion's share of critics were hailing the show, it was too late for them to backtrack and launch the series with any kind of conviction. My 'Firefly' experience was repeating itself. I think it was USA Today that said this may be 'the wrong show, in the wrong season, on the wrong night, on the wrong network.' Just so. I do think market forces were at work here, too. Not just incompetence."

"I don't know if any network could have brought an audience to this show. Certainly no network that dumped it on Friday night, promoted it in such as way as to try and trick people into thinking it was 'Dawson's Creek,' or that didn't, apparantly, agree with the things the critics were saying about it. I do think any network wants whatever they pay for to be a success. I don't think they MEAN to strangle something in the crib. I know that the next time I shop something to a network, I'm going to hope to find a network that understands and believes in the thing they ordered. And if they thought it looked good on the menu, I'd hope they'd still have a taste for it once it got to the table."

Click here and here to read Minear's original posts.





  [april 2004]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· 24 (FOX)
· SWAN, THE (FOX)
· WONDERFALLS (FOX)





[04/03/25 - 02:00 PM]
Video: Trailer and Key Art for "Not Just A Goof" Available Now
Just in time for the 30th anniversary of "A Goofy Movie," this documentary follows a young creative team tackling their first Disney feature, facing disappointment upon release, only for the film to gain a passionate following decades later.

[04/03/25 - 12:06 PM]
Twelve Rebellious Chefs Are Set for Battle on NBC's Bold New Cooking Competition Series "Yes, Chef!" Hosted by Emmy-Award Winning Chefs Jose Andres and Martha Stewart
The series will premiere on Monday, April 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC following "The Voice."

[04/03/25 - 12:01 PM]
ABC Renews "9-1-1," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Rookie," "Shifting Gears" and "Will Trent" for 2025-26 Season
The network confirmed the pickups on social media this afternoon.

[04/03/25 - 12:00 PM]
CBS to Present MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) for the First Time, Airing Live Sunday, Sept. 7 from UBS Arena, and Streaming on Paramount+
The 2024 VMAs delivered its biggest multi-network audience in four years and ranked as the most social VMAs in show history, with 66.7 million social interactions.

[04/03/25 - 11:53 AM]
Awesomeness Aquires the Rights to "Racing Hearts," Highly Anticipated Debut Novel from Ann Adams
Set in the cinematic world of competitive rowing, "Racing Hearts" is a coming-of-age romance that follows Olympic hopeful Katherine Parker, who is sent home to Berkeley after another failed race to work with a new coach, Adrian.

[04/03/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Gives First Look at "The Equalizer" Spin-Off Featuring Titus Welliver and Juani Feliz
In the episode, airing April 20, McCall is contacted by Samantha Reed, whose father, ex-CIA agent Elijah Reed, is missing.

[04/03/25 - 10:07 AM]
NBC Celebrates the Life and Career of Joan Rivers with "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute" Special Airing May 13 on NBC
To celebrate the decade since her passing, the comedy community will revisit Rivers' legendary cabinet of jokes and add their own personal spin to reflect today's social and cultural landscape, along with a dose of their original material.

[04/03/25 - 10:02 AM]
Date Announcement & First Look: Hulu Original Series "Nine Perfect Strangers" Season Two
Season two premieres on May 21, with two episodes at launch, followed by weekly releases on Hulu.

[04/03/25 - 10:01 AM]
Video: HBO Releases Official Trailer and Key Art for Season Two of the Original Comedy Series "The Rehearsal," from Nathan Fielder, Debuting April 20
In season two, the urgency of Fielder's project grows as he decides to put his resources toward an issue that affects us all.

[04/03/25 - 09:24 AM]
FOX Nation to Premiere "Rebound: A Year of Triumph and Tragedy at Yeshiva University Basketball" on April 9th
The documentary directed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Pat Dimon spotlights Yeshiva University's basketball team, the Maccabees, as they navigate their season following the October 7th terrorist attacks on Israel.

[04/03/25 - 09:01 AM]
Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Back in Season 2 of "FUBAR" - Date Announcement, First Look & Key Art Debut
It's Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. Carrie-Anne Moss in season two, due on June 12.

[04/03/25 - 08:03 AM]
A Dilapidated French Chateau Gets a High-Stakes Fairytale Renovation in the New HGTV Series "Castle Impossible"
High school sweethearts and married couple, Daphne Reckert and Ian Figueira, will abandon their plans of living in a California tiny home when Daphne inherits her late grandfather's 500-year-old chateau on a 130-acre estate just outside of Paris, France, in the new HGTV series.

[04/03/25 - 08:01 AM]
Grief Has Never Been Funnier. Sarah Silverman Returns to Netflix with New Special, "PostMortem"
The special premieres only on Netflix on May 20.

[04/03/25 - 08:01 AM]
HBO Original Series "Like Water for Chocolate" Begins Filming Its Second Season
Based on the celebrated novel by Laura Esquivel, in its first season, the series became the most-watched Latin American content on Max globally and was among the top three most-watched series on the platform during its premiere month.

[04/03/25 - 07:01 AM]
New Season of "Phineas and Ferb" Returns June 5 on Disney Channel and June 6 on Disney+
A special sneak peek will debut on Monday, May 26, at 11:35 a.m. EDT/PDT on Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Channel YouTube.