Pushing Daisies- It's No Viva Laughlin

Kongye has more good TV news to pass along. In addition to the swift cancellation of Viva Herpes, the TV gods have graced us with further blessings. Pushing Daisies got a full season order! Blog Central is buzzing over this news. Now all we need is the announcement that VH1's newest show is Flavor of Soviet Love, starring Andre from America's Most Smartest Model and we'll explode with joy.

We'll try to have a preview of tonight's Pushing Daisies for you in the next couple of hours.

Viva Laughlin: 10/18/07 - 10/21/07

Suck it, douchebag. Suck it hard.

Viva Laughlin, the pilot of which we lovingly compared to child molestation, was canceled Monday after airing only 2 episodes in a rare display of sanity by CBS. The show was in the midst of shooting its ninth episode of the thirteen ordered when the cancellation hit, meaning that this show will in all likelihood never be completed and the existing episodes will probably never air again.

If you ever want to see the worst television show ever made, you better get downloading, because the chances of this getting a DVD release are about the same as the cast of Hannah Montana starring in a remake of Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom. (Come to think of it, that's something I'd pay good money to see.)

NBC Has Low Standards

NBC recently gave all of its new fall series additional script orders. As you all know, I didn't like any of their slate. The only show I've watched past the pilot is Journeyman, and that's only because there's nothing on at that time and I enjoy making fun of its insane time travel solutions to simple problems. The numbers on these shows are also pretty unimpressive.
The only conclusion we can draw from this, and this has been obvious for quite a while, is that NBC is desperate for anything that isn't a complete failure. When your numbers are in the toilet anyway, you start to see the light at the end of the sewer tunnel.
On the other side of the spectrum, the season premiere of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS was amazing. Something I've come to expect from this program. Also as expected, the numbers sucked again. I'm constantly amazed that people will sit through inane, badly-produced crap like Heroes while good TV dies a slow, painful death.
Good luck to NBC's slate-o-schlock. May it pollute our collective TV screens for years to come.

P.S.: CBS gave script orders on the new show that we don't about here in blog land. If they order a full season, they're going to have to shell out so much money on guyliner.

Like, OMG, Really?

GOSSIP GIRL got a full season order! I read this this morning and I can't believe I forgot to post about it. Looks like you all love this show as much as I do. I hope next week's episode returns to outrageously ridiculous form and we don't have to deal with a whole season of these characters having souls and brains. That would be a real tragedy.

LINK

Examining Some Numbers

Ratings are in for Wednesday, which is quickly shaping up to be the most competitive night of television this fall. My inability to post a pilot review doesn't seem to have hurt Pushing Daisies, which got off to a strong start. The fate of this show remains to seen, as viewer retention is the real test. Speaking of which...

Interesting news in the 9pm timeslot. Overnight ratings show a 10% drop in Private Practice's ratings and a whopping 21% tumble for Bionic Woman. Ok, it remains to be seen if NBC thinks it's as bad as I do (with the bubble of hatred I've built around this show); but I think 2 things are clear:
1) All the hype in the world can't make up for mediocre execution
2) Isaiah Washington is a show cancer.

In other news, The CW is pimping Gossip Girl's numbers like you wouldn't believe.

More updates- including the numbers on Dirty Sexy Money-later when I'm in front of a computer instead of floating in Blackberry land.

UPDATE: Took a look at The Futon Critic's full ratings report today and here's their report:

Week-to-week changes (new series): "Bionic woman" (households: -17.86%; adults 18-49: -27.27%), "Life" (households: -10.77%; adults 18-49: -28.57%), "Kid Nation" (households: -2.08%; adults 18-49: -10.71%), "Private Practice" (households: -14.43%; adults 18-49: -11.76%), "Dirty Sexy Money" (households: -9.46%; adults 18-49: even), "Back to You" (households: -4.35%; adults 18-49: -14.29%), "Kitchen Nightmares" (households: +8.57%; adults 18-49: +20.00%) and "Gossip Girl" (households: even; adults 18-49: +8.33%)

You can also find the complete ratings on their website. I'm glad to see Kitchen Nightmares gaining viewers. It's not nearly as good as the British version, but I think it's pretty good for reality TV and I'd love to see it take off. My hope is that there's a Season 2 so we can get a Nightmares Revisited for some of these places. Those were my favourite episodes of the original show. Gossip Girl is performing well and I think its future is very secure because The CW has been emphasizing the fact that its #1 in its target demo in major markets.
Dirty Sexy Money's fate is still in some limbo. Its week-to-week numbers are solid (especially audience retention in the all-important 18-49) but it didn't have strong numbers to begin with so there may not have been enough viewers to keep. Let's hope ABC decides to stick with this, it's good TV.