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As we near the end of 2014, many of the primetime shows from the 2014-2015 season have already met their fate.  Sitcoms like A to Z, Bad Judge and others, have already gotten their walking papers.They will air their initial 13 episode order, then it's buh bye.  

Manhattan Love Story, which I kind of liked actually, was the first show of the season to be cancelled, though its end was predicted even before the pilot aired.  It bit the dust on October 24th. 

Some of the hour-long shows, like The Flash (The CW), How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) and Scorpion (CBS), which have shown great promise, seem to be "safe," at least to air a full season. Personally, I couldn't be more delighted about the success of Scorpion, as I know the real Walter O'Brien!  And yes, he is utterly brilliant.  

But back to the business at hand...

The primetime TV business is so cutthroat.  If ratings don't cut it, the show's get cut.  What's heartbreaking about this is all the time and effort and work that goes into producing television programming, not to mention the actors who put their hearts into a role, and the crews that work at least 12-hour days to get the show produced.  It's such a pity that the networks don't give the new shows more time to build an audience.

Back in the day, a very popular show called Cheers, staring Ted Danson (CSI) had an 11-year run.  Interestingly, the first few seasons of that show, the ratings were not very good.  Still at that time, NBC gave the show time to attract and build an audience and the show had a very successful tenure.

Here's a little known inside fact. Law & Order, the original series, the "Mother Ship," as we call it around my house, was originally a pilot for CBS.  Guess what? CBS didn't like the pilot and did not pick up the show.  So, Dick Wolf, tenacious producer that he is, somehow got the rights back from CBS and shopped the show around.  NBC picked it up.  

Law & Order aired for 20 years on NBC, a total of 456 episodes, and spun off many other programs including Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intentent, Law & Order LA, and a reality version, Law & Order: Trial By Jury.  There was also a TV movie called Exiled: A Law & Order Movie, which brought back fan favorite Chris Noth (The Good Wife, Sex and the City) as Mike Logan.  There is also Law & Order UK, and versions in France and Russia.  Law & Order SVU also has a Russian version.

Looks like CBS missed the boat on that one. But even over at NBC, the Mother Ship was NOT a huge ratings grabber. It only ever did just okay, but it sustained and had a loyal, dedicated following.  I know this, cos I worked on that show for the first few seasons.  And my husband worked on Law & Order LA.

Bottom line, developing, airing and garnering success with a primetime series is nothing short of a crap shoot.  Daytime fans were up at arms everytime the networks cancelled one of their favorite long time daytime dramas.  Primetime, for the most part, doesn't get the luxury of that "long time" distinction for many, many of it's shows.  Maybe primetime producers should recruit the genius of the real Walter O'Brien to help figure out a solution to early cancellations.  Just a thought!

Is your favorite new prime time show still on air? 

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