September 24, 2005

I love HBO, but...

I am so mad at them for cancelling "The Comeback." I thought they were known for giving a show the chance to catch on, and "The Comeback" was notorious for the way people didn't get it at first. (Chez Althouse, we got it, but for some reason, people found it hard to get.) But only 1 million viewers saw the finale. I guess there's a limit to what is worth supporting.

What's wrong with people? The low popularity of that show makes me feel so lonely!

12 comments:

Condoleesa said...

I agree I thought it was great.

Ron said...

Cheer up, Ann, the blogosphere loves you! (virtual group hug)

Joan said...

It was too painful to be really funny, to me. Then again, I have trouble enjoying Larry David's show, too.

Robert said...

Our economic model for television shows is broken.

The model that will work will be subscriptions. The producers will make a few episodes of a show available for free, on the Internet or similar high-bandwidth, wide-availability infrastructure. Viewers will then opt-in, either on a per-episode or per-season basis, and pay the producers directly. The networks (or The Network) will simply charge a bandwidth rent for the use of its service; this is one intermediary whose usefulness has come to an end.

Jake said...

That story was about a loser who was making a comeback. But she continued her loser ways thus sabotaging her comeback. I find that very depressing.

The writers should have allowed her some successes and only a few failures. Everybody loves a comeback story.

Wasteland Fan said...

I truly enjoyed The Comeback as well. But, I'm alright with it being a one season show. I'd have preferred another season; however, it's not as though I feel cheated by the show ending the way it did.

Unknown said...

I was upset that HBO canceled Carnivale after only one season as well.

Ummm, Carnivàle had a second season and a third is anticipated.

Regarding 'The Comeback' me and my girlfriend tried to watch the show. The humor reminded me a lot of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where it was painful and not everyone 'gets' it. The difference is that Larry David acts like an ass and deserves (normally) what he gets. Kudrow, on the other hand, seemed like she was just naive and being picked on. It was just crue and painful to watch.

Anonymous said...

Ann, I thought The Comeback was extremely weak. I don't think I ever chuckled.

Wasteland Fan said...

Ummm, Carnivàle had a second season and a third is anticipated.

Steve is correct that there was a second season of Carnivale. But, the show was most definitely cancelled and there will be no third season. So, that anticipation will go unrewarded.

See: http://smallscreen.monstersandcritics.com/article_7785.php/Carnivale_axed_at_HBO

Martin said...

I couldn't watch it without cringing.

Contributors said...

I don't think at first it was that people didn't get it. I think that at first it was that the show was repititious.

The show didn't really take off until Kudrow's character finally grew a little during the episode in Palm Springs but by then a lot of people had probably grown tired of the same thing over and over; her neediness, her constant humiliations...

It is a shame it's cancelled however. I was very interested in what would come next now that she's famous again. It would've been a fascinating 13 episodes.

Maybe Showtime will pick it up.

XWL said...

Sometimes cancellation isn't a bad thing.

Would Freaks and Geeks continued to be as good as it became?

Was Wonderfalls a project that could have continued to be inventive for another 70-80 episodes?

Wouldn't X-Files have benefitted from ending after season 5?

Leave them wanting more is the first rule for any kind of entertainer, now this show can continue to do just that, and if its reputation in hiatus grows enough, it will stage a comeback of its own (a la Family Guy).