I blame the late Manny Coto for that. I blame him for a lot of bad TV, actually. lol (ENT was the exception, somehow)
or get cancelled with a big cliffhanger (My name is Earl)
Wasn’t that due to the Writer’s Strike? Regardless, showrunners should never end a season on a cliffhanger when the studios have shown they’ll pull the plug for any reason whatsoever.
During an interview with the “Slick & Thick” podcast, Ethan Suplee, who portrayed Randy Hickey, revealed that, ultimately, the cancellation was due to communication issues between NBC, the show’s network, and Fox, the show’s studio.
“We were a hit. And the network called the studio and said, ‘We want to license the show for another year,’ and the studio said, ‘Well, we want more money. We want to renegotiate our deal with you.’ And the network basically did not respond for two weeks,” said Suplee. “And then the studio called back and said, ‘We’ll take your deal,’ and the network said, ‘Too late.’”
Looks like plain old incompetence killed the show.
It’s definitely a possibility that it had something to do with why the studios were so far behind that next year. Even shows that weren’t cancelled at the time suffered terribly (Heroes comes to mind).
Regardless, showrunners should never end a season on a cliffhanger when the studios have shown they’ll pull the plug for any reason whatsoever.
I guess if contracts are signed, it’s okay, but even then it’s a risk (e.g. strikes). For the most part I agree, though. You need to end on a note that, at the bare minimum, could serve as a slightly unsatisfying pausing point.
I blame the late Manny Coto for that. I blame him for a lot of bad TV, actually. lol (ENT was the exception, somehow)
Wasn’t that due to the Writer’s Strike? Regardless, showrunners should never end a season on a cliffhanger when the studios have shown they’ll pull the plug for any reason whatsoever.
Looks like plain old incompetence killed the show.
Ah, shame, but not surprising.
I always assumed it was a victim of the Writer’s Strike around the same time (not blaming the writers, obviously).
Thanks for that.
It’s definitely a possibility that it had something to do with why the studios were so far behind that next year. Even shows that weren’t cancelled at the time suffered terribly (Heroes comes to mind).
I guess if contracts are signed, it’s okay, but even then it’s a risk (e.g. strikes). For the most part I agree, though. You need to end on a note that, at the bare minimum, could serve as a slightly unsatisfying pausing point.