My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle Cancelled

Mr E

Enemy looked pretty good from what I saw, but the writing was on the wall with its poor ratings.....

NBC has pulled the plug on freshman tentpole drama "My Own Worst Enemy" and returning sophomore series "Lipstick Jungle," sources say.

The cancellation comes after both shows dropped to new lows in the ratings in recent weeks, with the Christian Slater action series sinking to a 1.8 among adults 18-49 (4.3 million viewers) on Monday night and "Lipstick" falling to a 1.2 (3.3 million viewers) on Friday.

Though the "Lipstick" number was an improvement on the previous week, the show's ratings have been below the line for a while now, and sunk into the red zone after the drama moved to Fridays.

NBC's expectation for the return of "Lipstick" was modest, but "Enemy" was considered an important show. A spy thriller with a grown-up budget inspired by the Bourne movies, "Enemy" received NBC's coveted post-"Heroes" time period. That valuable Monday hour of scheduling real estate has become less worthwhile in recent weeks, however, as "Heroes" shed viewers -- weakening the lead-in for "Enemy" and hastening its decline.

No word whether Monday's episode will be yanked from the schedule, or if the show will solider on for a few more weeks, or what program will take its place. "Enemy" is currently shooting its ninth -- and final -- episode. "Lipstick" has shot all 13 of its initial order. Both are produced by Universal Media Studios; NBC had no comment.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/11/nbc-cancels-ene.html

Lipstick Jungle is more evidence that shows on Friday don't work.... RIP Dollhouse.

TarfHead

That's annoying.

First Ex-List, now Worst Enemy.

Neither were classics, or art, but they were enjoyable. I see programmes like Heroes and Desperate Housewives continuing to be consumed when long past their 'Use By' date, and then other programmes, such as the two mentioned above, getting clipped before they had a chance to hit their stride.

J-blk

Damn it, just watched the 4th episode of "My Own Worst Enemy" and was really starting to enjoy it though I knew about the terrible ratings and that it couldn't last. That seems to be the problem with any serialized shows though that have a larger mythology - people just can't be bothered and why should they, when the show can get yanked off the schedule 3 or 4 episodes in? That's probably why there are a bazillion "procedurals" (like CSI and Law & Order spinoffs) on US TV and they all manage to survive - sigh...

DingDong

That's a shame was enjoying my own worst enemy. So many good shows get cancelled before they really get started(Journeyman, Jericho,New Amsterdam,Traveler) while other crap keeps carrying on.

TarfHead

J-blk wrote: »

That's probably why there are a bazillion "procedurals" (like CSI and Law & Order spinoffs) on US TV and they all manage to survive - sigh...

According to something I read, somewhere, NCIS registered 18 million viewers on Tuesday. There is obviously a big market for "procedurals" in the US of A :rolleyes:

J-blk

TarfHead wrote: »

There is obviously a big market for "procedurals" in the US of A :rolleyes:

Yeah, that's exactly my point... Apparently one of the highest rated new shows this year is - wait for it - another procedural, "The Mentalist"... I haven't watched it and have no idea if it's any good or not, but I'm sick and tired of procedurals surviving over all these other serialized shows... And lets not even get started on all the "reality" crap that's on...

Mr E

The Mentalist is pretty good actually.... don't knock it unless you've seen it.
Criminal Minds and Bones are also very good (and doing well in the ratings).

I don't see the appeal of the CSIs and NCISs of the world though.

J-blk

Mr E wrote: »

The Mentalist is pretty good actually.... don't knock it unless you've seen it.

Not knocking it at all... might even get around to watching it at some point. It's just that procedurals seem to make up an uneven amount of shows that get renewed/stay on the air in the US, whereas serialized dramas (be it sci-fi, spy ones or whatever), get cancelled after a handful of episodes... And does the world really need a ton of variations of the same show but supposedly in different cities (CSI) or with a different unit (Law & Order)?

And how does NBC even explain giving "Knight Rider" a full season but canceling "My Own Worst Enemy" after only 4 episodes?! Oh well, gotta get used to it - I'm guessing "Terminator" will get the axe at the end of the season and I'm very, very worried about "Dollhouse" already...