MovieChat Forums > Happy Hour (2006) Discussion > Near Death (This show that is)

Near Death (This show that is)

posted 18 years ago by italiansuzi
36 replies | jump to latest

Friday, September 22, 2006
FOX to Give 'Happy Hour,' 'Justice' Early Exits
By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- As part of a flurry of last-minute scheduling changes, FOX has placed its freshman comedy "Happy Hour" on hiatus until after its October baseball coverage. New episodes then are expected to resume on Thursday, November 2 at 8:30/7:30c.

Repeats of "'Til Death" will instead fill in for the show's previously announced broadcasts before the baseball break - Thursday, September 28 at 8:30/7:30c ("The Ring and I," a new episode of "Happy") and Sunday, October 1 at 7:30/6:30c (a repeat of "Happy's" pilot).

Also getting an early exit: fellow newbie "Justice." The show's October 4 airing has been bumped in favor of a repeat of "House" that night at 9:00/8:00c. Said development makes its September 27 broadcast its last new installment before its baseball-induced hiatus. To soften the blow however FOX has added a repeat of "Justice's" pilot on Friday, September 29 at 8:00/7:00c, trimming the previously-planned two-hour season finale of "Celebrity Duets" to just one hour in the process.

The news comes as both series hit ratings lows against its "premiere week" competition. So far this season (based on fast national numbers), "Happy" is down 34.78% in households and 32% in adults 18-49 from its premiere while "Justice" is off 37.29% in households and 36.67% in adults 18-49 from its bow.

[–] Anniston 18 years ago

Really unfortunate...T.V. is so odd the way they don't seem to let shows with potential find their legs. Obviously, it all boils down to money and those of us not in the industry will never understand the marketing motives.

[–] doctor-59 18 years ago

I can't say I'm surprised

[–] iptraders 18 years ago

Can't see how running repeats of a show that's only had a few episodes will help the ratings.

[–] takopoly 18 years ago

And Happy Hour is much better than Til Death. Boo-hiss.

[–] carmenm654 18 years ago

Yeah I liked Happy Hour a lot more than til Death... Why repeat til Death and not Happy Hour. Thats a bad sign no?

[–] AlexMorgan13 18 years ago

yeah this show is gone, just didn't have the ratings...

[–] SpikesBitch 18 years ago

I like this show a LOT better than til Death. This seems to be a pattern with Fox though. Instead of showing new episodes of good shows they show repeats of crappy shows. (i.e. Wonderfalls, Tru Calling)

[–] maskedmuggle 18 years ago

They should just move the show to a better night. I think it would be good just before a show like The War At Home on Sundays instead of Thursday. This show was much better than til death.

[–] AlexMorgan13 18 years ago

its all based on ratings, like how many actually watches, and that isn't always the better show...

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] craggio 18 years ago

don't know how many they have in the can but this will show up as one of those cancelled but cool shows. it really had potential but it was too cute for its own good probably, but i don't think anything was going to get an audience there unless Seinfeld decided to do a new sitcom on Fox.

[–] rodnig1 18 years ago

Well its a good thing "Cheers" was never on fox... it was the lowest rated show the week it debuted!!!

Damn... give the shows a few months to build a audience....

[–] OC47150 18 years ago

I agree. I do like Happy Hour more than Til Death, but both would be better on Sunday nights.

[–] sisqotgc 18 years ago

Yeah, that seems to be a better fit. Happy Hour does have great potential. When I was at the FOX sales summit in Chicago this summer, they were talking about how Til Death will be the show they are really pushing and wanting to succeed, since Brad Garrett is the main star of the vehicle. I thought that was all well and good (if I didn't consider that the premise is identicle to the first season of "Married with Children" just without the children), but to place it against Survivor? Not smart.

[–] kelvlam 18 years ago

That's sad this show is going to get cut.

http://tv.yahoo.com/feature/fall06/
I use the yahoo TV schedule to see what's good on what day. I'm not the "ugly betty" guy, so both Happy Hour and Til Death were my show before I continue on to Grey's and Six Degrees.

The official site (http://www.fox.com/happyhour/) said it'll at least be back on 11/2, anyone can confirm?

Justice (http://www.fox.com/justice/ ) is back on 10/23 and Til Death (http://www.fox.com/tildeath/) is gonna be back on same night as Happy Hour... or so it seems...

[–] sisqotgc 18 years ago

Yes, I can confirm all of that. We are bringing it back on the 2nd. The speculation that we took it off that week to run a double shot of Til Death because it was going to be cancelled was not true. It hasn't been cancelled yet. It will come back on the second of November. The only reason we pulled it that week was because it was the week before baseball playoffs, which consume our October schedule. So by pulling it that week, we'll have more consecutive fresh episodes starting in November.

Justice returns, but will be on Mondays at 9 PM. Vanished will be moving to Fridays at 8.

Til Death will be back on Thursdays. The Thursday lineup in November will be: 8:00 PM: Til Death
8:30 PM: Happy Hour
9:00 PM: The O.C.

[–] A117 18 years ago

sisqotgc - are you a fox executive or do you work at fox???? if so PLEASE PLEASE support HAPPY HOUR.

I do not understand why there is NO advertising for this show???!!! There may be a few here and there, but those few are ALWAYS paired with TILL DEATH. You guys have promo'ed the hell out of TILL DEATH - you can't watch tv without seeing a promo for it - and it hasn't helped. SHARE some ofthat maketing budget love and PROMO HAPPY HOUR.

It is unfair to think that people will tune into a show when no one knows it is one. The people that watch it seem to respond to it.

I also heard they just ordered more scripts, which i would have to assume means you like the episodes that haven't aired yet - if that is the case, LET US KNOW AND ADVERTISE!!!

I love HAPPY HOUR. I BELIEVE IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AMERICA'S NEW "FRIENDS."

GIVE IT A FIGHTING CHANCE!!!!

[–] sisqotgc 18 years ago

I'm an Account Executive at a FOX affiliate. Which means I have some insider info, but little/no decision-making power. Believe me, you are speaking to the choir on this show. I've seen every episode, and feel like it has a lot of potential. And I too was surprised that there are never promos for it...at first.

But I will tell you the theory behind the strong ads for Til Death. We are really investing a lot in Brad Garrett and his show. In fact, his show was the show we pushed the most of all new shows. We felt that his name/image (seeing as how Raymond was so huge) would attract a lot of people. Pairing Happy Hour with it but not advertising for it was not a diss, but actually was intended to help the show, by giving it our most hopeful lead-in. So while I think there should be SOME ads for it, I understand the emphasis on Til Death.

Here are two pieces of hope for you though. For one, FOX has ordered more scripts, which means not only are we not cancelling it, but we are producing more episodes. And two, The O.C. will begin right after it in November. SO that line-up should be bumped up with the teens and female demo, hopefully bringing in better ratings for the show.

So please be comforted that Happy Hour is sandwhiched between Til Death and The O.C., two shows we have a lot of confidence in.

Hopefully this helped. Let me know if you have any questions.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] mesposto 17 years ago

They NEED to cancel "Til Death" lol i dont think it'll last a season...least i really hope it doesnt...his career wouldnt even be in a Death watch if he just went with the spin-off w/ Monica (Amy)

If u like me, i like you, if u hate me...im scared =/

[–] sisqotgc 17 years ago

intheKNOW, I too was not too pleased by our decision to cancel the show. There are just some scheduling issues we need to work out, and unfortunately, Happy Hour was collateral damage. I was campaigning to have it move to Sundays, where I think it would really benefit from the line-up we have on that night. However, the general consensus was that we needed to improve our growing shows, and accept our losses. So not only was Happy Hour cancelled, but so was The Rich List; a show that aired only once last week.

As for Til Death. We have a lot of investment in Brad Garrett's vehicle. We have for a long time. We are considering giving it time to grow. Q1 and Q2 for us are always strong, so it may benefit from that. I know what you are going to say. How can we give a fair shot to Til Death, but not Happy Hour. UNfortunately, it comes down to politics and name recognition. It's not fair, and I don't like the cancellation, but it happened.

And the O.C. has been steady for us for the past 3 seasons, so we aren't going to just ditch it because of its low performance. But to be honest, it's not nessecarily that it didn't do well; it was more of its stiff competition. Greys has been a force to reckon with Thurs at 9; even beating CSI. So we are moving it to Wednesday to do better. It has an audience, but they've just gotten into the other networks at that spot.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

[–] mesposto 17 years ago

Are they thinkin of Keepin "Til Death" on for an entire season?

If u like me, i like you, if u hate me...im scared =/

[–] sisqotgc 17 years ago

Most definately 90% sure we will air the first order of 13 episodes. And we have ordered more scripts. All I can say right now is we are going to give it some room to grow, just like we tried with Arrested Development when we renewed it twice despite really low ratings.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sisqotgc 17 years ago

No problem!

[–] mesposto 17 years ago

yea thank u...

If u like me, i like you, if u hate me...im scared =/

[–] clone11 17 years ago

Yeah, Grey's Anatomy is why The O.C. has tanked in the ratings, not because it's absolutely ludicrous/played out/god awful. I'm sure.

[–] sisqotgc 17 years ago

It's hard to make a point when you are using an opinion, not quantifying facts. Whether or not the show is what you claimed doesn't matter when you look at the demos who watch both shows.

[–] shmerm11 17 years ago

It stinks that such a great show (I looked forward to it every week) is cancelled. It is always the really good shows that get the axe. But any words on whether or not the series will see light on DVD, it was too good to not see it ever again.

[–] clone11 17 years ago

Actually, it does matter, see, because Grey's was getting the entire demo. But if it's facts you need, how's this - ratings from last night:

Lost: 7.0 rating/17 share in adults 18-49
Criminal Minds: 5.1/12
Biggest Loser: 3.1/8
The O.C.: 1.5/4

Demos for all these shows skew older than The O.C. No big, bad Grey's to contend with. The show is abominable.

You work in TV? You should pay tuition for what you just got there.

[–] sisqotgc 17 years ago

Your facts are skewed. See, The O.C.'s audience extends all the way from teens to middle-aged women. So whatever point you were trying to make, didn't work. How can you say it didn't have Grey's to contend with, when it's on during the same time slot? Just because you threw out ratings (which help MY point, not yours), doesn't mean you can make a statement at the end (which doesn't even match up with the previous numbers).

[–] Ken-142 17 years ago

It's unfortunate that it has been cancelled, I thought it was the best new show of this season. Any chance of it being brought out of cancellation for midseason? Or a DVD set of the filmed episodes coming out (like Fox did with Wonderfalls?)

[–] sisqotgc 17 years ago

It won't be brought back. And a DVD hasn't been determined or discussed yet.

[–] clone11 17 years ago

Dude, they aren't my facts - they're Wednesday night's ratings. And I say they didn't have Grey's to contend with because on Wednesday night, they didn't.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing here, sisqotgc. My point is that regardless of who The O.C. is up against, it's going to tank because it's a bad show, and the ratings are indicative of that.

Your point is what? That you can't determine whether or not The O.C. is any good based on the ratings because it's up against Grey's? Ok, how about this - from a craft standpoint, The O.C. is just generally an inferior show because it's unintentionally preposterous. Better?

Look, all I'm saying is you need to amend your defense of The O.C. to account for its terrible ratings without resorting to the "Grey's-is-sniping-all-our-viewers" argument. I mean, it's not like The O.C. is this undiscovered gem of a show. People know it's around, they just don't care. And if Wednesday night's ratings showed anything, it's that The O.C. is perfectly capable of tanking on its own. Because it's a bad show.

That said, you are right about one thing - the best stuff doesn't always get the best ratings, but that doesn't mean that everything that gets bad ratings is good. Dig?

[–] sisqotgc 17 years ago

Ok, I feel like we are just disconnecting, because I never said it's a good show. I actually think it is pretty campy and cheesey (personally). And I was just explaining the low ratings for the first episode. I did misunderstand that you showed the Wednesday ratings, not Thursday. I'm sorry about that. And I'm not fighting for the show. I'm just saying that the competition that had two months head start on The O.C. And Lost and Criminal Minds are killing all other shows in the Wed spot too. But I understand that the show is bad, however, it did have a following; so that argument doesn't really hold up.

[–] asifanybodycares 17 years ago

>And a DVD hasn't been determined or discussed yet.

And considering that FOX (you know, that company you supposedly work for) doesn't own the show, you would know this how exactly? I guess now you are also handling accounting for Warner Bros....