ABC cancelling Better off Ted + Scrubs - Better Off Ted (2009) Discussion

[–] jonnyjack 14 years ago

It doesn't quite say "cancel". At least I hope not. :)

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=8434

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It cites low ratings and the desire to place another show in the timeslot. It might not say cancelled, but they're...cancelled.

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[–] barrybuttery 14 years ago

*beep* ABC as per usual. They are complete retards when it come to cancelling good things.

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[–] BlubberWobby 14 years ago

WTF IS THIS *beep*

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[–] Osova 14 years ago

God damnit I know! Stupid unthought out shows make their seasons year by year, but brilliant shows like BOT are sold short.

Any chance of BOT being picked up by another network? They CAN'T let this go to wasteeee!!

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[–] ihatepickingausername 14 years ago

Oh yep, ABC and every other network that doesn't feel like being a charity to shows that aren't making revenue.

I like this show, I really do. It's the heir apparent to Arrested Development. But it's not a crime against humanity for it to be cancelled.

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[–] rwburnham 14 years ago

This is crap. Better Off Ted is a great show!

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[–] divefanatic 14 years ago

I don't blame ABC, ratings are low. I blame people.

People never watch smart shows like this while garbage reality shows like the biggest loser (fitting name for the people that choose to watch that show over BOT - well, I'm just mad) gets tons of fans.

Can this move to cable?

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[–] ThomasMuf 14 years ago

I blame Americans. You're WAAAYYYY too stupid for this show.

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[–] chrisb2ags 14 years ago

Come on now, that was uncalled for. We got the concept of reality TV from the Brits. I blame them for lowering viewing standards in general.

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[–] barrybuttery 14 years ago

That may be so, but we never ever took it to the extreme like what happen in the US. I to think that this show is to "clever" for the American audience, thats why is has low ratings. Look at Arrested Development, awful ratings, but the best comedy tv show ever made, with very in depth, precise and clever humour.

Americas networks always cancel clever shows.

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[–] jeff0529 14 years ago

I to think that this show is to "clever" for the American audience...

The irony is blinding. It's interesting that you think this show is too clever for the American audience, yet you are unable to demonstrate proper grammar. You are a moron.

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[–] barrybuttery 14 years ago

And you show that you're a moron by being pedantic over grammar on a *beep* forum.

You are obviously one of those people who just goes through people posts looking for one grammatical error, pointing it out, and then offending them in some way. Well I think you are the one who's the moron. Grow up and stop being so ridiculous.

Ohhh i missed one o of the word too, omg, big woop. Idiot.

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[–] jeff0529 14 years ago

No, I'm the type of person who points out the irony in an individual labeling an an entire country idiots, while making an idiotic grammar mistake himself.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] catchdog 14 years ago

And you, sir, are the epitome of a horsey ignoramus!

Seriously, though, I'll refrain from listing the several grammatical errors in this post and just point out that it's kind of silly to use American Idol as argument for America's less sophisticated tastes when we got that from the UK, and you still have a similar show which tramples through your pop charts with X Factor. Guess what? There are audiences for stupid things all over the world.

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[–] JoelAdam86 14 years ago

Star Search started it all. An American show. This entire discussion is dumb.

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[–] MycroftHolmes 14 years ago

Star Search? How about Ted Mack's Original Ametuer Hour?

What we have here is failure to communicate!

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[–] LordManhammer 7 years ago

Wait wait wait come back we gotta decide which country invented the tv

__ __ __
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"--Pres. Merkin Muffley

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[–] MycroftHolmes 7 years ago

Wow! This is an old one!

What we got here is... failure to communicate!



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[–] mwest_Au 14 years ago

Neiggghhhh!

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[–] kamps89 14 years ago

Because English is the only language in the world. Am I right?
/facepalm

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[–] jnatch 14 years ago

Ironically though even with a show like BOT that looks like it will be "short-lived" and cancelled too early, when all is said and done, anyone catching up on the show via dvd or torrents will have as many episodes to watch as a successful british shows like the IT Crowd or Little Britain. Why do you guys have runs of 6 episodes then make people wait a year and then stop after three series, as you call it? Heck even Monty Python only had about 40 episodes. Great shows in the US often end up with about 250 episodes.

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[–] barrybuttery 14 years ago

Quality over quantity. And normally there is only a few people writing on our TV shows, but you have teams of writers in America, not always, but more often than we do.

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[–] divefanatic 14 years ago

Do reality shows generally get higher ratings than smart shows in the UK like they do in the US?

The people who started the reality concept should still get some blame - afterall their the ones that started this plague to begin with.

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[–] sxr71 14 years ago

Why would you blame the creators? You should blame the idiots who sit in front of the TV and never get sick of the same *beep* being pushed on them. The creators just want to make money and the idiots who keep watching the same crap keep on watching it.

I think this show (and Arrested Development) fly right past most people. Its sense of humor doesn't appeal to people who don't really like to think. There are a few things that could save it. It could become a soap opera like Scrubs or it could push the envelope in terms of vulgar humor. Either of those will definitely help with this prime time reality garbage TV watching audience. Personally I find the lack of romantic entanglements and too much personal home life nonsense very refreshing. The only reason they even have the daughter or the mediocre looking boring dumb office girl is to appeal to more cattle, I mean people.

I like this show and I consider it a fill in for arrested development, but I know it is not on the same level as arrested development. The premise of this show is great but they haven't really developed it as well as arrested development did with its premise. It does need to get better, but I think the problem is not the writers or the actors, it's just that they are screwing with the formula to stay alive in prime time reality *beep* TV land. If this were on cable on FX or the like, I think the show really would be what the creator intended and what people like us would enjoy.

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[–] KitsunegariBlu 14 years ago

I think the 'Reality Shows' are more popular than 'Traditional Programes' (no matter how long they are half an hour or an hour) or what genre (comedy, drama, mystery, dramatized recreation) even if it's REALLY well done/acted or the money was well spent on the set, actors, scripts, fX, etc... because of all the rampant ADHD & instant gratification everyone seems to want. Viewers want to 'see' someone succeed NOW..on a reality show you can see someone fall on their face/get voted off & have their dreams crushed instantaneously in under 3 minutes. Or you want to be amazed, flabberghasted, and amused beyond belief in that amount time that someone surrmounted hellatious obsticles & odds. And it's inspierational that they did that...& supposed to let you believe you can too. blah blah.

But you can't do that if you're supposed to follow a Network program-Even if every episode stands alone for the most part, there's still a cannon & if you miss an episode-you might miss an in joke.

As for 'Ted'

I like the fact that he's a Single Father-that his wife just took off to do aid relief work & stuck him with being the stable father. And that he's bothering to do that & he really isn't all hormone nuts is refreshing. But that he more than obvsiously 'has' had flings is nice.

I think the Veridian's Daycare is the Janitorial Crew Sideline Stories is one of the funnier sideline social commentary parodies the writers have poked fun at personally, so I like the comment with Rose. I like the interaction of his boss with her too. And the fact that Linda (whom you'd think would have more maternal instincts-is actually worse with children & has worse interaction skills with Rose than the Boss-who has better lessons for her, abliet not necessarily ones she should learn to interact well with other 'children' to succeed. Unless you mean 'How to Succeed on the Playground in an Art Of War sort of way.')

I'm fond of the core cast quite well. Ted, Linda, Phil, Lem, Portia (who's name I always forget so I just call her ) V. & the Supporting Cast I look forward to: The Chubby Hispanic Lady who's sweet (they set her up with the Thermostat), The Human Resorces Lady & The Too Chatty Front Desk Elevator Gaurd. (I think the one guy that does thier 'food testing' is the same too. He's a riot as well.)

I'm glad though that they're not shoving a romance down our throats ALL the time, though V's Torrid Affair with the Magician was pretty funny.

I really hope ABC doesn't lose Better Off Ted, but to be honest, I can never see it when it's 'on'. I have to catch it on Hulu. So no matter what network it goes to, I'll have to watch it there anyway.
Love, Grace & Peace, Gunner

DHARMA
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INITIATIVE

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[–] barkbarkwoof 14 years ago

I stopped watching ALL new ABC shows and Ted is the LAST one I will watch. There were some shows that I thought might be good and they are already being canceled. I simply do not trust ABC enough to invest in their programming. The only thing I will watch on the network is basketball.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] chukkas999 14 years ago

*Boston Legal
*The Evidence
*Life On Mars
*George Lopez
*Carpoolers
*Eli Stone
*Cavemen
*Women's Murder Club
*The Goode Family
*Samantha Who

Hell now u have made me want to see those shows... and they are over DAMN
(i watched some episodes of Samantha Who, Eli Stone and a lot of Boston Legal, and it makes me sad that i wont watch them again.... and i wont see more episodes of the other series too, DAMN again)

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[–] j-c-s-f-akkerman 14 years ago

Also, while not sci-fi, BOT certainly has some sf elements to it. A lot of people don't like that sort of stuff because and I quote: "it's not real"

And as for the Big Brother thing, on behalf of my nation I wish to apologize.

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[–] ThomasMuf 14 years ago

"We got the concept of reality TV from the Brits."

Wasn't reality TV a Dutch invention in the first place (Big Brother, Jungle Camp, etc)?

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[–] bram-60 14 years ago

Big Brother was, yes. But it all fits perfectly well in the 'supply & demand' model of our society. As long as there are people watching it, there will be people producing similar garbage.

Once the distribution model of tv has been largely replaced by an on-demand internet-based one (which is inevitable in the long run IMHO), it will be easier to produce series tailored to special interest groups.

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[–] Lothar-Zogg 14 years ago

"We got the concept of reality TV from the Brits."

Uh, no.

"I blame them for lowering viewing standards in general."

Uh huh, would you like a cookie?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_tv#1940s.E2.80.931950s
http://www.wga.org/organizesub.aspx?id=1099

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] stoner_graeme 12 years ago

now, to be fair... we stole em off the dutch

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[–] zechs84 14 years ago

"I blame Americans. You're WAAAYYYY too stupid for this show. "

You realize that's an American show, *beep*

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[–] LCShackley 14 years ago

Yes, and in YOUR country I'm sure people sit and watch philosophical debates, ballet, and only the poshest of historical dramas. Get off your high horse. Your countrymen watch just as much crap as Americans do, but with a different accent.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] xo_brunette_o 14 years ago

If they cancel BOT I will be finished with ABC. Most of their shows are crap anyway. -_-

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[–] raiders757 14 years ago

I agree. It shows how shallow Americans really are when crap like "The Biggest Loser", "Survivor", "Dancing With the Stars", "The Apprentice", and "American Idol" stay on the air for so long. These shows are utter garbage made to entertain the lowest common denominator. No offense to those who like those shows, but the truth hurts sometimes.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] trine-standerholen 12 years ago

I think your comment about sums it up. "I blame people" - without labelling it with any nationality - labelling which perhaps is an attempt to make the sad but simple fact that people tend to go for the 'lighter' entertainment, rather than the more intelligent kind - easier to prosess. And yes, it blows. All the shows I love get cancelled. Does anyone have any other good quirky shows to recommend? Suggestions welcome! Mine; Wonderfalls, AD (obviously ;) ), Black Books, The IT crowd, Green Wing (severly quirky - and beyond), The Class (it grows on you, and gets better with every episode).

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[–] cartmell-36569 7 years ago

Yup, blame Americans.... dumb ass

Thats why YOUR Office lasted for a mere two seasons and ours 9

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[–] Theoden_of_ODU 14 years ago

The Show would fit in pretty well with USA Networks' "Characters Welcome" theme.

Fox, who produces the show should take it there.

"You've shown your quality sir. The very highest."

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[–] Utpe 14 years ago

Damn, that blows! Same thing happened with Andy Richter Controls the Universe. First season had 6 episodes, then the second season had about 13. I agree when it comes to people and reality shows, too many people let smart T.V. shows like this one die off fast. With everybody watching American Idol and whatnot, shows like this suffer.

Now we'll never get to see how Better Off Ted would've been like, had it ran some eight seasons or so.

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[–] crunchyfrog30144 14 years ago

I don't know about elsewhere but here in Atlanta it was bumped to the 2am slot twice so they could air some local garbage..... I'm sure that hurts the ratings too...

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[–] maj15 14 years ago

People need to look around before they start throwing accusations about certain audiences. TV in general is dying. A hit show nowadays has the same ratings as a major failure a few years ago. People aren't watching as much TV. The result is that the networks are putting on cheap reality shows because they are still profitable with low audience numbers.

Also, this show is great but it has a niche style. That means that there are people that are going to not like it. That doesn't mean those people are stupid.

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[–] sxr71 14 years ago

If they aren't watching TV then what are they doing? Especially in a recession when it is the cheapest form of entertainment short of making babies.

Also you can't tell me some of those Survivor type shows are that cheap to make. I'm sure on the talent side they are dirt cheap since there's no talent to really pay for, but the flying out of crews to some island somewhere can't be that cheap. If anything a show like BOT apart from paying talent can't cost that much to produce.

I do agree with your 3rd statement. There will be intelligent people who don't like the show for whatever reason. But not many.

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[–] maj15 14 years ago

There are ton of new media options that TV is now competing with. Youtube, facebook, Twitter, mainstream videogame growth, messageboards, mass DVD adoption. Ten years ago none of that really was there. I barely watch much TV myself, and I used to love it.

And yes it is much cheaper for survivor than it is for even the cheapest sitcom. It saves money in cast, writing, and production cost. Production cost is where they save all of their money really too. They dont need makeup and hair artist, set designers, lighting specialist, stand-ins, extras, and tons of other crew members that filmed shows would. Besides that the film an entire season in matter of a few weeks, while a scripted show is in production 7 months a year.

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[–] v_e_l 14 years ago

They can't cancel the show!?
It's one of the few good ones nowadays!

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[–] ndpndntfilm 14 years ago

God, what's happened to television?

Why do we watch crappy reality shows and not smart comedies like BOT? Why do we let those type of crappy shows keep coming on?

I'm really hating the Neilsen rating system. I tuned in every week to watch Pushing Daisies and the numbers still kept dipping. I really think those things are rigged so producers can keep slapping cheap reality shows on the air and take off the decent stuff.

I love mankind. It's the people I can't stand.

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[–] ScarryMovieFan800 14 years ago

They need to give shows a chance and not start cancelling them after the first 2 seasons. I mean Seinfeld had horrible ratings its first two seasons and it is now considered the best tv show of all time!

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[–] chrisb2ags 14 years ago

Cheers was another notable show that did poorly in its first year or so. And yes, the Dutch started it, but as I said, we got it from the Brits. I blame Mark Burnett, personally...In any event, you guys can't lay down a blanket statement like Americans aren't clever enough for a show such as this and not expect a backlash from the Americans that ARE clever enough to enjoy it. We are out there. Regardless of the prevailing opinion, we are not totally similar to our portraits in international news. There will come a time when reality TV no longer infects our broadcasts, at least not to the degree it is now. I do hope they reconsider Better Off Ted. It is pretty damn funny, and certainly one of the smartest shows out there.

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[–] c_to 14 years ago

I agree, it'd be a total shame if they cancel Ted! It's one of those truly smart and witty sitcoms that only come around once in a while. The latest 'It's Nothing Business, It's Just Personal' was amazing and certainly one of the best half hours on recent television.

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[–] sxr71 14 years ago

Yes a few of us are, but in truth you have no idea how dumb the average person is.

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[–] ronniecaliente 14 years ago

*Sigh*
My husband and I just started watching BOT recently because I remembered reading a blurb about it's wit and humor, and we LOVE it. It's not quite in the league of AD (which we are so happy to see being rerun on IFC), but it's definitely become one of our fast favorites.

I will totally cop to watching reality shows like Project Runway and Top Chef, because they at least showcase talents beyond being desperate for a love interest (Bachelor/Rock of Love, etc) having a massive drinking capacity (Real World, etc) or just generally being an annoying b***h (Real Housewives of...).

But where is the love in the world for excellent writing, intelligent humor and witty comebacks? I suppose we'll have to settle for hulu, netflix and the like to get our smart television fix.

We're also bummed they've canceled Dollhouse, but we were lucky to even get a second season of that.

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[–] ninjangsta 14 years ago

Well, oh crap. With the newest season of Scrubs sucking, I've really appreciated Better Off Ted. I hope it does get at least one more chance, because I'd really hate to see this show go. It's awesome!

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Give me an internet, please. http://internets.tj09.ath.cx/give/15

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[–] maxqnzs42 14 years ago

This is bad news, but not unexpected. Sharp, intelligent comedies that DO NOT USE A LAUGH TRACK invariably die young. I hope that at least the full 2nd season will be filmed and made available on DVD. I won't list the series I like that have suffered this fate, it's just too depressing.

Noho ora mai, ka kite ano.
Non sum uni angulo natus; patria nea totus hic est mundus. - Seneca

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