MovieChat Forums > The Defenders (2010) Discussion > Friday means cancellation

Friday means cancellation


I like The Defenders prety well watch every week but something tells me the switch to Friday nights tells me it is a goner. I thought it was doing pretty well in the ratings why switch it to Fridays, Nothing ever makes it on Fridays. Leave it to CBS (Crappy Broadcasting System) to change a good thing.

reply

i agree Friday is the death of shows. well not as bad as a Saturday but still bad. guess i will just DVR it.

reply

This bodes well for "Off the Map". I was going to stay with The Defenders, but now they have sent me to ABC...

reply

I don't think any network puts new scripted shows on Saturdays anymore. Just reruns.

reply

Yeah, canceled, just like Medium. (sarcasm)

The show is fine. Maybe they want Medium as a stronger lead-in, or maybe they're going to do back to back Criminal Minds on Wednesdays when they launch the CM spinoff. The sky is not falling.
--
Never underestimate a man's ability to underestimate a woman. -- V.I. Warshawski

reply

Ok, surprised no one called me on it. I was watching this past Friday's episode of Medium, and next week is the series finale. Apparently, it was canceled back in November and I didn't know about it. I stand corrected on that.

That said,I really hope The Defenders continues to do well. I love this show to bits, and if I'm losing Medium, I should get The Defenders as a consolation prize.

I'd whine about Ghost Whisperer being canceled after last season, but.. really.. that show did it to itself with that horrible fifth season. I guess Friday's really are a graveyard. I hope this show can turn that around.
--
Never underestimate a man's ability to underestimate a woman. -- V.I. Warshawski

reply

.

Not necessarily ...

'Someone' at CBS/Viacom surely monitors places like this

'Favorable' postings of Support are probably known

And - emails to CBS may not help, but sure can't hurt

.

Also ...

Hope 'whatever night' - it stays put some

Same as Blue Bloods Dancing Around

CBS - Please find a Rhythm, and stick with it

.

Now ...

Yes, is an Excellent Series - 'offspring' of some CSI Folks

Imagine combo episode(s) bringing them together ?

After all - both ARE in Vegas

.

Thanks


reply

I have the opposite problem of you, Blue Bloods is moving to The Defenders time slot on Wednesday, putting it in conflict with another of my shows: Law & Order: SVU.

As to your comment about 'Friday means cancellation': any day of the week is better than "Never on Time" Sunday!!! (Friday is why they invented VCR's, and later DVR's, but neither of these machines will work if the program doesn't start when it is supposed to.) This is not to imply that I don't sympathize with your problem, I do!

Of course all the broadcast networks could fix Sunday, and other days that get corrupted by sports delays, so that its programming runs 'on schedule' but they are too lazy, and they think that we have nothing better to do than wait for them to 'show up'. Its this attitude that has resulted in my only 'watching' the portion of Sunday's local 10 PM news that is shown between 10 and 10:30 PM, if any bothers to make it. (I watch that news by recording that time slot, then fast forwarding to the news, and deleting it afterward.) I go further by treating any show, like CSI Miami, Cold Case, or Shark, that is moved to Sunday as 'Canceled', after I inform them, as best I can (the general public can't reach the network directly), of this designation. (A move off Sunday doesn't reverse that decision, 'cancellation' is always permanent.)

If the broadcast networks would put in a 'sacrificial lamb', an hour long show (probably a rerun or syndicated show) that could be "joined in progress", between their Sports and their Prime Time Programs then, most days, they would stay 'on schedule'. I have suggested this to my local station, requesting that they pass this to the Network Programming Department, but nothing has happened. I also suggested that the network 'train' their Sports Programming to stay in its time slot, cutting it off when it exceeds its scheduled time, but that was received even less well. (These are 2 solutions to this overrun problem, I'm sure that their are others.) Their failure to correct this problem is their loss! (A published schedule is a 'contract' and a show's starting even 1 minute late is a 'breach of that contract'!) There are other programs out there to watch, some of them are even better than the ones that are 'lost'.

reply

Your suggestion of cutting off a sports show if it goes over its scheduled time has been tried by NBC...with devastating viewer reaction.

Not much chance of that being repeated by anyone in broadcasting who wants to stay in business or keep his job.

Google "The Heidi Incident" and see what I mean.

reply

I had been told about some network's switchboard "lighting up like a Christmas tree" after they cut off a sports event to air their scheduled program on time. I don't know if that is the same game as the one that you referenced. It doesn't matter if it was, the networks still have a responsibility to air their program 'on time'. If I tune in to watch a show and they haven't started broadcasting it, or the commercials in front of it, by 1 minute after its scheduled start time I treat that episode, or program, as having not aired that night, even if it is shown in its entirety starting 2 minutes after its scheduled start time. I don't turn on my TV and leave it on 1 channel all night, and other channels don't shift their programming to accommodate the mistakes of their competitors.

The point of this part of my original reply is that the networks are not doing anything to fix this problem and expecting their audience to adjust their clocks to what they (the networks) want to do. This is wrong and the networks need to correct their actions!

I have called my local channels to complain about programs that didn't 'air'. Usually I was told that the program did air, but it was late due to a sporting event running over. My reply to that is either "I guess a poor excuse is better than no excuse", "you had a contract and you broke it", "because your show wasn't on I found something else, that was better, to watch on another channel", or "if it didn't start on time then it was NOT on". If they don't like those replies then they can tell their network that they had a complaint about the overrun. I hope they have every time I called, though I doubt that they did. (It doesn't seem likely that they did, the networks are not doing anything to correct this error.)

reply

The defenders was great, not a dry serious show but not all comedy either. It was a nice mix between the two. It would be nice if they would continue the series with to actors that are perfect.

Jurnee Smollett is cute and Tanya Fischer is a good fit. Perhaps get another big name female for the role.

I lived in Las Vegas for two years and it is nice seeing things filmed in Las Vegas.

Do you remember the old show Vegas with Dan Tanna? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega$

Scott M. Wright
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
my411data.info

reply

Quote:

If the broadcast networks would put in a 'sacrificial lamb', an hour long show (probably a rerun or syndicated show) that could be "joined in progress", between their Sports and their Prime Time Programs then, most days, they would stay 'on schedule'. I have suggested this to my local station, requesting that they pass this to the Network Programming Department, but nothing has happened. I also suggested that the network 'train' their Sports Programming to stay in its time slot, cutting it off when it exceeds its scheduled time, but that was received even less well. (These are 2 solutions to this overrun problem, I'm sure that their are others.) Their failure to correct this problem is their loss! (A published schedule is a 'contract' and a show's starting even 1 minute late is a 'breach of that contract'!) There are other programs out there to watch, some of them are even better than the ones that are 'lost'.
______________________________________________________________________

Hear, hear! I've said this for awhile. CBS is totally irresponsible to its viewers. I lost "Three Rivers" this way and I have not forgiven them for that. Networks owe it to their viewers to stick to a strict schedule, no matter how they have to do it. Personally I think sports events should be timed to end within a certain time period. Over after two hours, and that's it. Either that, or the networks shouldn't bother to show them. Or at least work out something where they can schedule the games earlier in the day so primetime is not affected by a game that goes overtime. Last resort: Only schedule old movies for Sunday evening.

reply

I actually quit watching CBS over their horrid mishandling of "Jericho" (one of the BEST shows ever made; it did not deserve its fate!). I came back after watching "Criminal Minds" on a local station playing re-runs, and fell in love with it. When I found out it aired on CBS, I (reluctantly) came back.

But if they cancel "The Defenders," I might have to renew my boycott. This is also a great show and does not deserve to be cancelled! CBS has killed some great shows in the past; this one need not suffer the same fate.

reply

You've got to be kidding, cut off a sports program before it's done just to put on a show that was scheduled after it? Really? You're either very young or completely unaware of history. I have one word for you. Heidi.

reply

Yeah, someone's already mentioned "The Hiedi Incident".

Perhaps you should read before posting. There were some suggestions made that did not include cutting off a sports program. I think the networks have a responsibility to ALL their viewers, not just the sports viewers.

I've actually watched sports shows and grown impatient as it became obvious that the program was running overtime, even if the next show I wanted to watch was on the same station. This messes up that stations schedule for the rest of the night, and becomes frustrating when you later want to watch a show on another station, because the end of one show overlaps the beginning of a show on the other station.

reply

They are just putting it in the Friday time slot where MEDIUM was. They are supposed to switch Blue Bloods back to Fridays on 2/18/2011 and The Defenders will pick up a new criminal minds series in March and who knows what they will do "$#*! My Dad Says" since they will be putting RULES OF ENGAGEMENT in that time slot. Don't Forget that March Madness (BASKETBALL) is coming and will pre-empt (take off) shows for a while. Here is where I found out information for what is going on with all the major networks on all your primetime shows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%932011_United_States_network_television_schedule.

It doesn't have all the answers about the unaired shows since The Defenders was supposed to have 19 episodes Plus three scripts. When it airs back on 2/4 we will start with episode 13.

reply

Correction to Previous Post


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%932011_United_States_network_television_schedule

when this web page opens click on the word schedule to bring up all the time slots from 8 - 11 pm and all the networks, there are a lot of changes to most of the stations with dates of premieres or when they are switching the shows.

reply

Another one of my shows bites the dust. I'm not sure why I watch anything but wrestling. I get sucked into these shows just to have them yanked from me and made worse by a cliffhanger or they just cancel the damn thing mid season without any kind of an ending. When I heard it was being moved to Friday's, I thought the same as most of you. I have enough to watch on Friday's as it is, so now I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch this show or record it and this was the only show I watched on CBS. So goodbye CBS, you keep canceling my shows and I've had it! I know it's not canceled, but it will be.

reply

Can you guys remember when friday was the hot night to watch tv. DALLAS ,FALCON CREST ,DUKES OF HAZZARD. thats what I remember when I was a teen . HBO is sort of the creator of Sunday night tv with the sopranos

reply

I can remember when Fridays and Saturday shows did good in the ratings. Love Boat & Fantasy Island ran for almost a decade each on Saturday night. X-Files ran 9 seasons on Fox Friday night. And like you said, The Dukes of Hazzard, which I watched for 7 seasons every Friday, from 79 to 85. Back in the 70's & 80's and even into the early 90s every night of the week ran new programming during the fall season. Fridays and Saturdays weren't known as the "death slots". Friday and Saturday shows did great in the ratings. All in the Family was a huge hit for CBS that ran on Saturday nights.

If fans of a show would follow the show to the new time slot then the ratings wouldn't drop. I think that now when people see "Friday night time slot" they think, "Well, their just going to cancel it anyway. I might as well stop watching.".

The shows fans need to think about it. If every single person who watched this show when it aired on Wednesday watched it on Friday there is no way the ratings will drop because it will have the exact same number of viewers. But if people give up on it and stop watching because of the dreaded "Friday Night death slot" stigma, then it will definitely drop in ratings.


(knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny

reply

Yes, NBC Saturdays back in the 80s were the place to be. Facts of Life, Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Hunter, etc. That was a blockbuster of a night.

Blue Bloods was doing well on Fridays according to what viewer reaction I've been able to read about. Maybe The Defenders will do well, too.

Didn't Ghost Whisperer spend 5 seasons on Friday nights? Or am I mistaken? I didn't watch it from the beginning, only the last two seasons with any regularity.
--
Never underestimate a man's ability to underestimate a woman. -- V.I. Warshawski

reply

Yes, Ghost Whisperer spent all 5 seasons on Friday and had good ratings. Medium spent the last 3 seasons on Friday night and even though both NBC and CBS cancelled it, it wasn't because it was getting bad ratings. NBC cancelled it because they had to lose 5 hours of programming during the week to make room for the debacle that was The Jay Leno Show that aired 5 hrs a week in prime time and CBS cancelled it this season even with good ratings because they had to make a place on their schedule for the new Criminal Minds spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.



(knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny

reply

[deleted]

Friday is where networks send their shows to die. Sometimes it works out the other way (X-Files). Usually it doesn't. I'm just hoping that this is an X-Files. Cuz this is a fan-freakin'-tastic show.

reply

I like The Defenders also. It is very entertaining. I hope it is not cancelled. I make an effort to watch the show and if I cannot I DVR it. It deserves to get another season.

reply

[deleted]

Good way to look at it. I'm going to try to stay positive and give this show my full support. Every episode is awesome. Was really great this past week to see Dan Aykroyd.
--
Never underestimate a man's ability to underestimate a woman. -- V.I. Warshawski

reply

Yeah, Friday nights on CBS was a HORRIBLE slot for Numb3rs...what? five? Six years they ran in this time slot?

reply

Blue Bloods and CSI NY seem to be doing okay on Fridays.

reply

I truly hope that The Defenders show does not get cancelled. This is a good show. CBS has so many good shows (they could get rid of the 2 hours on Mon. and 1 hour on Thurs. of comedies) that the need for pilots has not got any time slots. Undercover boss could go. NBC is so pathetic that the Defenders would be their best show.

You may be right, I might be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you're looking for!

reply

If CBS cancels this,one of the other networks should snag it up in a heartbeat.

reply