Ellen Gray: NBC cancels 'Southland' before its Oct. 23 premiere
THE FALL TV season's only a few weeks old, but we already have some trends:
The biggest loser
Remember the eyebrows that were raised when NBC declared its midseason cop drama, "Southland," a hit after just one episode?
Well, those same brows arched all the way to the ceiling last week when the network decided "Southland," whose already postponed second-season premiere was scheduled for Oct. 23, wouldn't be coming back.
With six episodes already filmed, "Southland" producer John Wells - of "ER" fame - reportedly hopes to sell it elsewhere, while NBC sticks with the far cheaper "Dateline."
Combined with the network's decision to cede the 10 p.m. time slot to "The Jay Leno Show" and the generic quality of its new dramas, "Mercy" and "Trauma," you have to wonder how much interest NBC even has in scripted television.
Or programming of any kind.
Infomercials, after all, would be so much cheaper.
If Comcast actually is pursuing some sort of deal because it's interested in the network's content - and not just in its cable channels - it might want to move fast, before the remaining good stuff lands on the curb.
Crime still pays
CBS has every reason to be smug, having successfully launched "NCIS: Los Angeles" just as the mother ship, "NCIS," was finally rising to the top of the Nielsens.
In its seventh season.
"The Good Wife" is also off to a good start, thanks to the mix of the personal and procedural that's become the network's trademark.
Both new shows got full-season orders last week.
Things aren't yet so sunny for the network's transplant drama, "Three Rivers," which either needs more crime or better writing, and CBS' one new sitcom, "Accidentally on Purpose," so far feels like an accident.
But with six of the Top 10 shows in the most recent Nielsens, who's complaining?
Not CBS.
