Wed 16 Sep 2009
CW Gambles and Loses on MELROSE PLACE (Or Dawn Ostrof Is Still Stupid)
Posted by Nick C under The CW
[11] Comments
90210 was a surprise hit last year pulling in huge viewing numbers for the CW. Then a couple weeks passed by and the people who wanted a 90210 stopped tuning in. Despite that Dawn Ostroff decided to bet on a relaunch of MELROSE PLACE the old “sister,” show of 90210. Every person with an IQ over 70 in Hollywood scratched their heads in disbelief. The show is a massive failure and was beaten last night by WAREHOUSE 13 on SyFy (pronounced see-fee) last night and heck, SyFy even made a point of it in a press release.
Still Dawn is still riding high on her decision to replace SMALLVILLE with THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. That show has been the largest hit ever for The CW. Still right now picking a vampire show wasn’t a tough decision. THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE and whatever the hell they’re calling that one show now about a girl who finds her birth parents, are still waiting to be judged by the public. The top show in terms of quality from the pilots last season for The Can’t Win Network was BODY POLITIC and right now we can see one bad move by Dawn and can only wait and see how the other shows work out. Throw in the wait on seeing if SMALLVILLE can be a success on Friday and we’re all left wondering if VAMPIRE DIARIES is the only thing for The CW to be happy about.
For all we know Vampire Diaries could end up being this year’s 90210.
I wouldn’t be so quick to call it a hit.
Yay!
I wonder if Melrose Place will actually be cancelled. Maybe replaced by Life UneXpected (how many times did they change that title???) There aren’t many more places the numbers for the show can go but down. 1.8 million and over a 30% drop in its key demo is absolutely terrible.
Also, I know I was probably one of the most obnoxious supporters for Body Politic, but I honestly don’t believe it would have done worse numbers than MP (and MP was advertised SO heavily. I think it was #2 on the list for show awareness, but it wasn’t even in the top 10 for the intent to watch list). The Beautiful Life got really harsh reviews for the 25 minute ‘pilot’ by most of the critics. I know BP probably wouldn’t have been a hit, but at least it would have gotten decent reviews and given the network some credibility with a few critics out there. It was a little different, which is what they need.
I just hope Body Politic goes into redevelopment for the next season and ends up on another network. I know the chances for the same cast are slim to none, but I really loved that script.
Ideally, Dawn goes away, “Body Politic” comes back next fall, on the network once again known as The WB. Hell, I’ll just settle for Dawn going away.
Why hasn’t Les Moonves fired Dawn Ostroff?
I’m pretty sure the channels that used to be the CW or UPN are fuming over the numbers they are getting. I can’t wait for the Tribune, who owns most of the stations the broadcast the CW, to cancel their deals with the CW and go back to localized programing like they did in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I think the WPIX yule log gets more viewers than anything on the nation wide CW.
And The Beautiful Life premiered to a measly 1.4 million viewers. Do you guys think VD will be enough to save Dawn’s job?
My fear is that VD will be enough to save Dawn’s job for another year, thus giving her enough time to do one more season of damage. But I don’t see how a network can be built around one lousy show. What if ratings for VD settles once Fringe, CSI, and Grey’s Anatomy return? I think they will, at least somewhat. I still think they need to return to The WB name (and programming quality) if they are to ever save themselves. They could just have Michigan J morph itself from the ugly shade of green CW uses. The CW is their own worst enemy.
From the point of view of a casual observer The CW remains a fantastically interesting network although very rarely (if ever) for their on screen out put and for that reason I wouldn’t mind seeing Dawn O stay in place for another year – there’s a sense of train wreck around her and The CW that’s just very entertaining for me. Of course there was also part of me that was kind of sad when Ben Silverman left NBC.
With that said you’d think at some point someone high up with The CW structure, whether it be Dawn or her bosses would realise that ‘genre shows’ are easily the biggest hits that The CW have. Smallville has been their biggest show for how many years now? Supernatural has grown into a big CW show and now Vampire Diaries, which admittedly is a tween girl genre show has hit big for them as well. If Vampire Diaries sustains some of its momentum for the rest of this season, surely the powers that be at The CW have to start wondering if a ‘genre’ network is the way forward and not this teenage girl obsession that hasn’t proven to be particularly successful, especially given how strong DVD sales are for ‘genre’ shows.
Having said all that its worth remembering CW fans or critics that both Supernatural and Smallville are supposed to be wrapping at the end of this year. God knows how that will effect the landscape of The CW but its hard to see it being a positive change.
I’ll agree that if for nothing else, Dawn and her trainwreck is entertaining in itself. Full disclosure, I do watch 90210 and I did watch the pilot for Melrose Place. 90210, obviously, isn’t great, but I don’t personally like reality shows and this is nothing more than my version of mindless junk that I can zone in and out of as a guilty pleasure. I didn’t think Melrose was all that bad, but again, if it went away tomorrow, no tears shed here.
I’m with Eric. I do watch a lot of the shows on the CW, but mainly because reality TV is not interesting to me and there’s nothing else of interest on in a lot of the timeslots.
Supernatural is really my only must-see show on the network.