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2008 In Television: Axed Shows

2008 In Television: Axed Shows

 

Holby BlueWe start our review of television in 2008 with a look at some of the high profile shows that disappeared from our screens in 2008. Drama’s, Sci Fi’s and even talk shows that were axed by their broadcasters or naturally came to an end, stateside and at home.

 

We start our review of television in 2008 with a look at some of the high profile shows that disappeared from our screens in 2008. Drama’s, Sci Fi’s and even talk shows that were axed by their broadcasters or naturally came to an end, stateside and at home. We have only covered the bigger or more high profile shows that have ended this year/been axed. Also we haven’t included the numerous one-season shows axed by ITV this year, or even the BBC, such as Echo Beach, Harley Street or Bonekickers – these will feature in another feature on 2008 in televisiom.

 

Holby/Blue: BBC One

 

The Police drama spin-off from Holby City and Casualty, the BBC hoped Holby/Blue would be a success with viewers and was their latest attempt at trying to find a successful “everyday” police series. Previous attempts include the dire Mersey Beat, which clocked up four seasons before being Holby Blue logodropped, and City Central which only managed two. The first season of Holby/Blue didn’t really perform brilliantly for BBC One but another series was commissioned. The second season kicked off with a crossover episode with Holby City and pulled in six million viewers. BBC bosses might have felt they were justified in bringing the show back with that many viewers but once the crossover with Holby City was over viewers began to switch off. A sign of how bad the ratings got was when it was often beaten by The Bill on ITV1, which has been suffering from poor ratings for a while now. Unsurprisingly as figures plunged the BBC pulled the plug on another attempt to rival The Bill.

 


Pulling: BBC Three

 

The axing of comedy series Pulling came as something of a shock to some media experts. The BBC Main cast of PullingThree comedy series, about the complex love life of three women, had actually increased its ratings in its second season and so a third one seemed almost guaranteed. Writer Sharon Horgan, who also stars in the comedy, said there was enough material to make a third series but BBC Three controller Danny Cohen disagreed. Cohen felt the series was aimed at an older audience than BBC Three wished for and so he decided to drop the series, commissioning a one-off special to wrap up loose ends.


After You’ve Gone: BBC One

 

The comedy series starring Celia Imrie as a mother-in-law who moves in with her son-in-law, played y Nicholas Lyndhurst, to keep an eye on things when her daughter moves abroad. From the writing team After You've Gone, BBCbehind the highly successful My Family. After You’ve Gone wasn’t really a big ratings puller for BBC One to begin with but then it started to win audiences and a fourth season was commissioned. However, ITV then dropped Coronation Street from Sunday nights and moved it to Friday evenings, directly opposite the comedy. The BBC responded by moving AYG to a Sunday evening slot but this didn’t pull in viewers and so they moved it back to Friday nights where it continued to lose out to Coronation Street. In the end the BBC decided to cancel the fourth series and let AYG end with its Christmas special. The placing of Coronation Street in the 8.30pm Friday night slot could spell the end for BBC comedies in that slot.


Phoo Action: BBC Three

 

One of six pilots that aired on BBC Three as Danny Cohen tried to find new drama series’ for the BBC Threechannel and out of the six only two pilots were picked up for full series’, Phoo Action and Being Human. However, just weeks before Phoo Action was slated to go into production the BBC decided to pull the plug citing creative and scripting problems on the show. Cohen is hopefully to resurrect Phoo Action in some form, in the future, but for all intents and purposes the show is dead in the water. A costly dead duck too as actors had already been contracted and pre-production work was well underway when the axe fell.

 


 

Out of the Blue: BBC One/BBC Two

 

Australian soap revolving around a murder, and the investigation, at a reunion – commissioned to Out of the Bluereplace Neighbours after it left BBC One for Five. Ratings for the drama series weren’t high when it premiered on BBC One but launching new soaps takes time ratings wise but someone in the BBC wasn’t prepared to wait and the series was quickly, within mere weeks, shunted over to BBC Two. Predictably ratings soon fell as viewers missed the switch and the soap was dropped for Tennis, the Olympics and anything else that came along, such as snooker. As the soap was off air more than on ratings continued to drop and the BBC opted not to commission more but the soap is popular in Europe where it has been snapped up by numerous stations.

 


Grange Hill: CBBC/BBC One

 

Phil Redmond created the school drama in 1978 and it was based in a tough London comprehensive. The drama series was controversial, bold and hard hitting covering drugs, alcohol, knife-crime, teenage Grange Hillpregnancy, gun crime, sexuality, abuse and so on but by the time it ended it had been moved to Liverpool, toned down, dumbed down and shunted to CBBC for a series. Returning to BBC One only for its final season which saw the return of the original theme tune in some vain hope viewers would once again reconnect with the series. What killed Grange Hill? The move to Liverpool was one key element but another was the BBC’s anxiety about subjects covered by the BBC and their desire not to provoke the wrath of The Daily Mail. 


Ladette To Lady: ITV

 

Reality television series that followed a group of foul-mouthed, binge-drinking, “ladettes” as they are enrolled at a finishing school and taught the finer things in life and social etiquette. Always worth watching just to see who is more unlikable, the ladettes or their snobbish “teachers”, who don’t come across very well on most occasions. The series had run for several years but in 2008 ITV decided it had enough of ladettes and snobs and dropped the series.

 


Richard and Judy: C4

 

The husband and wife presenting duo decided to leave the comfy world of C4 tea-time behind them in Richard in the 90s2008 and switch, instead, to digital channel Watch. What made them move isn’t quite clear but ratings for the show were never as huge as Paul O’Grady enjoyed but at least they have the satisfaction of surviving Anthony Cotton and Sharon Osbourne’s chat-shows on ITV, both of which were meant to return for second seasons but as yet, at least a year on, have yet to materialise. The duo also attracted quite a few big names to the sofa’s during their stint at C4 and launched their successful book club reading list.

 


The Montel Williams Show: ITV2

 

American chat-show that can be found, in the UK, on ITV2. Montel tends to be more upmarket that ITV2Ricky Lake, Jerry Springer and Sally Jessie-Raphel and had enjoyed 17 years on air but this year stations in America decided not to renew Montel for another season. One feature of the show that has come in for criticism, and led to trouble here in the UK, was a physic who would “read” audiences futures for them. In one edition the physic told a couple their missing son was dead but he turned up a year later however, when this edition was repeated on ITV2 some viewers complained as, by this point, the son had been found alive.

 

 


 

American Television:

 

Dirty Sexy Money: ABC/C4

 

An ABC drama series about lawyer Nick George, Six Feet Unders’ Peter Krause, whose whole life has been lived in the shadow of the wealthy and powerful Darling family, but as an adult he’s leading a ABC logosimple life as an idealistic lawyer, until his father’s suspicious death. The wealthy Darlings of New York have asked him to take over his father’s job as their personal lawyer, but the money that will allow him the freedom to be an altruistic do-gooder is only part of the picture. That same money pulls him into the dubious doings of the Darling clan. The first season was disrupted by the American Writers’ Strike and so ABC commissioned a second season but ratings for this weren’t as high as the first, as changes were made to the format of the show, and so the axe fell.

 


Pushing Daisies: ABC/ITV2 

 

Quirky drama series by Bryan Fuller and starring Lee Pace and British actress Anna Friel, narrated by Pushing Daisies, ABCBritish actor Jim Dale. Lee Pace plays Ned, an owner of a pie-shop who has the ability to bring people back to death. In the opening episode Ned brings back Charlotte, his child-hood sweetheart, after she is killed. The first season was disrupted by the Writers strike and so only nine episodes aired before the series went off-air, ABC commissioned a second season. The majority of the second season has now been aired although 3 episodes remain to be. However, ratings have proved disappointing for ABC and the series has already been dropped. 


Eli Stone: ABC

Comedy drama series about Attorney Eli Stone [Jonny Lee Miller] who discovers he has an inoperable ABC logobrain aneurysm which causes hallucinations. However, his acupuncturist Dr Chen suggests the hallucinations are something more, visions of the future. Eli Stone soon discovers that Chen might be right as his hallucinations show him glimpses of things which later happen, like an earthquake. The first season consisted of 13 episodes and was renewed for a second run however, during its second season the series was dropped by ABC along with Pushing Daises and Dirty Sexy Money. It’s unknown when the remainder of the series’ episodes will be aired.

 


Jericho: CBS

 

Post-apocalyptic drama series set in a small American town following nuclear attacks on 23 cities in Jericho, CBSAmerica. The drama follows the lives of the residents of Jericho, a small town in Kansas, as they survive in the aftermath of the devastating attacks. After the first season of Jericho broadcasters CBS axed it due to low ratings but a high-profile campaign by fans led the broadcaster to reverse their decision and commission seven more episodes, to make up a second season, with the option of ordering more if ratings were good. However, ratings for the second season were still low, falling below season one levels, and the axe once again fell after seven episodes.

 


Moonlight: CBS

cbsVampire series with a difference, it’s something of a love story, starring Shannyn Sossamon, Jason Dohring, Alex O’Loughlin and British actress Sophia Myles. The pilot episode was panned by critics but performed well enough for a series to be commissioned, which also suffered from poor reviews. The writers’ strike forced the show off air, as with many of dramas, but Moonlight returned in 2008 for new episodes. However, ratings were low and CBS decided to pull the plug.

 

Other American drama’s to be axed in 2008, or naturally came to their end, include:  Dirt, Boston Legal, The Riches, The Shield, Valentine, The Wire and Shark

 

 

 

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