As Fate Would Have It: Winter TV Scorecard

It's that time of the year where the Fall and Winter TV shows have aired their season and sometimes series finales. The networks are all giving their thumbs up for a renewal or the thumbs down to strike the final death blow. There were a few rumors that some of the series on the chopping block were getting consideration from Netflix but so far, none of these have turned out. Before we get to the real meat of this by looking at how my predictions went, I'd like to take a look back at one of my favorite shows of all time, ending this season.

Unfortunately it's time to bid a fond farewell to Dr. Gregory House. His sarcasm has been with all of us for 8 great seasons. He gave sarcastic assholes like me an idol to look up to plus plenty of material to hone our craft. Here's a great video that displays some of the best moments of House.



 Although every episode had the same process, where half way through, they almost had the diagnoses then something goes terribly wrong only to find out what is actually wrong about 3 minutes before the end of the hour, House was still worth watching every week. The best part of House in my book was his relationship with Wilson. This was quite honestly the best character interaction on TV for the last 8 years. Take a look at some of their best moments and judge for yourself.



Now, let's get to the good stuff. I'll go in the same order I went with in the original first look. I'm going to add a few additional shows that I didn't comment on originally, but readers asked about before they started, so I'll mention them here as well.

Alcatraz
I said in my review that Alcatraz "...will have a great premiere followed by a steady drop in viewership week after week." Alcatraz did just that having a strong premier with just over 10 million viewers, but dropped to a low of 4.75 million viewers by the time of the season finale. I also assumed that the fan base would be enough to gain Alcatraz a second season but Fox decided to cut their losses now instead of wait. When it's all said and done, I was correct in my initial assessment but lost out when I gave the show the benefit of the doubt in being renewed for a second season.


Angry Boys
In my first look at Angry Boys, I called this show a "shit sandwich". According to Wikipedia, Angry Boys was met with mixed reviews. It premiered strongly for an HBO show with just shy of 1.5 million viewers, but had ended up with just under 700k viewers by the season finale. It hit a low mark with just under 500k viewers toward the end of the season. I haven't been able to find out if there will or will not be a second season, but consider me surprised if there is. Until an official word is given, this one's a draw.


Are You There, Chelsea?
Originally, I considered this to be a show I would give a chance to. Ultimately, I was too lazy to watch it, but apparently I'm not missing much since NBC decided to put this dog to sleep. It seems you can always tell the fate of a show by how little others are talking about it. If not even a whisper is uttered, you can probably wish the show adieu. This is the case for Whitney as well. I was clearly off the mark on this one.


Awake
This is one show that was new to 2012 but I didn't review because it technically started in the spring. Someone asked me about this show and I said it definitely looked intriguing. Apparently, however, this one didn't last long because NBC decided to pull the plug on this series. From what I heard, this show is up there with a personal favorite, Journeyman under the long list of "shows that are over too soon." Luckily, though, for every Awake, there is a Fringe or a Chuck that is saved by the fans. I didn't comment on this one originally, so the fate of this show doesn't count for or against my record.


Betty White's: Off Their Rockers
There wasn't a whole lot I could say about Off Their Rockers due to the lack of previews available. Based on the little information I had plus the influence of Betty White, I predicted this series might receive a second season. The numbers took a dive after the premier, but apparently reality shows have a different measuring stick because NBC has already renewed Off Their Rockers for a second season with four episodes of the first season to spare. Because I stated that I can see this one getting a second season but not lasting long beyond that, I'm giving me a notch in the win column.


The Finder
The Finder was one of my favorite possibilities for the 2012 season. I gave the show glowing reviews based on the Bones tie in and the trailers. And while I'm upset that I was so wrong about this show, I'm not sad to see it go. In all honesty, while the characters had the possibility of being interesting, all in all, I didn't care even a tiny bit for any of the characters. Willa being forced to marry some douche moved the plot no where. Walter's military background brought nothing to the table. Why bother even having a U.S. Marshal? The best character was Leo (Duncan) as they spent the most time talking about what made him tick. Even with the direct Bones tie-ins with Sweets and Hodgins, the best episode was the season finale. We learned the most about the characters this episode plus there were some actual stakes to be had. Unfortunately, though, it was too little, too late as FOX decided to pull the plug. I'm not really sorry to see this show go based on how it turned out, but I am disappointed that they didn't do better. I was WAY off on this one.


The Firm
This is one of those shows I couldn't have predicted any better if I could see the future. As I predicted, The Firm was one of the earliest casualties of the 2012 season. Well, sort of. The Firm ended up getting shoved off the standard NBC lineup early on, getting banished to wasteland of Saturday TV where it settled in at about 2 million viewers per episode. Basically, The Firm became a zombie of a TV show. Ultimately, I claimed that the first season would be run in its entirety but will not be coming back for a second season. I'm spot on with this one.


House of Lies
What ends up being the most surprising new addition to my TV lineup, House of Lies had a terrific first season showing. Not only was House of Lies what I was expecting when it comes to excess, but it brought a more serious undertone along with all that excess. The great surprise was watching Cheadle's character struggle to connect to his effeminate son in between his lying and cheating and scheming. Add to that Bell's character trying to find her way in a largely male dominated business but also fighting a losing battle with her moral compass. I'm actually anticipating finding out more about these characters in the already confirmed second season. I'm also pleased say that I can add another mark in the win column for my prediction, even if my rating shot low.


Key & Peele
I have to admit that I still haven't heard much about this show, but apparently, it has been fairly well received on Comedy Central's lineup. I watched part of one episode while I was passing through during hotel viewing time, but I couldn't recall what the skit was about if I tried. Based on current rating patterns, I'd say Key & Peele will be renewed for a second season. This is in line with my prediction so I'm taking another win. Full disclosure: I did a quick Google search to see how this show was doing and stumbled across the skit "The Anger Translator" which had me cracking up. Check it out here.


Life's Too Short
This is another one of those shows I haven't exactly heard much about. I stumbled across this one one night in a hotel and stayed to watch it. Davis was asked to attend a wedding or a birthday party as an Ewok but he mistakenly thought the couple knew he played an Ewok and wanted the actor there as himself. When he showed up, not in costume, the couple was pissed and found a random bear costume or a large stuffed bear (I don't remember which exactly) and dressed him up in it. Turns out they had no idea who Davis was and just hired him because he was a dwarf. It was actually a semi-humorous turn of events. Assuming the other episodes had the same type of dry humor, I would say the show is pretty successful. Life's Too Short earned an early renewal in the UK where it aired first, so it can be assumed that HBO will pick it up again as well. This is another mark in the win column for me.


Missing
Another show I didn't initially review but when asked, I responded that I didn't see how it could last very long. The premise of the show basically was that a lady's son goes missing so she goes out to find him. Assuming the first season ended with her finding her son, we're left with a "Prison Break" scenario - once you're out of prison, it's the end of the show. Same with Missing. Once the son is found, it's the end of the show. Thankfully enough, we don't have to find out how they plan to come back to a second season as ABC dropped the ax early on.


Napoleon Dynamite
I hated everything about this concept. Everything. Imagine my joy to find out it's not coming back for a second season. As a wise baby once said...VICTORY IS MINE!


The River
The River looked like it would be a decent movie but I couldn't quite see it as a TV show. Apparently, Spielberg thought the exact opposite. He saw a show where the plot would take us to several crazy locations, starting off in the Amazon. Reviews were a black and white mixed bag with not very many people landing in the gray area. Ratings were ok to start, but dropped by half after the premier and leveled off around the 4 million viewer mark. Rumor has it that while ABC has officially cut the show from its roster, Netflix is in talks to pick up the show for future seasons. As I said in my initial review, I can't see this lasting more than one season so, because it's my grading system and there's no confirmation from the Netflix possibility, I'm counting this as a win.


Rob
I was never a big fan of Rob as I saw a comedic actor I'm not too fond of in the mixed couple racial stereotypical situations that are barely laugh worthy. I gave this show a low rating but thought that Rob would somehow make it to 3 seasons. The good news is that Rob's head was cleanly removed by CBS. The bad news is that I'm technically not right. This one is a mark in the loss column. Damn.


Smash
As you all saw here on Opportunity Assassins, Pete really liked Smash. As a matter of fact, I gave Smash a fairly high rating of 7 out of 10, even though I wouldn't really ever watch it. That being said, Smash has done well for NBC even if the shows after the premiere haven't done as well. Viewership has been in the solid 6-7million range, so this combination of events has NBC bringing back Smash for a second season. I said we'd probably see three seasons out of this show, so this gives me another mark in the win column.


Touch
Touch is one of the few new shows for 2012 that I added to my list of new shows to watch. Surprisingly enough, the trailer lead me off track for what this show is really about. Martin Bohm's (Sutherland) son in this show can see the patterns of interconnectedness and feels pain if things are out of whack. Bohm is then interpreting the signals from his son to connect the dots. A series of events connects people from one side of the planet to people on the other side. It has been very hit and miss with the story lines, but the highs were much higher than the lows. I don't like that Glover's character has already been killed off with no real explanation of what he was all about. I also don't like that Bohm's son's caseworker has seen Bohm connect the patterns and still sits on the sidelines (at least prior to being removed from the case). I'd like to see her play more of a part in this show rather than sit on the sidelines all dumbfounded. What I really like, though, is that characters from the pilot show up every now and again. Events that occur can be brought up again later like the patterns that only Bohm's son knows. It's actually a nice touch but Kring needs to be careful not to go overboard like what happened with Heroes. Don't confuse us by adding too many new threads and crossing them. As you can probably tell, FOX has decided to renew Touch for a second season. I hope it can find some firmer ground. Add one more win for me.


Unsupervised
I haven't seen a single episode of Unsupervised but I've heard that it has been renewed for a second season. Apparently it was poorly received by critics as well, so I'm not really sure why a show like this would have been renewed unless FX didn't have a backup on hand. I can't really say much about this show other than I assumed it wouldn't make it to a second round. It's renewal adds another hash mark in my losses column.


Work It
Last and certainly least is Work It. As you may have caught on the original posting, Work It lasted an entire 2 episodes before getting the full cancellation hammer brought down on its head. Good thing according to what I witnessed in the trailer. One final win goes to me.




So how'd I do? Well, I come out 10.5 - 4.5 - 1 with a total accuracy percentage of roughly 66% which is pretty damn good if you ask me.