After looking at how they calculate their formula and looking at their chart, it seems not to take into account the lower ratings that happen on Fridays.

If DH were discontinued, it would be for another show that Fox thinks has more potential in its particular time slot.

Ronald_SF | February 25, 07:53 CET

If it comes down to an either/or situation, would 'T:SCC' be cancelled and 'Dollhouse' given a second season?
Because in such a hypothetical scenario, I do wonder what effect that would have on both fandoms. Would 'T:SCC' fans boycott 'Dollhouse' purely to get back at FOX?

But in good news, more 'Bones'!

missb | February 25, 08:22 CET

It will be interesting when Prison Break arrives.

aapac | February 25, 09:07 CET

Ronald_SF, there's also the budget issue--they may want something cheaper that might be able to attract the same number of viewers.

On the other hand, I wonder what the "tail" is like on reality TV? Nonexistent, I would think...

jclemens | February 25, 09:08 CET

Well i think the next 2 weeks of DH eps and the ratings are going to be very telling. If it holds steady and 4.2 million and doesn't drop it's probably a maybe (esp once those +7 figures come in tomorrow) at renewal time. If there's a build in numbers, that maybe starts turning towards a yes.

I would still be happier if they moved it to any other night. And I would be pissed as hell if they cancelled it without trying a shift to another night.

Ivalaine | February 25, 09:15 CET

Also, does anyone know if Fox does release viewing numbers for Hulu/Fox.com/iTunes?

Tv by the numbers seems to have live +7 as a category, but looking at the numbers, this seems to be DVR only, and many shows look to have another million or up to 4-5 million viewers on DVR.

I'm eagerly awaiting those +7 figures.

Ivalaine | February 25, 09:21 CET

It's also up against a new Flashpoint this Friday. Sigh.

When will the DVR numbers be released?

[ edited by Rhodey on 2009-02-25 09:32 ]

Rhodey | February 25, 09:29 CET

Ivaline, they don't release those numbers. Why would they? Ratings are public because that is the only way that traditionally advertisers and networks could trust each other. Hulu is owned by NBC and Fox and have separate agreements with their advertisers. iTunes also has separate agreements with studios.

I think Ghost will add at least 1.5 million in viewers with DVR (when it comes out next week). TSCC should add at least 1 million. I also think Prison Break will do even worse in the 8pm timeslot than TSCC does. It will in no way be a better lead-in to Dollhouse. Less people will care enough to stay home on a Friday and watch Prison Break than TSCC and their ratings were very very similar last fall on Mondays with TSCC usually beating Prison Break once DVR +7 was added in.

IrrationaliTV | February 25, 09:31 CET

I'll be sad if TSCC goes, but I was very annoyed with the episode last week. There literally seemed to be no danger and very little conflict until the last 10 minutes, and Cameron was just a piece of scenery.

If your show is on the verge of cancellation, you don't do slow building a story gradually type episodes (I don't even know where they're going with the last one). Surely they have a plan for where the show is going. (I hope.) Knowing the situation they face this season, they should be accelerating everything and putting as much "stuff that happens" into each episode as possible. Since mid-season hiatus, I feel like their writing staff has given up.

Celluloid Novelist | February 25, 10:24 CET

Hopefully WB will try and ship TSCC elsewhere.

flugufrelsarinn | February 25, 11:33 CET

TSCC needs something quick...the last couple of episodes have been rather dull and unfortunately Ms Manson seems to be becoming a bigger player and getting more screen time.

cdm22 | February 25, 13:16 CET

It might need something quick to try to raise its game just for the sake of producing quality. But the point at which it might have made a difference to renewal chances passed a while ago IMO, anyone following it that didn't strongly suspect it wouldn't be coming back for a third season is way more optimistic than me (and even Josh Friedman has talked in the last few weeks about tying as much of the story up as possible by the season's end i.e. he seems pretty sure they won't be back).

Saje | February 25, 13:55 CET

It warms the heart to see CHUCK projected as renewed. I like SARAH CONNOR and hope DOLLHOUSE continues to build upon the parts of the show that work, but I'd trade 'em both in a heartbeat for CHUCK.

rbt | February 25, 16:14 CET

The last episode of TSCC was like attending a funeral, and I can barely remember the one before that.

It get the feeling the show is suffering from major internal politics as to which characters be featured. It's pretty obvious to me who the star of the show should be, and many in the marketing department seem to understand that as well from the way they promote it. But for whatever reasons, the writers/directors don't seem to want that. It's stupid, because aside from everything else Summer has going for her, sci-fi fans have a longstanding fascination with supposedly emotionless non-humans trying to live among us, be they Vulcans, androids, or robots (terminators included).

AlanD | February 25, 16:19 CET

(and even Josh Friedman has talked in the last few weeks about tying as much of the story up as possible by the season's end i.e. he seems pretty sure they won't be back).

I thought they were ending on a cliffhanger? I hope you're right, because the writing has definitely been on the wall (in blood). Don't piss off the remaining fans.

The last episode of TSCC was like attending a funeral
Heh.

hacksaway | February 25, 18:42 CET

Nothing about TSCC is going to change at this point since they are finishing up the finale now. That doesn't mean there isn't more Cameron action planned.

IrrationaliTV | February 25, 19:19 CET

I think they're missing the point of the original Sarah Conner this season. In the movies, her monologues would talk about her relationship with the Terminator... which would reveal her fascination towards this hated machine.

Along with this relationship, her monologues would get us inside her head as to what it feels like to stand between a future and an apocalypse, fearing that you might not be able to fulfill your mission.

T:TSCC had the monologues in Season 1, and personally I think they should have kept up with it. They allow us to have empathy for the character, who on the outside seems to be a ruthless cold militant bitca. Which is the point- hard on the outside, soft on the inside (like candy).

Not only do these monologues give us insight into Sarah, but the other characters as well (recall Sarah talking about the Terminator's relationship to John in T2). These are needed, because the characters don't communicate to each other.

They got rid of the monologues in Season 2, as well as split up our characters. Big mistake. Now, they have no real friction between each other, and we have no insight as to what's going on in their minds. Not only are the characters divided, but now the audience has no connection.

Focusing on Sarah and not having Sarah interact with her "team" (to me) is the downfall of the series. They've missed the point of why people love Sarah. Not only that, but by fearing that Sarah is taking over the show, and making her a "decorative lamp", you kill your only other reason to tune in. This can be said for Derek as well (who I loved when the introduced him in Season 1, and have missed since then).

korkster | February 25, 19:40 CET

I gotta agree that it was a mistake moving Derek out of the house. (Or at least, so much so that it seems he's living with Jesse.)
I also miss the monologues, but the episode with Kyle Reese was one big monologue.
I'm ok with the show focusing on Sarah. I mean, it is named after her. But I also miss the episodes where it seemed that Cameron was actually trying to come to terms with being a robot. And I'd like to see John take a more proactive role in fighting Skynet. But I think some of that might be coming soon. (Hurry up!)
And although I don't have much hope for it's return, I'm still going to tune in each week.

NYPinTA | February 25, 20:12 CET

Last Friday's episode of TSCC was a funeral! It was soo slooowww!

Little Green Kid | February 25, 21:55 CET

I thought they were ending on a cliffhanger? I hope you're right, because the writing has definitely been on the wall (in blood). Don't piss off the remaining fans.

Well, reading the quote again it's actually a bit more ambiguous than I remember hacksaway but it does still mention "a logical conclusion" which doesn't immediately suggest cliff-hanger to me.

From here (possible mild spoilers in the complete interview):

Ideally he'll leave it open but with a proper resolution to at least some of the story threads. The writing's been on the wall for a while now re: renewal and to be honest, a cliff-hanger would feel almost disrespectful of the audience IMO (i'm actually not usually a big fan of cliff-hanger season finales anyway, I like the Buffy approach where every season is a complete story unto itself, as well as part of a larger ongoing serial).

Saje | February 25, 22:29 CET