If anyone reading would like to express support for Jake 2.0, Here's a write-in campaign page. If enough people write in, hopefully viewers can catch the remaining, already-produced episodes at the very least...

tmhsiao | January 17, 03:13 CET

A few different reactions I'm feeling here: YAY for Wonderfalls finally getting a set air date. BOO for it being in the black hole zone of death known as Friday nights. And shame on UPN for handing David Greenwalt's job over to America's top models. Bleh, what is wrong with the world? I didn't watch Jake 2.0, but does UPN really have anything better to put on? I think not.

MindPieces | January 17, 04:31 CET

Since new episodes of Jake 2.0 can't beat repeats of America's Top Model in the ratings, I can understand why UPN cancelled it.

prufrock | January 17, 04:53 CET

And when will Fox learn to just show old movies on Fridays? They must not believe in the show to give it the kiss of death time slot.

prufrock | January 17, 05:00 CET

Thankfully though that may mean higher ratings for Angel in the weeks to come as the people watching Jake 2.0 look for something else to watch and what better than another David Greenwalt created show. :D

Looking over next years schedule - I can see that Angel is already back on the bubble for a new season. With the WB announcing a 2 hour made for tv movie each week for the 2004-05 season. The WB only programs 12 hours of primetime TV a week and with 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Charmed, the movie of the week, the Surreal Life, a couple of comedies, a new Dark Shawdows on the horizon next season, you also know soon we'll hear the renewal of Smallville as well being the #2 rated show on the WB we are left with only 3-4 hours of programming left, with competition like Everwood and One Tree Hill competing against Angel for the diwindling hour slots - perhaps 2-3 max cause you know they will want to bring on a couple new comedies. The other shows are far cheaper to produce than Angel. Leaving Angel even with the better ratings this season still at the back of the line depending on the production cost and what FOX will charge for it - may be the key factors towards it's return or some major backing by the affiliates. I'm starting to get nervous again.

RavenU | January 17, 05:11 CET

Honestly, this placing of Wonderfalls on Friday nights feels like Firefly Redux.

I wonder what kind of business relationship Gail Berman and Joss/Tim Minear have at this point. Is it strained? I know Berman was instrumental in getting BtVS in gear, but am I wrong in thinking that she might have had a hand in pulling the plug on Firefly? I also recall listening to the mp3 of the recent L.A. Firefly convention and hearing Tim Minear theorize ruefully about how Fox might treat Wonderfalls...something to the effect of probably showing the pilot in the middle of the series run.

RavenU, I bow to your superior grasp of the intricacies of the network tv business (I'm a big ignoramous there), but in terms of Dark Shadows, isn't it jumping the gun to count it in already? As far as I've heard, the pilot hasn't yet been produced -- or at the very least, greenlighted. And I'd imagine that if it is greenlighted, it'd be a rather pricey show to produce considering who's behind it. I guess what I'm trying to say is if it comes down to an either/or (Angel or Dark Shadows) choice, maybe the WB execs might want to stick with something that has a proven, albeit not huge, audience rather than throw big bucks after a not sure thing? Or am I being naive?

And Charmed, Schmarmed.

phlebotinin | January 17, 08:29 CET

phlebotinin - normally I would think they would pick Angel but the fact that they keep talking about dark shadows in every article I read from their programming department executives kind scares me - also I think it may be being produced by the WB compared to Angel being produced by FOX and sold to the WB, which might also weight in the decission. I think as of right now Dark Shadows already had been slotted into next years schedule by most of the programmers at the WB the only question is do they make it an all vampire night and keep the Angel audience for another year and make it the lead in for Dark Shadows or visa-versa or just let it stand on it's own saying one vampire show on it's network is enough. Who knows and there is still time before all the other new pilots start being made and lining up. So we can only hope the WB will see Angel as a marketable product to keep on the air. However the closer we get to May without hearing anything the more nervous I will become that this will be Angel's final season.

Also Dark Shadows has never relied has heavily on Special effects as Angel does, their vamps do not morph into bumpy foreheads, nor do they have all kinds of other monster make-us to work with. Nor do I think vamps dust like they do in the verse so there are a lot of ways that Dark Shadows can be made at a lower cost to Angel. I do not know how this new show will look compared to the past incarnations of it have to wait and see who they will get to write for it. But for right now the WB is talking about it a heck of a lot more than it is about Angel, which is also not a good sign.

[ edited by RavenU on 2004-01-17 07:21 ]

RavenU | January 17, 09:14 CET

Oh, now I'm sad. Friday nights and killing Jake? My dad will be crushed.

:goes to write letters:

ElizaFan81 | January 17, 10:55 CET

Simon - And what kind of a word is dramedy?

Not sure if you really wanted to know or if you were just being sarcastic - but I'm taking the benefit of the former rather than the latter. A dramedy is a hybrid dramatic/comedic show. Which basically says it's an hour long drama that's not always dramatic and sometime funny, or a drama that purposfully interjects humor. Angel would fall into the dramedy catagory.

RavenU | January 17, 12:23 CET

Wow, Wonderfalls premiering on Friday March 12th? Fox is giving me a birthday present and birthday curse all-in-one. Hmm, find the silver lining...at least it's in the 9pm timeslot instead of 8pm? Could last a whole season at least (John Doe) instead of three quarters of one (Firefly)?

I'm sad about Jake 2.0. I tried not to get too attatched. I wasn't impressed by the Spider-Man-ish pilot ep, but was pretty much sold on everything after that. The plots are for the most part pretty formulaic, but the fun is in the well-written characters and the talented actors who play them. Plus the show looks really good. Jake himself is one of the best new male leads on network genre TV in ages (sorry, but I think Boreanaz had to really work to get to where he is now, and he's still often outdone by most of his co-stars). Silver lining? Maybe Greenwalt will give himself a breather after Miracles and this and take up some script-writing on Angel again (would it be too much to hope for him to write the season finale or something, or have the episodes already all been handed out to the other writers?). I really am still convinced that it'd be fitting for he and Joss to be with the series as much-involved writers (for them that means about three episodes a year would make me happy) when the series finale comes up.

Kris | January 17, 13:28 CET

The Fox obsession with sending great sci-fi/fantasy shows to their deaths on Friday nights is directly related to their success with the X-Files, a show that they didn’t care about becoming a huge enough hit that people rescheduled their Friday night plans around it. However they expect that kind of fandom to appear out of nowhere. (If I remember right and its been a few years x-files didn’t really start to have massive ratings until the February sweeps of that year.) So every year they plan the death of yet another show hoping to find that magic again.

roberte | January 17, 19:20 CET

RavenU,

Darn. You're definitely more up on the network "chatter" and reasoning than I am. I'm now getting your depressedness about this Dark Shadows vs. Angel thing.

phlebotinin | January 17, 20:18 CET

phlebotinin - I've been given a little more hope as of recent with the reports that Whedon and Levin both sound like Angel will be back next season from the TCA event this past week. But part of me is still a realist who has seen this yes they are coming back next season quickly change to your canceled in the matter of a week, when something better comes along. Also concidering the history between these two men and the fact that Whedon was just as surprised to find out that one Angel hadn't been picked up for the full season as they have thought back in Oct, then he finds out for the first time that the WB is producing DS (which is being made by the WB in association with the producer John Wells who brought us 'ER' and 'West Wing'). So I am still a bit skeptical but a little more hopefully, however that has not caused me to not be on the lookout for more news on the WB's line up for next season.

RavenU | January 17, 22:23 CET

Ugh, I agree with RavenU, this does sound depressing. The WB is gungho on DS because they think they've got something they can market the hell out of. They've never been able to do that with Angel -- they can't figure out what it is, so they can't market it effectively. They might as well advertise it as "well, we don't what the heck Angel is, but all the critics love it, so there ya go."

The WB is in a tough sitch. They're being perceived as struggling, so they want to make moves that appear like they're in control and know what they're doing - "hey, look at this cool new vampire show we've got!". Truth is, it's all a guessing game. They thought Tarzan would burn up the airwaves - not so. What they had was a great marketing plan without a great show. With Angel, they have a great show and no effing clue on how to market it. Sigh. Sounds like it'll be down to the wire, and the bean counters, again for another season.

punkinpuss | January 17, 22:54 CET

RavenU -- I'm glad you've got your ear to the ground and will share good news/signs on Angel if and when they come.

Speaking of the sudden proliferation of vampire-related stuff in the entertainment industry, has anyone seen the trailer for Van Helsing, which is due out in May? I was amused and strangely annoyed at the Buffyesque pitch of the whole thing: about killing vampires etc. being "my life...my job...my curse" and such. He even says something that could have come straight out of Buffy's mouth, "What are we dealing with and how do I kill it?" I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but I'm leery about the very things that made Buffy so heartbreaking (the burden of being a slayer) being presented in facile blockbuster form. But then again, maybe it'll be a gas. And maybe, this rising vampire hoopla will help Angel's survival.

Here's the Van Helsing preview address, in case anyone's interested (it's quicktime only):

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/van_helsing/index.html

[ edited by phlebotinin on 2004-01-17 21:10 ]

phlebotinin | January 17, 23:09 CET

I sorta wonder why some people try to revive Dark Shadows every now and then. I remember watching it as a kid and enjoyed it. It was like nothing else that had been on TV before that time. However it was only really popular for a couple of years as its uniqueness wore off. I think it is a show that was very dependent on its place and time and that time is long past.

pesoto74 | January 19, 01:41 CET

I watched the Van Helsing trailer today, wasn't too bad. And yes RavenU I was being a little bit flippant but I had never seen that word before. So thanks for the explanation. I'll put that in my dictionary of Variety speak.

I don't even want to think what a comedy with elements of drama in it is called.

Simon | January 19, 02:42 CET

Simon - I've only seen it in print once and I think there was a good reason why - they called it a comerama - which makes it sound like a name for a bad skating rink :)

RavenU | January 19, 05:08 CET

As I recall the word 'dramedy' was first coined with regards to "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd."

Perhaps not a great omen for other dramedy shows, that :)

phearlez | January 19, 08:07 CET

" they called it a comerama - which makes it sound like a name for a bad skating rink "

Your mind is much cleaner than mine.

prufrock | January 19, 09:06 CET