They'll come up with some line to explain it, something like "maybe people didn't know the new seasons were starting".

As much as I hate the WB, I have to say I did enjoy last night's Smallville, I suppose the whole network lineup can't be made up of crap though.

Ghost Spike | September 24, 05:07 CET

I think WB promoted the series premiere of "The Mountain" more than they promoted Smallville's season premiere. How could anyone not know it was on? I even had stupid "The Mountain" ads on my aol instant messenger.

eddy | September 24, 05:52 CET

I didn't watch last night, and I'm not watching the networks tonight. Instead, I went to a bar last night and hung out with some fellow fans of a local radio show. Tonight I'm watching Bubba Hotep on DVD. "I'll lube my own crank shaft from now on!" Great movie. Maybe some day in the distant future Sarah Gellar will do a film where it's fifty years later and Buffy's in an old folks home and Nosferatu shows up. Buffy the Retired Vampire Slayer versus Bubba Nosferatu.

Anyway. TV networks have just ticked me off. The Mountain? I can't believe someone would actually produce that. Looks like a 21st century approach to The Waltons with more overt sexual overtones. They're obviously not making television programming with someone like me in mind. If they're not considering me, why should I consider them? I hope the ratings for all the networks fall further all across the board so they'll realize their choices in recent years have been bad ones.

ZachsMind | September 24, 05:57 CET

i'm still boycotting the WB. CBS is showing 'Without a Trace' tonight. Iyari Limon (Kennedy) is guest starring. That I will watch.

jossfan | September 24, 06:27 CET

Well I'm a mean vindictive kinda guy so I'm actually rather enjoying this. So the big and mighty Smallville's season opener wasn't just lower that it's own old ratings, it's lower than Angel's were. The season opener no less. Oh that's rich....

Sorry, no offense to any SMallville fans out there. It's just not my thing. Old schooler when it comes to Superman and I feel they just applied the Buffy idea on Superman's mythology and I'm not crazy about it. The only season I saw was the last one and it didn't exactly impress me. (Lex being the only guy worth watching. Underused as he is) And now they're bringing Lois Lane in? So literally EVERYONE knew Clark as a teenager now?? EVERYONE went to Smallville? And NO one ever figures out he's Superman later? This is getting silly.

As for The Mountain.....dear lord I'd have preferred the reportedly awful Dark Shadows remake over this. Any notion on how quick that one's gonna dissappear?? And they canceled Angel over all this??

Ah well, at least the gloating's good.... Better than I hoped even.

EdDantes | September 24, 07:38 CET

Dawar, I think you did just fine! Welcome to the posting world of Whedonesque!

Illyria | September 24, 07:41 CET

I saw billions of ads for "The Mountain" but honestly I cannot even watch the WB at 9pm on Wed if Angel is not on. The Mountain could be the best show ever for all I ever know...I actually watched Veronica Mars instead.

AngelicSlayer | September 24, 08:46 CET

I watched "Veronica Mars" instead too and think that the show is a good replacement for Buffy. There's this whole mystery of who actually killed her best friend (Lily I think was her name) and they can play that out through the whole season. I honestly think that it's the best new show of the season. Now if only UPN will give it enough time to grow then maybe we'll have a long running cult hit that we all can enjoy. Not that we didn't all ready have one it's just that the f*cking WB cancelled it. However, UPN will always come in for the save. BTW, I'll also be watching their new show "Kevin Hill" next week which looks promising to me. If UPN kept making more shows like these then their network might not actually suck all the time(aside from Smackdown).

SpikeBad | September 24, 09:31 CET

Dawar, welcome to Whedonesque. I changed the headline a bit so it's more obvious what the post is about.

Caroline | September 24, 12:30 CET

K Thanks for your help on fixing up my post I'm still in the learning process but ill get it eventually

Dawar | September 24, 15:37 CET

Welcome to Whedonesque, Dawar. Great job on gathering those rating figures. Proof positive that the 'Angel' cancellation wasn't such a good idea. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the 'Not Fade Away' final have nearly 6 million viewers? Appears the WB has made 'the mountain' into a molehill. If this show survives long enough for reruns, I wonder how low its repeat ratings will be. It will be interesting to see how the WB will respond if these ratings continue to draw low numbers. Most likey, they'll start moving their shows all over the map trying to find a combination to improve ratings. Which we already know will not because it confuses the general public on what nights their shows are on. BTW, I've been watching the overall average ratings for the networks and the WB has been in last place for the past three months. This trend could change now that the new season has started. But if the rest of their new shows follow suit, they may sink even low. Maybe 'Commando Nanny' will be their saving grace!

Madhatter | September 24, 16:02 CET

I'm with you jossfan...I won't watch the WB...I'm still holding a grudge. I've said it before...there is nothing for me to watch on television any longer...I watch news...and my dvd's. Period.

Oh and Zachsmind...LOVED Bubba Hotep...big Bruce Campbell fan here. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

[ edited by Coll on 2004-09-24 15:33 ]

Coll | September 24, 17:32 CET

I actually watched the beginning of "The Mountain", though not at all voluntarily. My bf and I were watching "Smallville" (his show, not mine, though the premiere wasn't that bad) on the HD receiver and he decided he wanted to see what "The Mountain" was about (plus, he thought the snow and mountains would look pretty in HD). We watched about 20 minutes (to my irritation - I really wanted to flip to the Tivo and watch "Lost") and finally he said "I keep watching these shows because I think something is about to happen, but -" I finished - "nothing ever does!!". So he finally flipped it off and went to the Tivo...I wonder how many people dropped out while watching. The show was really quite inane. I don't think I'll ever understand how ratings are calculated, though.

I'm also kind of curious how the other new WB dramas are faring in the ratings. After all, the WB's justification for cancelling Angel wasn't just "The Mountain", it was leaving it room to develop a new crop of shows.

teenes | September 25, 00:08 CET

I did watch Smallville premiere. Awful. Personally it seems that the series just keeps getting worse and worse. Definetely not a good sign.

Maybe I'm just an old Superman Mythos kinda of guy, but the "changes" they've made just buigs me a lot. Concerning the premiere, Lois did ended up better than I expected, but hey were they ripping of Angel / Angelus too hard (other rip-offs not withstanding)? I Know they've got Jeph Loeb (who's involved with Buffy Animated, and happens to be writing one of the best Supérman books nowadays) and Steven Deknight in the staff, but it's not helping...

Maybe this will teach them a lesson, and make the exec go running to offer Joss lotsa a money just so they might ressurrect something... Yes, just wondering.

Numfar PTB | September 25, 03:32 CET

How is it that we armchair television executives can do a better job than the real ones? As if we didn't all know that whatever new shows they put on would be hopeless compared to Angel.

I'm not watching the WB at all, either, so I watched Veronica Mars, which I really enjoyed. I missed Lost, though, and plan to tune in next week. Was it worth watching?

Wendy | September 25, 08:09 CET

The jury's still out, but I really enjoyed 'Lost', Wendy. I recommend you give it a watch. Then decide for yourself. There will be a future head banging on this show so no rush.

Madhatter | September 25, 15:07 CET

If i were to say that i'm incredibly happy that the people behind "The Mountain" will soon be in the same situation that Angel's cast and crew were put in last year would that make me a bad person? :)

Seriously, as much as i don't hold any real grudge towards the "The Mountain" cast and crew (it wasn't their fault that Angel was cancelled after all) it does give me a sense of satisfaction that the WB will now have to accept that a massive mistake was made with the cancellation of Angel whether they will choose to admit it or not.

Go for another season of a critically acclaimed show with good, steady ratings and a dedicated fanbase or try to start up a new show with absolutely no support and no fanbase during a period where drama is losing out to reality shows all the time.

So very dumb!

Koven | September 26, 15:35 CET