criterionforum.org

The best show on TV now that apparently nobody else is watching.

I liked the pilot a lot, and loved the two leads, but there just isn't room on my DVR for another HD show that I don't get on demand and may fall behind a few episodes on (I've only watched two episodes of Boardwalk Empire so far, but I can get that on demand). I learned that the hard way before with Justified, which I've still sadly only watched three episodes of. When this comes out on Blu-ray or if I can find other ways of finding it in a high resolution format, I'll definitely be posting enthusiastically in this thread.

HD DVRs have a long way to go in terms of harddrive space.

I have it On Demand where I am, but FX (and a few other cable companies) does something rather boneheaded when it comes to that. The practice they use is to upload the most recent episode a week and a day after it airs, as opposed to just doing it the next day which quite a few channels do.

And here I thought this thread would be devoted to the Kids in the Hall sketch.

Really, really great episode tonight. Logue is on top of his game. I can't recommend this show highly enough.

swo17 wrote:And here I thought this thread would be devoted to the Kids in the Hall sketch.

Honestly the first thing I think of even in real life when I see an actual terrier

flyonthewall2983 wrote:The best show on TV now that apparently nobody else is watching.

I've been there for every single episode.

Can't explain it's ratings problems. It seems like the sort of show that would be successful on a network that features the likes of Justified.

I agree, but I think what FX needs to do next season is put it behind Sons Of Anarchy as opposed to give it it's own night. From what I'm hearing on Donal Logue and Shawn Ryan on Twitter, is that the network is fortunately very supportive of the show. Another thing I heard is that they won't cancel it if it reaches an 0.4. I believe last week's show got a 0.3, and that may have gone higher this week because it might have attracted ABC's audience who like their comedies but don't care much for country music.

They probably can't be synched up anytime soon, but it would fit better with Justified.

I've never done this before, but feel strongly enough about the show to do so. It's the best thing since you've put on since The Shield which is not an easy thing to say considering the caliber of quality of your other fine programming. But this one is special. I've not seen a cast click this well in the first season, compared to other shows. The characters are so flawed and human, it hardly feels like just television sometimes. It feels something more pure and organic. And It works to break so many barriers and cliches of the average cop show, and has succeeded in every episode. Mine is not a voice that is alone in this matter, and I'm sure you've been inundated with mail and the various articles on the web and in publications.

I do hope you make the smart decision and keep the show running.

I wrote that letter to FX a few weeks ago, a first for me. Tonight is the season (and hopefully not the series) finale.

I sent them an e-mail too. I only got to see the first two episodes considering the hard drive space on my DVR constantly being an issue (if I were kidnapped for a week, nothing would have room to fucking record) and the fact that it's airing when there's new episodes of shows constantly competing for its attention. There simply isn't room for it in the fall - but I hope that doesn't deter FX from airing a 2nd season next summer once everyone's had a chance to catch up. I love everything about what I've seen from the show so far - same goes for Justified, but that was an early-calendar year version of the same unfortunate scenario - I just didn't have time to watch more than the first couple of episodes of it when it was airing due to other shows taking up my time. These niche cable networks need to get it together and realize that they need to avoid competition with network programming, not butt up against it. HBO and AMC have it right, airing everything on Sunday nights when there's nothing else on and everyone's caught up with everything they've recorded throughout the week.

Don't forget Showtime as well. They follow the same lead and have managed to keep their best stuff running.

I won't give out specifics, but I hope I don't spoil the ending by saying this, but it kept with the quality that has been constant throughout this amazing first season.

domino harvey wrote:

swo17 wrote:And here I thought this thread would be devoted to the Kids in the Hall sketch.

Honestly the first thing I think of even in real life when I see an actual terrier

OK, it's not just me. Phew!

As for the unfortunate fate of the show, despite some great critical praise over the past few months, I really get the feeling that it wasn't promoted very well. Even if I asked my friends who are TV-nuts, I bet only 1 out of 5 would have heard of the show.

Barely at all, really. My impression is that the network really didn't push it much after the initial promotional stuff right around the time of the first episode. I saw very few commercials for it after the third or fourth week.

I'm holding out some hope that the DVD sales will maybe change their minds. It's become something of a news item now that it's been axed, so who knows.

It didn't help that Dish Network customers like myself were not able to see the show from the start due to the dispute Dish had with FX's parent company FOX back in October and most of November. By the way, what is it with Logue being in critically acclaimed short-lived shows?

Same thing that's with Andy Richter being in critically acclaimed short-lived shows.

This makes me @ 0-6 in petition signing.

The A.V. Club gets an exclusive explanation from FX prez John Landgraf.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Barely at all, really. My impression is that the network really didn't push it much after the initial promotional stuff right around the time of the first episode. I saw very few commercials for it after the third or fourth week.

I'm holding out some hope that the DVD sales will maybe change their minds. It's become something of a news item now that it's been axed, so who knows.

I too would love to think that DVD sales might revive the show, but its a pipedream we can include with dozens more prematurely cancelled shows. Can we be sure that they'd even put out a DVD? I hate to say it as I would buy it immediately, but they probably wouldn't see the value in it.

My thought would be to try again during the summer lull. Repackage it as Beach Dicks like Landgraf joked. People would tune in for that.

Shows with exceptionally short lifespans have gotten the full season DVD treatment. I would be surprised if this show didn't.

I think the only shows that aren't released on DVD now are the ones cut off mid-season. Even some of those get releases, with the unaired episodes added in.

The prime example of that is probably Shout Factory putting out Miracles after ABC treated it like an orphan in a Dickens novel.

This Wednesday at 10 ET and PT, Shawn Ryan is holding what he calls a wake for the show on Twitter and will answer questions about the show.

Polybius wrote:The prime example of that is probably Shout Factory putting out Miracles after ABC treated it like an orphan in a Dickens novel.

Good point. I neglected to consider how Shout Factory comes to the rescue with some of these cult favorites. I think I had in mind some other failed one season shows on the network that never made it to DVD (Lucky, Thief). Much to my surprise, a few more actually did (Over There, Black. White.).