Quick Decision

Since we are right in the middle of summer re-runs and even at night it is still too hot to be outside for too long, I often find myself looking for other ways to entertain myself. This means watching a lot of movies which I normally would have passed on (and have on numerous occasions). But, you can only see the same scenes from "Captain America" so many times before you just feel like trying something new. Anyway, while waiting for one of these terrible movies to start on one of the cable movie channels, I saw a promo for the upcoming season of some show the network has produced. Cable movie networks love to make these kinds of shows because not only are the cheap to put out and give people more room to color outside the lines due to lower FCC standards, they also blow the network shows out of the water when it comes to award season. However, in watching the previews for the upcoming season I couldn't help but realize that not only did I not watch any of the first season of this particular show, but I don't know anyone else who did either. It suddenly dawned on me that the reason they are promoting this show so heavily is because if they didn't there is a good chance no one would watch it.

Everyone knows that the standards to keep a show on cable versus on network are incredibly different. Because cable shows are paid for by subscribers instead of advertisers, they don't have to pull in nearly as high of ratings to be seen as successful. Meanwhile, the shows which are seen as ratings disasters for networks would be the highest-rated shows in the history of cable networks. Also, I'm sure the number of episodes which make up a season has something to do with which shows stick around. Network sitcom seasons typically consist of 23 episodes, where as one season of cable show is between 10 and 13 episodes. It is a lot easier to churn out quality stories when you only have to make half as many as the next guy. It cuts down on production costs as well, which I'm sure is the biggest factor. Really, when you get down to it, they are just completely different animals. However, just because the standards are different, that doesn't mean cable shows should be able to get away with being terrible. At the end of the day they should still be good shows and for some reason I feel like more poor-quality shows are given a chance to find their footing on channels like Showtime or HBO. While I wish that would happen more on networks, because often I think they are too quick to pull the plug, I do think sometimes the cable networks are a little too eager to renew shows for a second season even when the first one wasn't any good.

HBO is especially notorious for this practice. Often before a show has even put its first episode on the air the people at that network will put out a release announcing that show has already been renewed for a second season. People have gotten so use to them jumping the gun when it comes to announcing second or third seasons that when HBO waited until the after premiere episode for its new show "Newsroom" aired to put out a press release saying it would return for another run of episodes TV critics began to assume that either the show was terrible or HBO didn't really have any faith in it.When people have come to expect you to order a sequel before we know if the original is any good that may be a sign you have a tendency to be over-eager about your programming. I mean, I understand it if you are talking about an animated show, because those take forever to produce (unless you are "South Park") so they need as much time as they can get to work on the next season. But, if you are just shooting a normal drama, what is the rush to lock everyone down? Even though these shows usually have bigger-name actors that the network stuff they couldn't be that busy making movies, otherwise they couldn't have done a first season. I think if they show is getting enough buzz they will carve out some room in their schedule.

Like all things, the answer to the question of when to let these shows know they can have a second season lies somewhere in the middle. If you aren't worried about ratings or cost of production, than why not wait until you are sure that a show is worth renewing before you do so? Far too many of these cable shows have started out well and then by episode 5 they are down the tubes. By then not only are the chances slim that I will stick around to see how this season ends, they are extremely remote I will come back to see what problems the cast gets into next season. But, you've got to let them have enough time to work on the scripts, otherwise they will end up rushing and fall back into the typical sitcom cliches. When the whole reason most people watch these shows is to see something they won't get on NBC or CBS that would pretty much defeat the purpose. It can be a delicate balancing act, but let's not make it out to be rocket science either. I think you need at least six episodes to know whether a show can keep it going beyond its first run, so even if you 98% sure a show is coming back, wait at least that long to announce it. Remember, there is no point to having a second season to a show no one watched the first time around.