The Nielsens Are Evil
As I watched Better off Ted last night, I was again struck with anger that the shows I like are always either on the bubble or sure of being canceled. [Edited to add: According to TV by the Numbers, Better of Ted gets 4.5-5 million viewers, a 1.9 in the 18-49 demographic. American Idol gets 18 million viewers, a 8.0 in the 18-49 demo.]
It all started when I was nine, and a little show starring Sarah Jessica Parker and a cast of odd characters. That show was Square Pegs. My best friend and I watched it every week, delighting in Patty and her fat friend’s journey through high school, the odd behavior of Johnny Slash and his buddy Marshall, the Valley Girl stylings of Jennifer, the grudging respect Jennifer’s boyfriend Vinnie began to show Patty as the year progressed, and the elevated diction of Muffy. Muffy and Brother Dan, the vice principal at the Catholic high school I graduated from, are the only people I have heard use the work behoove and mean it.
Square Pegs made it through one year on the air, but that was it. Its cancellation cut me to my core. I wish I could say that was the last time I was crushed as one of my favorite shows didn’t make it back on the air, but the list is too long for a blog post.
Twin Peaks almost canceled itself, with its quick drop in quality after the reveal of the central mystery. ABC put it out of its misery when it canceled it, but it still hurt.
Veronica Mars was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, standing up to my incessant replays of its three short years.
This year, I fear that I will again have to bid a fond farewell to some high-quality shows. And that I will again be left with nothing but an unsatisfying cliffhanger to watch again and again on the DVDs as others revel in their Americal Idol, Dancing with the Stars, CSI, and Grey’s Anatomy. I will again curse the random sampling method of gauging viewer interest in their television shows. The Nielsens have been cruel to me over the years, and I would like to see a ratings system that I can at least believe is accurate.
Yet I still look forward to the upfronts. The announcements of which shows have been spared and which new shows I will get attached to in the fall. The mourning period that begins when the cancellations are for sure.
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Tags: tv, twin peaks, upfronts, veronica mars
Uncategorized | thejen | 
April 16, 2009 4:00 am
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By December, April 16, 2009 @ 8:59 am
wait – they’re canceling Better off Ted now too!? well CRAP. I just started DVRing it.
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By Jennifer Roland, April 16, 2009 @ 9:15 am
It’s ratings have been horrible, even though it’s a funny show. ABC has such bad luck with half-hour comedies. I think we need to stage a Twitter intervention to show that those stupid Nielsen ratings don’t capture viewer engagement.
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By katie71483, April 16, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
I think the networks have screwed themselves over. Remember appointment tv? Same show, same time every week – even if it meant a rerun. People like knowing when their shows are going to be on, not this could be any day or time crap that the networks are currently pulling. And, I also think they need to give shows a longer time to prove themselves. Most people don’t remember this, but Cheers (an incredibly popular, long-running series) was a ratings disaster at first. It wasn’t until word of mouth spread and the second season that it really took off. The same with Seinfeld. It took a little time to build into the monster it eventually became.
Now, if a show has had two seasons and still hasn’t produced, I have no problems with it being cancelled. (Sigh. I’ll miss you, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.) I do think the networks should have made an exception for shows that were messed with by the writers’ strike, like Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone. (Side note: Networks: you must realize that if you’re going to make intelligent, quirky shows, they’ll never have the numbers as shows that require no thought. You will however, have a dedicated fan base. Decide which you want to pursue, but stop dicking with us, okay?)
Another thing I have a hard time understanding is how cable networks like USA and TNT can produce quality, scripted programing, and make a profit with it but the main networks can’t? WTF?
Oh, well. I’ll get off the soapbox now. Again.
[Reply]
By Jennifer Roland, April 20, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
Times have really changed in television viewing, haven’t they? It was so simple when we were kids–you watched your shows on the night and time they came on, and you talked about them with your friends the next day.
Now, we can’t talk about a show until everyone in our circle has caught up on their DVR-ed episodes.
ITA with your side note. Not everyone will want to watch Better Off Ted. But those of us who do, will be good consumers and will buy the items advertised. And we will be more than dedicated; we might even be rabid.
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