Just heard from Rob Thomas, and the CW has given "Veronica Mars" a back seven instead of the traditional back nine. This is obviously brand-new information for them, so it'll take a while to figure out how this will affect the later two arcs. (My guess: since they're already at work on arc #2, the last one will take the biggest hit.)
This is good news, certainly for this season, and I don't know that the slightly reduced order is a big danger sign for the possibility of a fourth season. The CW hasn't been as successful out of the gate as expected, and they may be looking to pinch pennies until they get through to next year. Or maybe I'm just being naively optimistic. Wouldn't be the first time.
UPDATE: Rob says he's still trying to figure things out, but as of now, the plan is to do a four-episode arc for the end of the season.
Any chance that the last two will be ordered? Like say in January when Fox puts Standoff after Idol and it fails miserably?
ReplyDeleteGreat News! Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteThe bad news: The last two episodes were when Mac was supposed to come back!
ReplyDeleteI for one am SERIOUSLY pissed with how overwhelmingly feminine tuesday nights are on the CW. It makes me feel like a faerie for watching the show. I can almost guarantee it's a turnoff for most other guys as well. Maxi pad commercials, cleaning products, facial cleansers, lingerie...it's SO frustrating to have to deal with that to watch my favorite show. I'm not saying the should start advertising beer and half naked chicks either but working a LITTLE bit more toward the male demographic would not at ALL be harmful to the network.
ReplyDeleteThat's excellent news, Alan. I'm so glad I checked in with your column tonight! You've made one very happy TV fan (and, okay, many, many others).
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Awesome news :)
ReplyDeleteGreat news! Thanks for breaking it. I'm sorry the show isn't getting the full 22, but I really didn't think we'd get anything (on the air, at least) after the first nine, at all.
ReplyDeleteHaving devoured Season 1 over the summer, my Season 2 discs arrived yesterday. Were I not travelling over Turkey Day, it would be devoured in short order. While Gilmore Girls is a primo lead-in from a compatability standpoint, the timeslot is sheer suicide, with shows all over the map with similar appeal. "House" has the sarcastic pop cultural quips (and Laurie and Sean Leonard's performances regularly outdo Bell and Colantoni's), "The Unit" has the "hardboiled" edge that the show delivers surprisingly effectively, and "Dancing With The Stars" sucks away a certain amount of "girl" audience (and Veronica isn't a show you can pickup at the halfway point of an episode). How Veronica does in a Dancing-free atmosphere over the next few weeks will be interesting.
ReplyDeleteI may be the only one who cares, but did the CW make a decision on One Tree Hill?
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I was just lurking over at TwoP and, as per usual, they're all gloom and doom despite the good news.
Do you know if Rob is looking at this as the final season? I mean, it seems to me it has a pretty good chance for renewal, just because Gilmore and 7th Heaven will likely be gone, with Smallville not far behind, leaving lots of room and few guaranteed viewers.
That's assuming, of course, it rebounds after Dancing with the Stars is gone. (I'm hoping we can lure at least a few hundred thousand of the 27 million now freed up.)
Now if only the CW would actually promote it...
I think the news is still too fresh. I had heard rumblings of a shorter order yesterday afternoon, and when I called Rob to tell him, he wasn't prepared for that and said, "Well, I suppose that'll be my problem to figure out when it happens."
ReplyDeleteBut I also know enough people in the CBS/CW hierarchy to be able to confidently say this: if they didn't think the show had a chance to do better without Dancing with the Stars as competition, they wouldn't have bothered even with this back seven.
Glad to hear about the back seven ... but shouldn't the CW have given Rob & Co. more notice that a 20-episode season was a possibility? It sounds like this came as a surprise and now the creative team is going to have to scramble to fit everything in. Oh well, I'm still happy. This season has been great and I would have been crushed to lose the show in the middle of Arc 2.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'm less concerned about VM than I am about the network it's on. Most of the top-rated CW shows (Gilmore Girls, Smallville, 7th Heaven) are aging fast and so far the CW has completely sucked at both marketing and development. Am I the only one who thinks the CW might not be around for very long?
Alright, someone brought it up. The Unit has the hard-boiled edge when it sticks to stories about the men, but every single woman on that show irritates and annoys me (Rebecca Pigeon and Summer Glau still rock, but they're not regulars.)
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I'd gotten close to canceling the season pass a few times last season as the women "stretched" their roles and we finally did when anti-war protesters were shown up as Hitler apologists by Abby Brammel's Tiffy.
If I want straw men like that, I'll stick with Ray Bolger.
[does the Snoopy dance]
ReplyDeleteYAY!!! Now will someone please give Rob a bigger budget?
Speaking of the CW, how's "Everybody Hates Chris" doing on Mondays?
r.a. porter, the lack of strong female characters completely turned me off "The Unit" long ago. Too bad, too, because I like Noel and President Palmer.
One Tree Hill did get a back nine today.
ReplyDeleteI remember when One Tree Hill was watchable, a Long Time Ago...
ReplyDeleteMy understanding was that One Tree Hill got a back eight, bringing it to 21 episodes, a TRULY odd order.
ReplyDeleteActually, doing an odd number for One Tree Hill makes some sense, since I expect that either ANTM or Beauty and the Geek will do some "two-hour specials" as season openers or finales.
ReplyDeleteThe same may be true of Veronica--I wouldn't be shocked to see Gilmore do a two-hour series finale in May (or a "goodbye special" before the finale).
"It makes me feel like a faerie for watching the show. I can almost guarantee it's a turnoff for most other guys as well. Maxi pad commercials, cleaning products, facial cleansers, lingerie...it's SO frustrating to have to deal with that to watch my favorite show."
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think "aerie tuesdays" needs to go take a long walk off a short pier (especially if they continue to mock the women we are supposed to relate to)....
.....but after that "omg TAMPONS!" tirade, I'm tempted to urge the CW to take a page out of [adult swim]'s playbook and tell you to fuck off - you aren't their target demographic.
Because seriously, if I have to deal with the shit that comes on in between The Daily Show and Inyuyasha (most especially the network literally telling me that they don't give a fuck if I watch or not), you can fricking learn to deal with American Eagle and tampon commericals.
yeesh
...or get a Tivo!
ReplyDeleteAlan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the news! Used to read your NYPD Blue recaps all the time; good to see you here.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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