05 November 2010

Another one bites the dust.

But then again, Undercovers was the only drama ever, in The States, to feature two black actors as the leading characters. And it's being cancelled.
Personally, I liked it. It was a little implausible at times, I will admit, but it was one of my guilty pleasures, being one of very few shows that actually required my full attention from beginning to end. Most of the other shows I watch, I can have on in the background and listen to while writing or doing chores. I also especially love seeing people of color on television not playing subservient roles.
Per eurweb.com, "The jet-setting is over for NBC’s spy drama “Undercovers” and its star Boris Kodjoe.

NBC announced today that it will not pick up additional episodes from the freshman series beyond the original 13-episode order, according to Deadline.com. The Warner Bros TV-produced show is currently filming Episode 12.
The news follows Wednesday night’s episode hitting another series low when it slipped to a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demo.
The slickly produced light drama, whose pilot was directed by creator J.J. Abrams, broke primetime ground by featuring two black actors as the leads. But it got off to a disappointing start in the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot and never found traction with viewers.
The series will stay on for the next 2 weeks and will air its last original (for now) on December 1, reports Deadline. It was already set for preemption on Nov. 24 when NBC is airing a DreamWorks Animation holiday special. The fate of the remaining original “Undercovers” episodes is unclear.
This is the second new NBC series to get cancelled, along with legal drama “Outlaw.” The rest of NBC’s freshman class all received back-nine orders two weeks ago. At the time, “Undercovers” got a pickup for four additional scripts."
I'm not in marketing or anything, but I do know that networks copycat each other. They see what works on other networks and they come up with their own versions of those shows (like The Event being like Lost and 24, and every sitcom and cartoon that has featured a fat dumb guy with a lean smart wife-- like According to Jim and King of Queens). They also see what doesn't work (in this case, dramas featuring 2 black actors in the lead roles) and they avoid the idea altogether.   

6 comments:

Val said...

You're right, the networks may use this as an excuse to not cast two Black actors in lead roles.

Hopefully though they will realize that no one could have saved this show and that we're talking about NBC.

NBC hasn't had a legitimate hit in years. So I think this reflects more on NBC than the actors.

Daij said...

true about NBC.

Moanerplicity said...

Oh no! I hadn't HEARD about this until now. These dang networks panic when a new show doesn't automatically do gangbusters in the ratings! If this rule were in effect back in the day, shows like Cheers, Seinfeld & others w/ initially low ratings would have never survived.

This news is very disappointing. Juju was fast becoming my gf in my head!
:-(


One.

Daij said...

LOl yeah, she is hot! You're right about Seinfield. It took a while for it to catch on. Then when it did it blew up. I guess people are impatient these days

jae october said...

I watched the show to support the representation of black people in prime time. However, I found the show to be flat for some reason. I think they should've atleast given it another season to catch on and for more character development.

Daij said...

@ Jason, I agree. My nephew keeps asking "why aren't there any black people on tv? don't they wanna be on tv?" I never know what to tell him.