Gee, you can almost imagine the conversations that went on in the Fox programming executive suites in the past few days.
Those conversations were no doubt somewhat frenzied in light of the disastrous ratings the network is experiencing this fall -- the network is down an average of about 2 million viewers over last year at this time, a drop of about 19 percent.(So, how secure do you think new Fox Entertainment president Doug Herzog is feeling in his job about now?)
And the talks about Fox's Friday-night lineup must have been particularly interesting, not to mention precipitous. Last week, "Ryan Caulfield: Year One" finished 108th in the ratings with an anemic 2.1 household rating; "Harsh Realm" was 100th with a 2.5.
Those are the sort of numbers we've come to expect from UPN or the WB. As a matter of fact, "Ryan Caulfield" tied with the WB's "For Your Love" and "Jack & Jill" and UPN's "Malcolm & Eddie." "Harsh Realm" tied with the WB's "Felicity" and UPN's "Moesha."
Altogether, "Ryan" finished behind six shows on UPN and 11 on the WB; "Harsh" finished behind four UPN shows and seven on the WB.
At least they finished ahead of everything on the PAX network. But not by much.
So it should come as no surprise that Fox axed both shows, trying to get the twin disasters behind them as quickly as possible. And neither cancellation is any loss to the nation's viewers.
To put in perspective just how badly these shows did in the ratings, remember that Fox allowed "X-Files" creator/executive producer Chris Carter's last project, "Millennium," to limp along on Friday nights for three seasons. Fox canceled his new project, "Harsh Realm," after three episodes.
Isn't it sort of amusing that a show titled "Ryan Caulfield: Year One" didn't even make it to Episode 3 before getting the hook? Maybe Fox should have stuck with one of the previous titles the show operated under -- "The Badland."
It's always nice to see the nation's TV viewers roundly reject inferior programs. Not that it always works out that way by any means.
Anyway, back to those conversations at Fox. In light of the Friday-night failures, can't you just hear the executives saying something like this:
"What?!? They think that 'Ryan Caulfield' and 'Harsh Realm' are bad? They don't even know from bad.
"We'll show them how truly awful TV can be. Instead of those shows, this Friday we'll put 'Shocking Behavior: Caught on Tape' and 'The World's Scariest Police Chases 5' on the air. They'll be begging us to bring back those other shows in no time."
Well, probably not.
HEADED FOR HIATUS: Like Fox, CBS is experiencing some problems on Friday night. But considerably few problems, given the success of "Now and Again" and the upswing in the fortunes of "Nash Bridges."
Still, the network didn't do much business with the wildly uneven new sitcom "Love & Money" and is sending it on hiatus until some point in January. Instead, it will bring back "Candid Camera" to the fill Friday-at-7:30 p.m. time slot.
(Actually, this week CBS is airing "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" at 7 p.m. and "Garfield's Halloween" at 7:30 p.m. "Kids Say the Darndest Things" and "Candid Camera" air at 8 and 8:30 p.m. this week only -- "Now and Again" returns next week.)
GIVE IT A CHANCE: Some very good shows are also being almost completely ignored by viewers this fall. Case in point: NBC's "Freaks & Geeks," which is dying in the ratings on Saturday nights.
The network is trying to give it a bit of a boost by repeating the show's very good pilot tonight at 8. Getting a lead-in from the very popular "Providence" -- and not having to face CBS's very popular "Once and Again," which is taking the week off, probably won't hurt, either.
How much it can help this funny, touching show about high schoolers circa 1980 remains to be seen, particularly given that "Freaks & Geeks" returns to Saturdays at 7 p.m. tomorrow.