Fox nitwits

I caught the premier of Wonderfalls on Fox last night. Not a bad show. Rather surreal at times, absolutely hilarious at others. The show definitely has promise. Which means that Fox will probably cancel it. Friday nights seem to be a weak point for Fox . . . they've put on some really good shows in the past on Fridays that just couldn't find a following. Of course, I don't think it's really the competition or lack of general TV viewership--it's Fox's marketting, tinkering and impatience. For a perfect example of this, I draw your attention to the short-lived Firefly. It was, without doubt, the best sci-fi TV show ever. Yes, ever. You can add up all the enjoyment of all the Star Trek series', Farscape, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda (I like all of those, btw), and whatever else you want to throw in there and it still would not equal the pure, absolute entertainment of Firefly's 13 episodes. I'll even go so far as to say it was one of the best TV shows ever, sci-fi or otherwise, period. Engaging & intriguing characters; hilarity, sorrow, drama and romance; incredible individual episodes with an ongoing storyline; just plain and simple an incredible job. But, the nitwits and Fox decided to give it some absolutely horrific advertising ("Tonight on Fox, see the story of an intergalactic hooker on Firefly!"). Then, they insisted on showing the episodes out of order (note that "ongoing storyline" I mentioned a moment ago). So, of course it never developed a large viewership . . . most folks were probably put off by the ads (let's face it, who wants to watch a show about an "intergalactic hooker" on a network known for trash like My Big, Fat, Obnoxious Fiance?), and those that did tune in ended up getting a bit confused because of the disjointed, out of order episodes. Fortunately, the series is available on DVD, and I encourage anyone who likes sci-fi or westerns or just good programming in general to watch it. Note I didn't say "buy it". Find a friend who has one and get him/her to copy it for you. I normally don't advocate doing that kind of thing, but the twits and Fox do not deserve to make any money off this situation . . . they screwed it up, they should suffer. Heck, if I had a DVD writer, I'd pump out copies as fast as people could request 'em. Seriously. Anywho, I'm also hearing talk of a feature movie coming out . . . that'll be cool.

But, back to my main point. Wonderfalls looks like it'll be an entertaining series. Unfortunately, I really am concerned that Fox is going to screw it up, too. The ads have made it seem basically like a Joan of Arcadia ripoff (another show I quite like, btw), but that really isn't the case. It's much grittier, a lot more twisted and just plain and simple goofy fun. So, Fox is once again advertising a show to the wrong audience, which means they probably won't find the viewership they want. And the Friday timeslot will probably help to kill this wonderfully entertaining show.

Hey, you bastards at Fox--yeah, I'm talking to you. I'm still POed at you for screwing the hell out of Firefly. Between that and your piss-poor NASCAR coverage, I'm on the verge of never watching anything on your network again. Don't pull the same crap with Wonderfalls.