Southland Season 2 Canceled
NBC announced today that Southland has been pulled from the schedule, two weeks before the second season premiere. Citing a “lack of available time slots” because it was too “dark and gritty” for 9PM, the show and its distributors are left hanging with six completed episodes and nowhere to go.
This is just another fantastic move by NBC which has become the biggest joke of a broadcast network. Why would they give an excellent scripted program such as Southland the time of day?
Yet they continue to pump millions of dollars per episode into Heroes. Now there’s a show that should have been canned after the first season. NBC could have easily dumped that dead weight and did some rearranging of their dreadful schedule to accommodate Southland. But I’m not Jeff Zucker (thank God!) so what do I know?
Also ridiculous is the fact that NBC knew that the later prime-time slots were out of the question when they decided to be lazy smart and throw Jay Leno on every weeknight at 10PM. It isn’t as if suddenly Southland became a different show. It has always been a realistic, intense drama.
So here folks we see a complete and utter lack of comprehension and understanding from NBC and The Powers That Be on how to run a successful network. Instead we get a text book’s worth of blunders on how to run a network into the ground.
Warner Brothers states that they are looking to cable to potentially pick up the series. FX would be my network of choice as they have shown that they can create a hit or two with some very adult topics. And really, this all may be a blessing in disguise because cable viewership is on the rise and it would also give Southland’s showrunners a lot more freedom with language and topics.
But have no fear TV addicts and followers of all things NBC (if such persons exist) because for now, instead of Southland, you’re going to be able to continue watching Dateline NBC on Fridays at 9 PM with its family friendly, and neither dark nor gritty, take on rape and child predators.
