TV Newsline: FOX Just Can't Have Nice Things

OR The Curse of Shawn Ryan Continues

Last last night, FOX went on a cancellation rampage the likes of which we haven't seen since the early '00s, cancelling five of it's on the bubble shows:

• The Chicago Code
• Lie To Me
• Human Target
• Traffic Light
• Breaking In

Now, I don't want to say any of these cancellations were surprising, as these were all on the bubble shows, and even the best performer of the bunch - Breaking In - was probably only getting the numbers it got because of its American Idol lead-in, and it couldn't even hold on high enough percentage of viewers to be considered "successful." But what is surprising is that FIVE of these shows were let go in one night. Yet, as Alan Sepinwall notes, this move makes good business sense, considering that a) FOX only has two hours of programming each night, as opposed to the three hours the other broadcast networks hold, and b) FOX already renewed two on the bubble shows Fringe - who's number have slowly fallen since moving to Fridays - and Raising Hope, which, while performing relatively well in the Fall, has fallen recently, thanks in no small part to the new episodes that have aired without the lead-in of a new episode of Glee.

But what is surprising - or at least something that resembles a general complaint - is that FOX cancelled two shows that it has treated like shit over the past few years. Lie To Me has always had something of consistent numbers, despite never having a permanent place in the FOX lineup, switching back and forth between summer and regular season series status with ease. And Human Target was doing just fine, thank you very much, before the execs thought that it would be a good idea to incorporate two women characters (and terrible ones at that) into a show that was heavily-male oriented. But after dragging them through the ringer - thus, as some might argue, killing any chances these two shows would have had at gaining an audience - FOX has finally dropped the ax on these two shows, which is kind of like when they scheduled Firefly on Fridays and then were surprised that it didn't do all that well. (Or Dollhouse. Or The Good Guys. Or...)

But will anybody really miss any of these shows? Probably not. Though I may mourn The Chicago Code (and, to a lesser extent, Human Target before it became all shitty), I certainly couldn't care about the other three (though the injustice of Lie To Me does make me a little angry), and though I may in the future wax on about how The Chicago Code could have been a great series if it had only got that second season, I'm not sure if all miss any of these series like I miss Rubicon or Terriers.* 

*Speaking of which, with the cancellation of both Terriers and The Chicago Code, that makes two Shawn Ryan series - he was a producer/writer of the former, creator of the latter - to be cancelled within a year, both only squeaking out 13 episodes, though TCC  was cancelled after only 11 of them. (Given the how late it is in the season, the final two episode will still air.)

And then there's this little nugget: FOX has already picked up two new comedies and two new dramas, though whether these are the cause or effect of the cancellation is unclear at this point. (J.J. Abrams' Alcatraz, for example, has been attached to the network for months, but was not officially picked up until early this morning.) This, to say nothing of already picked up shows The X-Factor, which will require two nights of airtime this fall, a la Idol; and Terra Nova, the Steven Spielberg show which has already been kicked from the spring to the summer to the fall schedule, and just might be moved once again to a Spring 2012 start date.[Insert Mayan prophecy joke here.]

FOX looks to be very busy in the next 18 months or so, and as tragic as these cancellations are, I can't shake the feeling that we haven't seen the last of it. Because let's face it: Cancelling shows is kind of FOX's thing.

[From The AV Club via HitFix and Deadline.]