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Upfronts: Will Studio 60 Be The Greatest Thing Ever?

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It’s a rhetorical question, I know, but has any TV program in the history of Television been so overly publicized six months prior to its debut than Studio 60? Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, too, but this Wall St Journal headline might be a bit too much:

Can ‘Studio 60’ Save NBC?

No! No single show can save any network!! Period!! Well, except for Veronica Mars, that might save the CW . . . OK, that was just plain wishful thinking, which is what this is.

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Questions For The Commander in Chief

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There is something sad about an entire news story devoted to the return of a television show that was yanked for low ratings. Apparently Commander in Chief, a show I’ve never watched (no fault of the show, just one of those things) is returning to television.

What I find sad is the fact that the Washington Post covered this story straight. As in a factual recitation of the facts surrounding the event. No discussion about the ratings process — heck, I’ve been in the industry forever and, frankly, can’t decipher the minutiae of the Nielsen ratings. And if the show wasn’t pulling the right numbers since just after its debut, what makes ABC think it stands a better chance now? Especially since the series is going up against an ostensibly more popular show?

Why is the show returning now? Is the network playing out the final episodes they produced in anticipation of a quiet death? Do they expect to renew the series (have they renewed the series?). Will the programming be available on iTunes as well? The answer to this final question is, yes, as a matter of fact, ABC slipped the series into the iTunes mix with little fanfare.

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