The Unusuals (season 1) (1 Viewer)

[Louis C]

Hmmm...4 8 15 16 23 42

42?

 

[Nick Martin]

It's fitting that HE would be the paranoid one all about fate and destiny on this show

 

[Greg_S_H]

Karen looked a little too much like Amber. I was a little mixed up at the start.

How are the ratings coming along? This is the best thing going right now other than Lost, and I hate to think what'll happen when it loses that lead-in after next week.

 

[NeilO]

I also thought as much at first.

It was another good episode. According to Shows A-Z - unusuals, the on abc | TheFutonCritic.com

the upcoming airings are

5/27/09 (We.)10:00 PMABC(#107) The Tape Delay
6/3/09 (We.)10:00 PMABC(#108) N/A
6/10/09 (We.)10:00 PMABC(#109) N/A
6/17/09 (We.)10:00 PMABC(#110) N/A

 

[pitchman]

Another good episode this week! The writing has been very consistent for a new program and the storylines continue to engage. The lead characters are all gelling together nicely. The only thing I do NOT like about this program is the title. The Unusuals is such a dopey name, IMO, and it does a serious disservice to this otherwise quality TV show.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I like the theme music, though, and how each letter is punctuated by the horns as it comes in.

Thanks for the schedule, Neil. Looks like we're having a few bye weeks.

 

[Nick Martin]

And the flipping of the letter N.

The theme was written by the show's creator, a former "BONES" writer.

 

[Nick Martin]

Unfortunately the show has been canceled.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Great. That really sucks.

 

[Louis C]

What BS. I thought the ratings had been pretty decent.

Another great show canceled just as it is getting started...damn

 

[NeilO]

As seen at Breaking News - Hawley: "The Unusuals" Will Not Be Back | TheFutonCritic.com
So, we'll see the final 4 episodes but nothing next season.

 

[Greg_S_H]

It's hard to second guess the programmers when they have data and targets I don't, but it seems like this one didn't really get much of a chance. Though it debuted in the spring, it feels like a summer replacement show. I guess if it couldn't do anything with a lead-in like Lost, there's not much they can do. But, I'll miss it.

 

[pitchman]

Too bad. This is a pretty entertaining ensemble cop drama and it seemed to find it's 'sea legs' rather quickly. I honestly think if it had aired on a different network under a different name (I stand by my earlier post that "The Unusuals" is a dopey name and probably turned off lots of potential viewers) I think this program could have made it. I don't know how compatible The Unusuals is with Lost, but I can see it running alongside something like The Mentalist on CBS, Bones on Fox or even Medium on NBC and faring better than it did on ABC.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Not only was The Unusuals a dopey name, but they did a very bad job of promoting the show. The way over-sold the quirkiness in the initial ad campaign (that damned walking hot dog) and made it look like a Keystone Kops slapstick affair - Animal House with guns and badges. I tuned in out of curiosity, and because I've liked some of the actors in other things, and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't the show to promos had led me to believe it was. I wonder how many potential viewers never got past the title and the promos and never gave the show a chance at all.

And I agree it might have fared better on another network - specifically NBC. They're so ratings-challenged at this point that numbers that get you cancelled on ABC can make you a hit on the peacock.

Regards,

Joe

 

[NeilO]

Remember the final episodes are supposed to start this coming Wednesday.

 

[Nick Martin]

Four left. Damn.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Shucks. I have this set as a series recording, but it wasn't scheduled. So, I set a manual recording. Didn't record. I can watch it online, but still. My DVR isn't picking it up for next week, either.

 

[NeilO]

That's weird. In any case, it was on.

One slight problem with the episode is that it used a plot idea similar to a recent episode of Castle. I'm sure it was all independently thought of, but the repetition diminished it.

 

[pitchman]

You know, I wonder if it is still scheduled to air next week. There was no "next week preview" over the closing credits. Maybe ABC doesn't want to commit further until they see numbers. I hope they don't decide to just pull the plug all together. They certainly have FAR WORSE programs on their schedule that continue to air with abysmal results...

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I happened to tune in about 5 minutes after the start and I'm glad I did because I no longer had the show set to record. (I swapped out my dying SA DVR from Comcast for a new box last week and had to reprogram everything from scratch. I completely forgot about The Unusuals, which I thought had already been removed from the schedule after the cancellation.) Good episode, which figures. I also noted the lack of a "next week" promo and fear for the remaining shows. (Have to hope for a DVD release.)


Can't speak to this example, but often when TV shows (especially crime dramas) do similar plots it is because they are based on elements of the same real-life events. I've seen a number of L&O and CSI episodes from various series in the franchise that had plots that not only resembled one another, but also strongly resembled cases I'd read about in the news or seen on Forensics Files, Cold Case Files (the non-fiction show on A&E) or similar shows on truTV, A&E, Discovery, History Channel and other documentary networks.

Regards,

Joe