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Boomtown goes out in Style (2 Viewers)

Dave Scarpa

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I've only watched two of the four remaining eps but from what I've seen the show went out in good form. They also returned more to the structure of the first shows. Maybe they new the end was near and said screw it we'll do what we want. Poor Gary Basaraba I really like his character Ray Hechler, he was also Great on another series Shortchanged by a network, Brooklyn South, he was great there to. Hopefully A&E will pick this up and release a Season 1&2 Box set. I'll be there to buy it. Now NBC can concentrate on the important shows like the new Trump Reality series. Idiots.
 

Jason Seaver

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Well, I think DreamWorks probably has the home video rights.

I've watched the three from Saturday night, and they were pretty good. I think the first was the weakest, seeming to be based on an awful lot of coincidence and not including Neal McDonough. In fact, I don't think any of them used the entire cast.
 

MikeFR

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I caught a few of the episodes(the first ive seen of this season) and I thought they were quite good.

I just cant believe they cancelled a show this good.
 

Rob P S

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I liked all four of these episodes very much. I thought Vanessa Williams's character was too harsh and abrasive in the season premiere, but she seemed like she was starting to blend in with the others. The mall-hostage episode had a really cool last-minute surprise. I really wanted to see Teresa become a cop. The fact that this show is dead and Good Morning Miami and Whoopi are still going on is depressing. I hate NBC.
 

Jason Seaver

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Yeah, it was NBC that made Boomtown not do as well in its timeslot as Special Victims Unit before it or Third Watch after it. Sometimes a show just doesn't connect with an audience, and Boomtown was one of those shows - I watched every episode from the start, and I still sometimes felt like I was missing some backstory. Not that NBC helped the show creatively, but let's not pretend this show wasn't a tough sell.


I watched the last episode tonight, and one thing that struck me was that, for all the comparisons to Rashomon this show has been given since its creation, this was the first time I remember the different perspectives actually showing different versions of events.
 

Matt_P

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It was a bittersweet couple of nights--great to see the final eps, but it was horrible to say goodbye to what was IMHO the best show on TV.

Okay, 24 eps for the entire series--should fit nicely into one DVD boxset. Let's get moving on it, Dreamworks!
 

MattBu

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Could someone explain why morons prefer Third Watch over this show? Honestly. I would love to debate with them. How can this show not have taken off with viewers and Third Watch has?

I can see the merits of reality TV of this show (Cost, cost, and oh, cost) but not an expensive to produce show like Third Watch.
 

Matt_P

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I can't explain it, Matt. Perhaps it had something to do with NBC's scheduling shuffle. During the 1st season, Boomtown went away for six weeks, and was replaced by the Kingpin mini series (which I thought was very average). By the time it came back, the marketing just wasn't there. I'm sure many people never came back. Also, during season 2, the show inexplicably disappeared after 2 weeks (after being moved to the death slot on Friday night), and never returned til the final marathon, which I never heard about til I read about it online.....

As for Third Watch, I've seen it a couple times, and am frankly annoyed by the characters. Boomtown's cast was so talented and likeable--a true ensemble. Also, Third Watch's technical merits/writing are really nothing to write home about. Boomtown was everything Third Watch is not.
 

Jason Seaver

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A so-called "death slot" where Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had thrived and become a ratings powerhouse. Maybe research indicates that SVU attracts an older/more stay-at-home audience, but there was certainly precedent for a good, well-written cop show doing well there.

More likely, audiences just weren't sure what to make of the show. The structure wasn't something people are used to in a weekly show, and NBC isn't the place on the dial where people look for innovation.
 

LarryDavenport

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I think Boomtown was one of NBCs great missed opportunities and it's a shame that the show wasn't on HBO where apparently critical praise and 8 million viewers is good enough for a show to stay on the air.

Put me down for the DVDs!
 

Craig S

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The sad thing is, this wasn't always the case. "Hill Street Blues", "St. Elsewhere", "Seinfeld", early "E.R." - from the early 80s through the early 90s NBC was clearly the top network for innovative, quality programming. Oh, how the mighty have fallen... :frowning:
 

MikeFR

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I dont know, I dont think Boomtown's style was that far out there. Last season it was on Sundays up against fox's lineup and Dragnet. It got dumped while the mega-hyped Kingpin was on and probably lost most of the non-regular viewers that were watching it out of curiosity. Then it came back this year, "retooled" when it didnt need to be, and it got put into a timeslot that requires time to build an audience. Two weeks isnt enough to build an audience on friday night.

Too bad this show wasnt on cbs they might have given it a shot on friday night like they did with CSI.

Wonder what the ratings were like this weekend, doubt they would be enough to save the show.
 

LarryDavenport

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Were there even any commercials on NBC for it (this weekend)? I remebered because I had read about it on a couple of TV sites and put a post-it on my TV.
 

Jason Seaver

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Well, at least here in the Eastern Time Zone, it was on at 10pm, after Fox's line-up, and Dragnet didn't start until late January (about when it went on a three-week hiatus for Kingpin); it's competition was The Practice and the second half of CBS's movie.
 

Marty M

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I caught all four of the remaining episodes. I still can't figure out why NBC gave up on the show so early in the season. At the very least they should have given it another shot in the Sunday, 9:00 CT slot.
 

MikeFR

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It was definately unique but I dont think it was difficult to understand what was going on. Of course there are a lot of dumb people out there.
 

Rob P S

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I wouldn't call Third Watch fans morons - I was a casual fan before they moved it to Fridays. Some good actors, but too much overblown crisis-of-the-week stuff - like ER these days. I'd save the moron tag for Fear Factor watchers.
 

Jodee

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What is interesting is that last season, Boomtown attracted much stronger ratings in its Sunday night 10:00 PM time slot than this season's mega-hyped The Lyon's Den.

NBC would have been better off leaving the show in its old time slot where people were used to seeing it.
 

Patrick Sun

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From my ReplayTV, I watched 3 shows from the fall, and the 3 shows on one night, and somehow missed the 4th show on Sunday.

I thought they were very entertaining, and each episode had its own little rhythm that didn't make its "different perspective" style of storytelling seem repetitive. Chalk me up as another who'll miss the show.

Can someone offer a quick recap of the final episode? Just curious if any storylines got resolved or delved deeper (Joel and Teresa).
 

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