Question: I am writing to you because I have faith (as much as I can in TV executives) that they read your columns because you have a lot of influence on viewers. I can only hope. Although I am crying tears of happiness that the CW executives found it in their (Grinch-like) hearts to renew Veronica Mars, I am disappointed to learn that Pepper Dennis will not be back. I don't believe they gave the show enough of a chance, putting it on WB (whose younger demographic probably didn't respond to it well) and on a night when so much else was going on. I watched the show initially with skepticism because it looked like it was going to be just silly, but the characters and story lines grew on me, and Rebecca Romijn is unexpectedly fabulous in the role. I will be sorry to say goodbye to WEIE. Another one bites the dust. I hope all the wonderful actors (and writers!) on the show get another chance on a network that won't dump them without giving them a decent break.
Answer: Looking purely at
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Question: I watched the premiere of Pepper Dennis on the WB and have to admit (with guilt, I suppose), I enjoyed it. It stumbled around a bit, literally, but I think it has promise. With WB morphing into CW, is this show dead on arrival, or could we possibly see more?
Answer: Again, a little early after just one week. But the first night's results weren't particularly positive. I'm sure WB would have liked Pepper to hold on to more of the Gilmore Girls lead-in, but Tuesdays are very tough. Pepper Dennis is at best a guilty pleasure, forgettable and harmless, cotton-candy eye candy. If it doesn't show any growth over the next month, I'd be surprised if it conveys to the CW. But if it picks up at all, it seems to me to be very commercial and promotable, and as such, a potentially fresh asset on a lineup that looks for now to be heavy on shows that are closer to the end of their run than the beginning ...
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As Huff’s second season opens, the title shrink (Hank Azaria) is lost in thought, not paying attention to his droning patient. Kind of how I felt watching this whiny, discordant and unfocused drama (Sundays at 10 pm/ET on Showtime), which whipsaws wildly and mostly unsuccessfully between raunchy dark comedy and existential family tragedy.
I kept watching my DVD time display, waiting (like the doctor) for each hour to be up. I got through seven of 13 new episodes before bailing, around the time Huff’s blabby conscience, which takes the form of a “Homeless Hungarian,” tells him to “wake up and smell the unspoken need.”
What I’m smelling is Showtime’s desperate need to launch a breakout drama that could attract the buzz of an FX or an HBO. Huff isn’t it.
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Question: I just read that UPN is moving Veronica Mars back to Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET. After waiting six weeks for America's Next Top Model to come back so VM would have a strong lead-in, why are they moving it? Is it UPN's way of saying that that's where they want to be in the fall (after Gilmore Girls) and are hoping the move now will build an audience on that night again, like last season? What are your thoughts on the move?
Answer: Simply put, there is no good or safe place for Veronica Mars to air. That Tuesday time period is way overbooked as well — House, Scrubs, etc. — but I'm thinking that what prompted the latest shift (and yes, it is frustrating) is this year's mightiest show-killer, American Idol. Now that the Idol results show is airing at 9 pm/ET on Wednesdays, along with Lost and other killer competition, Veronica Mars was (there's no kinder way to put it) dying.
As Erica wrote in a separate rant, "This show thrives on momentum and this current scheduling is making it
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