My initial reaction to this news is it's a bad sign: ABC has shut down its "V" remake for a two-week creative hiatus before resuming production. The studio would not tell TheWrap.com the reason for the shutdown but it appears none of the show's producers are being fired, which gives me some hope. I genuinely enjoyed the pilot and speaking to producers earlier this month at press tour I got the impression they had sound plans for subsequent episodes.
And there is some evidence that shutting a show down can help it in the long-run. "Dollhouse" took a creative hiatus after its first few episodes and it's widely agreed that the later episodes in that show's first season were far superior to the pre-shut down shows. Similarly, re-tooling on "Brothers & Sisters" before its premiere helped build that show into a hit series. Or maybe I'm just being optimistic because I want the new "V" to be good. It still is set to premiere Nov. 3.
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NBC has delayed the return of Friday night cop drama "Southland" from Sept. 25 to Oct. 23. Selfishly, I'm thrilled about this development. I liked the show and would like an opportunity to write about it again and that's a lot more likely to happen in October than it would have been with a September premiere in the midst of so many new series.
NBC's reason for the delay is to give "Southland" more promotion so it doesn't get lost in the new series shuffle.
Posted
Aug 28 2009, 12:07 AM
by
Rob Owen