Lost Resort

The early round of TV cancellations got a jolt from ABC when they axed both Last Resort and 666 Park Avenue. I'm not that broken up about the latter; as much as I enjoy Terry O'Quinn, I never warmed to the show's premise.  I am more broken up about the former, which has done well with a pretty high concept and, of course, features Andre Braugher.

My favorite part of the linked story is the reference to ABC's "difficult" 8 pm Thursday slot. How difficult is it?

2012: Last Resort cancelled at 13 episodes.
2011: Charlie's Angels, which aired only 7 of its planned 13 episodes.
2010: My Generation, cancelled after two episodes.
2009: FlashForward, managed an entire season before being cancelled.
2006-08: Ugly Betty, the rare success in the time slot.
2005: Alias, in its final, peripatetic season.
2004: Extreme Makeover, non-home edition
2003: Threat Matrix, cancelled after 14 episodes
2002: Dinotopia, six episodes.
1999-2001: Whose Line Is It Anyway, back-to-back episodes
1998: Vengeance Unlimited, 16 episodes
1997: Nothing Sacred, 20 episodes but Peabody Award!
1996: High Incident, which got a second season at 10pm Tuesday, then cancelled.
1995: Charlie Grace, 9 episodes.
1994: My So-Called Life, 19 episodes and cancelled en route to endless MTV airings.
1993: Missing Persons, 17 episodes.
1992: Delta/Room For Two, a sitcom paring that didn't survive the season.
1991: Pros and Cons, James Earl Jones not enough of a draw.
1990: Father Dowling Mysteries, in the last of its three seasons.
1989: Mission Impossible, in its second, shortened and final season.
1988: Knightwatch, a summer series that made it to fall thanks to a writer's strike.
1987: Sledge Hammer!/The Charmings, both in their second - and last - seasons.
1986: Our World, a news/history series that was well reviewed but little watched.
1985: The Fall Guy, in its last season.
1984: People Do the Craziest Things/Who's the Boss?, the latter in its first season.
1983: Trauma Center, cancelled before Christmas.
1982: Joanie Loves Chachi/Star of the Family, the former tanked when moved to Thursday at 8.
1981: Mork & Mindy/Best of the West, the latter in its only season.
1980: Mork & Mindy/Bosom Buddies, the latter in its first season.

I hadn't planned to go that far back, but looking at the last 32 years really gives an appreciation of the dumpster fire ABC has going at this time slot. It took them 26 years to come up with a scripted show that could hold the slot for more than a season. The shows you've heard of in the time slot were either moved after debuting or moved there to die.

How to explain such long-term suckitude? I have some ideas.

1. 8 pm is too early for drama. Most of the failures on this list are hour-long programs. What successful shows have appeared on this time slot are half-hour shows (Mork & Mindy, Who's the Boss? and Whose Line). I'd guess the preponderance of this was done to counter-program other networks' sitcoms, but that did not seem to work with any regularity.

The exception here is Ugly Betty, though I think it's easy to make the case that the show wasn't a typical hour-long drama. It also was more female-friendly, which fit its pairing with Grey's Anatomy and ABC's programming in general.

2.Conceptual difficulties. Of late, at least, the shows in this slot have been pretty high concept (rogue nukes! seeing the future!), while other times the shows have been decidedly low concept (Charlie's Angels and Vengeance Unlimited come to mind). In fact, the few times show have worked in this slot they've been pretty easy to deal with, concept-wise. Not too stupid, and not too challenging. Just right. Call it the Goldilocks Zone.

3. Tough competition. NBC owned Thursday night for years, which could lead to some quick hooks when shows weren't able to match up. And for every two or three shows that probably deserved the hook, you get one - like Last Resort - that probably didn't.

Here's an interesting comparison. Grey's Anatomy moved to Thursdays at 9 in 2006. For the three years it shared the night with Ugly Betty, the lowest it finished in seasonal rankings was 12th. Then in 2009 it finished 17th, and slumped to the 30s in the following two seasons. All three of its lead-ins were given quick hooks. This year it's up to 19th, but Last Resort hasn't been as successful. So off it goes.

Not sure why ABC continues to balk at trying comedy or unscripted programming here. I suppose they're trying to counter-program against the sitcoms at CBS and NBC, but with their lack of success this might be a case of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.