Froodee

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Can FlashForward be saved?

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Oh, those kooky, diehard fans of genre television. They always latch onto a show and refuse to let it die. Even when it (arguably) deserves to.

The first few episodes of FlashForward showed so much promise, with some great storytelling finesse, interesting characters, and terrific intrigue. And then… well, the show’s endless shuffling of showrunners is well chronicled, and history teaches us that no TV show can easily survive that much corporate meddling. It just slowly went downhill.

So, unsurprisingly, ABC pulled the plug on a potential second season. And now, those undying fans have cooked up their latest crazy scheme.

The FlashForward fans’ approach is two-fold. First, they’re sending 20,000 friendship bracelets — like the ones seen on the show — to ABC chairman Steve McPherson. That’s a pretty old-hat “save our show” technique. It’s the second part that’s the truly original bit. Flash mobs (no pun intended) will be gathering on June 10th at the gates of ABC’s network and affiliate offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and Atlanta. And what, pray tell, are they going to do there?

Well, what else would fans of FlashForward do, but stage mock “blackouts”? In a move sure to cause frantic 9-1-1 calls to any unknowing members of the general public who happen by, hundreds or thousands of fans of the show will pretend to pass out simultaneously in front of these various ABC offices. And anyone who’s watched the show already knows how long they’ll be passed out: two minutes and seventeen seconds, of course.

It’s a fairly clever idea, but it strikes me as pretty pointless. As I reported last week, series lead Joseph Fiennes has already signed on with a new show for Starz, where he’ll star as the wizard Merlin in a new version of Camelot.

If you’re interested in joining up with those wacky fans, head over to preventtheblackout.com.

The axe falls at NBC & ABC

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It looks as though NBC’s celebrated, 20-year-old series, Law & Order, is coming to an end. Despite indications earlier this year that the show would go on to a record-breaking 21st season, negotiations have fallen apart for next season and NBC is reportedly on the verge of dropping the show altogether. Law & Order has, for years, trailed behind its spinoff, L&O: Special Victims Unit, in the ratings. (SVU is in no danger of being canceled.) Meanwhile, the latest spinoff for the franchise, Law & Order: Los Angeles, is still set to premiere this fall.

It also looks likely that NBC’s Heroes won’t be getting a fifth season. The show has struggled in the ratings for years, but it’s held on despite storylines that have wavered between ridiculous and so-so. But NBC is not blind to the show’s dogged fans, who still hope for some kind of proper ending, and are considering giving Heroes a 2 or 4 hour wrap-up movie/miniseries at some point next season.

Meanwhile, over at ABC, a number of high-profile shows have gotten the axe, including FlashForward (which the network once hoped might become the next Lost), the long-running Scrubs (which jumped networks from NBC not too long ago), Better Off Ted (which is universally loved by critics, but has too few viewers), and Romantically Challenged.