ABC's Lucky 7 Is The First New Show To Get Unceremoniously Cancelled

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Beejoli Shah

10/04/13 03:37PM

Filed to: Failures

For jaded TV viewers, the best part of premiere season isn't searching for the gem of a new show that might save network television in the battle against cable. It's the schadenfreude that comes from gleefully placing bets ahead of time on what show will find itself axed first—that's the real fun! And this year, that distinct honor went to ABC's drama Lucky 7.

The show aired just two episodes on September 24th and October 1st. I have a carton of milk in my refrigerator that will outlive Lucky 7 by 300%. The show had no name actors and was barely promoted by ABC (clearly, all the ad dollars were spent on unlimited cans of Aqua Net for The Goldbergs clan), both of which led to dismal ratings: only 4.6 million viewers for the premiere, with a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic, dropping to 2.8 million viewers and 0.6 rating the following week.

It remains unclear why ABC even took a gamble on this, given that we all know their drama forte lies in (generally speaking) one worded shows: Scandal, Revenge, Betrayal, S.H.I.E.L.D. Couple that with the fact that NBC, bastion of all that is awful, tried this exact show a few years ago with Windfall and similarly failed, this seemed like a bad idea out of the gate.

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whatbutwhy Beejoli Shah 10/05/13 02:13PM

So what hit American series isn't an adaptation of a British television series or strongly influenced by a British piece of work (like House MD)? I don't see a lot of vice versa across the pond. Are we just inherently unoriginal?

Beejoli Shah whatbutwhy 10/05/13 11:58PM

Oh, lots. How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy/Scandal, The Big Bang Theory, Two And A Half Men, etc. And that's just network TV, and a very, very small sample.

Agreed that there's a lack of reciprocity across the pond (maybe they're still pissed about the whole 1776 thing?), and that a lot of television is inherently unoriginal these days...but some of the shows above are proof that engaging programming IS possible, even if Hollywood is behind it ;)

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theobserving Beejoli Shah 10/04/13 03:59PM

Why are there all these shows that have movie premises? This MIGHT work as a two hour movie - but how can the concept (hopefully) sustain a series? Same thing with "Hostage" - how exactly does that translate to a multi-year series?

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Beejoli Shah theobserving 10/04/13 04:32PM

The concept of 'disposable hook' is one of the things that most burned my gut about working in TV: I don't want to be baited and switched into watching a show about one thing, and then it turning into completely another just to sustain a show.

How I Met Your Mother did this a bit - they stuck with the great clues and episodes all somehow relating to the mother for a long time, until they realized that they could extend the show and just sortaaaa reference the mother thing every now and then and drag it out to where it is now. Happy Endings, which I did enjoy, did the same thing. You got over the awkward exes premise real quick, and it then just became a show about friends. It was good, but why trick viewers in? Good shows will rise on their own.

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theobserving Beejoli Shah 10/04/13 05:19PM

Very true. I mean, we never did find out who exactly the boss was, either.

That's why I think some of the best shows don't have a hard "concept" they're trying to sell. Think about it. Seinfeld, Friends, It's Always Sunny..., Cheers, hell even Mama's Family. There is/was no concept, other than the set up. People, hanging out, stuff happens. Why do you need a shell around it? Wacky concept does not equal story, character development or environment.

If you look at an example like "Fraiser", let's say. The concept (he left Boston, moved to Seattle, lives with dad, etc.) was simply meant to be a set up, and then the week to week nature of the show took over.

Heck, even a show like "The X-Files" had a concept, but it was added later, as a fluke (no pun intended). It was originally supposed to be a pure "monster of the week" show, and the concept came on the back end.

What would be a good "high concept" show that stuck to its story all the way through? "Twin Peaks"?

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worldgreatestgirl Beejoli Shah 10/04/13 03:43PM

This show also failed when it was called "Windfall" in 2006.

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Beejoli Shah worldgreatestgirl 10/04/13 03:47PM

Yes, as was already stated in the last paragraph...

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worldgreatestgirl Beejoli Shah 10/04/13 03:56PM

That's why I should read an entire article. Lesson learned.

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Bond, James Bond Beejoli Shah 10/05/13 04:00AM

I just chortled.

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Veronica Corningstone Beejoli Shah 10/04/13 03:39PM

I have a carton of milk in my refrigerator that will outlive Lucky 7 by 300%.

I just laughed out loud. I really did.