They think this is a good idea, and something that the fans actually want. I think ABC is retarded. Nobody I've ever met thinks split-seasons are a good idea -- nobody. There is also speculation that with J.J. Abrams new development deals with Paramount and Warner Brothers, Abrams will leave the show after the third season anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if Grey's started running over Lost at that point.
ABC president Stephen McPherson talked about recently departed Invasion and Commander-In-Chief at the TV Critic's Association. Not surprisingly, McPherson blamed series creator Rod Lurie for the failure of CIC.
“"We would definitely do it over," he said. "What we would do is bring it on later in the season and let [show creator] Rod [Lurie] prep for it longer than he had a chance to...He was the voice of that show. I think the week-to-week production of a series was a real education to him...if we had gotten out ahead of it, we would have been able to deliver a show week to week."”
The problem with this particular piece of fiction is that everyone but ABC says Lurie was moved out over creative disputes. The ratings for the series debut were solid, and only took a nose dive when ABC started screwing around with the shows production staff, even bringing in veteran Steven Bocho at one point to try righting the ship. He failed, and the series was canceled. He also spoke to the accusation that Desperate Housewives is floundering.
“"I completely disagree about a creative collapse. I think that's really overstating it," he said. "What has changed this year is that Tom Spezialy has left...and [show creator] Marc Cherry has taken over 100 percent. The early scripts and the arcs and the mystery are...a lot stronger from the get-go. I think everyone admitted that last year [the show] stumbled a little bit, but now [all stories] will be going through Marc's typewriter. It's going to get back tonally to more of a wicked comedy."”
With an attitude like that, it seems as if landing Lost and Grey's was more luck than insightfulness. I predict very long days ahead for ABC. (Source: tv.com)
McPherson is also complaining that Emmy snubs for Lost and Desperate Housewives were the result of changes to Emmy voting rules this year, as opposed to, you know...the shows sucking.
“"To have that kind of oversight is remarkable," he told reporters at the Alphabet web's portion of the TV Critics Assn. press tour. "I hope that the academy will look at it and realize that maybe the changes that they made aren't all good and that they need to go back to the old system."”
Grey's got 11 nominations, so what the hell is he crying about anyway?
