Ratings and Scheduling

[cko]

Wow that makes absolutely no sense to me. But somehow I find the notion of a "soft launch" reassuring though I'm betting it's not really.

[pending]

somehow I find the notion of a "soft launch" reassuring though I'm betting it's not really.

It does sound really soothing, doesn't it? It's a very nice way to say "we're not trying very hard." I'm going to have to figure out how to use that in my everyday life.

[pacejunkie]

It kind of sounds like what the CW's strategy has been all along with this show. Season two should be a marshmallow fluff launch.

[pending]

Season two should be a marshmallow fluff launch.

Mmmm. Delicious and unhealthy-- yep, that sounds about right!

[Blue Sunflower]

Ohhhhhh, I'm, uh, unsure how I feel about this.

From SpoilerJunkie (warning: Smallville spoilers):

After airing on November 20th, 2008, Smallville will be taking an 8 week hiatus to make room for Reaper.

If true, Reaper will air Nov/Dec/Jan. If Reaper airs a new episode for all 8 weeks, then they will air on Thanksgiving (premiere), Christmas, and New Years.

Eight weeks would have Smallville returning on January 22nd.

[pacejunkie]

8 weeks? Then when will they air the remaining five episodes they are shooting? I thought they were going to leave a gap to allow the whole run. And if Reaper is returning as early as November 27 or so, wouldn't they have announced it already?

I can't see them premiering any show on Thanksgiving day. There's something not right about this.

[novium]

as much as I'd like to believe it, you'd think they'd have started advertising it if that were so.

[cko]

I know I keep saying this, but this makes no sense. And seems ominous. And sucky.

[kathyk]

Maybe they will show reruns until January since the show hasn't been on for so long. Everything I've read states the show will start in January. All the major holidays are on Thursday this year I doubt any network will air new show on those dates,

[pacejunkie]

Nov 16, 2008 19:29:15 GMT -5 kathyk said:

Maybe they will show reruns until January since the show hasn't been on for so long. Everything I've read states the show will start in January. All the major holidays are on Thursday this year I doubt any network will air new show on those dates,

Reruns to bring the audience back would make a lot of sense, except that Smallville is supposed to return at some point so if they had time to show Reaper reruns, they would presumably have time to order and air more than 13 episodes. But if Reaper were not sharing a time slot, I woudl love to see them rerun the post hiatus eps of season one to lure people in and prepare the audience for season two.

[Blue Sunflower]

Veronica Mars vs every other show on the planet, including Reaper.

And now possible new information:

CW – 8:00 PM: Tonight’s episode of Smallville is the last you will see until January and we get a look at Doomsday. I’m sure there will be cliffhangers galore. Too bad the CW will just retread this seasons previous episodes until 2009 instead of giving us Reaper sooner.

WTH?

[pacejunkie]

So maybe they are in fact waiting until January for Reaper, which is actually better than a Thanksgiving through New Year's run. I'm not bothered by that. The question is will Smallville finish early or have a second hiatus in 2009?

[pacejunkie]

Not much to cheer about here. Smallville may survive it seems. From Ausiello:

Question: Please tell me there's going to be a 9th season of Smallville after what is possibly one of the best seasons so far? -- Joanne

Ausiello: I hear The CW will likely take the don't-fix-if-not-broke approach and keep its Thursday line-up intact next season... In related news, there was a wild rumor going around last week that Supernatural received a green light for a fifth season. The network quickly squashed it, but, man, for about 30 minutes last Monday I thought Christmas had come early for all you Supe Nazis.

So now its Supernatural who's future is in the air or not really? What does that mean for Reaper I wonder. I wrote to Ausiello to ask him if he knows anything about when our show might return. If others would like to do the same, it may help to prioritize the inquiry. [e-mail]

[Blue Sunflower]

Privilege is doing worse with new episodes than Reaper did last year with reruns.

Meanwhile over at the CW, 90210 and Privileged were both down very slightly. 90210 drew a 2.1/3 last week and a 2.0/3, last night. Privileged dropped from a 1.4/2 to a 1.3/2. Apparently that did worse than a repeat of Reaper a year ago. That’s just sad. CW plans to air Privileged after Gossip Girl on Mondays the first couple of Mondays in December.

[pacejunkie]

If Reaper reruns do better, then why aren't they cancelling it in favour of Reaper? Seriously, I saw the ratings for GG and OTH and Reaper did better than both of them last year. It's like they've got this good thing and they don't appreciate it.

[pending]

Well, maybe one factor to consider is what we ran into last year with all the talk of the CW actually having trouble filling their line-up; they have some shows set to expire without enough strong-performing shows to replace. They may be trying to build Privilege (which I don't watch, but I have sympathy for, since I hear the critics like it and feel it was miss-sold) up a bit. CW has had plenty of slow-starters in the past.

That's mainly why I'm not worrying over all the weird behavior though-- CW isn't in a position to just scrap a show they've already greenlit.

[Blue Sunflower]

More bad news:

First trailer for Legion- and the good news is that Smallville will be returning on Thursday January 15, 2009. So much for Reaper stepping in as a mid-season replacement with Smallville coming back later!

[novium]

noooooooooo...... just like i feared! If they keep pushing it back until fall of next year, I may just....die. And then have my remains shipped to the network with the note: "you did this!"

[pacejunkie]

Maybe they've found another show to cancel instead and put Reaper in its place. [/unrealistic optimism]

[bec]

I'm not sure what it means, but on the CW website you can see they have a "Reaper COMING SOON" thing on their schedule. That got me all excited and coming here to see if anyone knows anything about it.

I've been watching Privileged, but I wouldn't miss it if it gets axed. It seemed to have potential in the beginning, all light and cute and Gilmore Girls-esque, but it's been steadily losing my interest with the latest episodes.

[pacejunkie]

I'm not sure what it means, but on the CW website you can see they have a "Reaper COMING SOON" thing on their schedule.

Really? That's something I guess. Maybe it's in response to our e-mails.

ETA: Cool! Everywhere you click for Reaper it now says "coming soon".

[pending]

Really? That's something I guess. Maybe it's in response to our e-mails.

I find it encouraging, but still a little annoying. I mean, I know it's coming soon, I want to know when.

[pacejunkie]

Nov 23, 2008 10:33:42 GMT -5 pending said:

Really? That's something I guess. Maybe it's in response to our e-mails.

I find it encouraging, but still a little annoying. I mean, I know it's coming soon, I want to know when.

But they are finally acknowledging the show's existence. I take my wins where I can get them.

[stinger97]

We have our return date, folks:

This just in: Reaper has a return date!

A spokesperson for The CW confirms that the supernatural knee-slapper will join the net's schedule on Tuesday, March 17 at 9 p.m./ET following 90210. I'm told the show's entire 13-episode second season will air uninterrupted.

And don't freak out, you Privileged few. Rina Mimoun's freshman gem will have already completed its 18-episode run by the time Reaper takes over the time period.

March 17th, following 90210? The scheduling is a little strange, but okay.

[cko]

Hooray! At last! *sigh of relief* I didn't realize how worried I was. And they can roll out the classic St. Patrick's Day theme. Orrrr, Halloween or Christmas in March. Either way, I don't care. Yayyyyyyyy!

[Blue Sunflower]

Dec 2, 2008 20:25:34 GMT -5 stinger97 said:

We have our return date, folks:

This just in: Reaper has a return date!

A spokesperson for The CW confirms that the supernatural knee-slapper will join the net's schedule on Tuesday, March 17 at 9 p.m./ET following 90210. I'm told the show's entire 13-episode second season will air uninterrupted.

And don't freak out, you Privileged few. Rina Mimoun's freshman gem will have already completed its 18-episode run by the time Reaper takes over the time period.

March 17th, following 90210? The scheduling is a little strange, but okay.

Sweeeeeeet. I sent out an email.

[pacejunkie]

Thanks for the e-mail. I came running when I got it. Yeah, I'm disappointed -- it's a long wait and it assures no more episodes this year. As it is, they'll be running into mid-June. What happened to the pairing with Supernatural? And is Smallville ever going to die?

They may think they're doing a good thing giving Reaper the 90210 lead in but the shows are pretty incompatible. I don't think the Jessica Stroup crossover is enough to make viewers care. Without a place on the schedule, the show may not return if it doesn't get the ratings so the numbers are important. Man, I'm worried. I'm going to enjoy these eps like they're the last.

[Blue Sunflower]

Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the 3/17/09 return date.

They may think they're doing a good thing giving Reaper the 90210 lead in but the shows are pretty incompatible. I don't think the Jessica Stroup crossover is enough to make viewers care.

HR pretty much says the same thing:

Though the Beverly Hills kids are hardly a like-minded lead-in for the devil-does-care "Reaper," the better-suited "Smallville" and "Supernatural" are working well together on Thursday nights and the network probably doesn't want to rock that boat. Still, with "Smallville" in its presumed final season, its a little surprising the network wouldn't shake things up and give "Reaper" a Thursday spot.

[kathyk]

It stinks that we have to wait three months for new episodes. Reaper could pick up some new viewers if they are running new episodes while every other show is in reruns. I really hope the show does get a third season considering how the CW has jerked the show around. Has the CW done any promotion for the season one DVDs? I saw commercials for the new Heroes DVDs all the time.

[Blue Sunflower]

I thought about it last night, and I'm taking it as a complete shout-out that they're premiering on St. Patrick's Day, what with our green colors and all.

Dec 2, 2008 23:00:54 GMT -5 kathyk said:

It stinks that we have to wait three months for new episodes. Reaper could pick up some new viewers if they are running new episodes while every other show is in reruns. I really hope the show does get a third season considering how the CW has jerked the show around. Has the CW done any promotion for the season one DVDs? I saw commercials for the new Heroes DVDs all the time.

It'll be running during March and May sweeps, so it won't be up against reruns.