Cancelled

August 14th, 2007Blog1 comment

News from the pipeline today: John from Cincinnati Cancelled.

I feel bad for David Milch, but honestly, part of me is kind of glad. That’s fucked up to say — like saying that you feel good that someone has died. But let’s get real here: Maybe now he’ll finish Deadwood. That show feels more important and far more interesting than “John” ever was.

Also, there’s a lesson to be learned here about accessibility. I gave “John” three episodes worth of viewing. That’s my standard amount of time I allow to determine whether I should keep watching a show. But if the show features Ed O’Neill — freakin’ AL BUNDY, whom everybody loves — and you can’t make it accessible, you’ve failed. The leading edge of this show, real or perceived, was surfer angst. And angst is a hard sell unless you humanize it from the get-go — classic case study: Hamlet.

If you want to do a show with Ed O’Neill (and he’s up to it), here’s my pitch: Do a modern verison of Mr. Chips in an urban environment. O’Neill’s character is a done-it-all, seen-it-all public high school teacher who has to steal supplies from Staples in order to keep his classes going. He drinks too much and doesn’t know it, and all he has are his students and hopefully that’s enough. If you want to expand the viewing demographic (and we all do), throw in a couple of fresh-outta-grad school new teachers and watch them writhe. And don’t tell me that I’m pitching Boston Public — this wouldn’t be a whiny soapbox show. It would be about extended families, sons and daughters who may not want to accept the mantle, and a father at the top who is slowly dying.

Now I’m hoping that HBO keeps Flight of the Conchords. Easily the funniest new show I’ve seen in quite a while. If they drop it, I’m leaving. Yes, that’s a threat.