The TV thread

I think its mostly about cost of production. CBS is ruthless in keeping costs down. The cast of Blue Bloods needed to take haircuts just so they could get the final season. SWAT had to ax Kenny Johnson so it would be renewed. Survivor shortened their shoot times. Hell, CBS cancelled NCIS-Hawaii, a top 20 show - I guess it was cheaper to do an NCIS "prequel" on the mainland.

 

I can't believe Abbott Elementary is that low.

Do people just not watch ABC?

 

I'm always amazed about the difference between shows that people talk about and the ones people actually watch.

 

I like Will Trent, but it’s the only ABC show I watch. I couldn’t tell you what another ABC show is because that network sucks and I don’t watch.

 

I watched the premiere and found it kind of slow and the premise a bit contrived.

 

The creator and show runner of Will Trent was a couple years behind me in high school. Cut her teeth on Friday Night Lights.

 

I can. The Wonder Years reboot was superior to the original and was harpooned.

 

Enjoying watching Columbo on Tubi. I had never seen most of them before. One I did, I was taken with an absolutely gorgeous blonde who I did not know. Now, I do. It is Gretchen Corbett (Season 4, episode 1).

 

I don't know if I've said it here before, but I can understand Tracker being where it is. Decent story lines, star-power actor in the lead.

Justin Hartley was very good in "This Is Us" ... but he played a rather shallow individual with a heart. I believe people are enjoying him taking on a true hero's role.

 

There's quite a few very talented women in the 1970s and 1980s run of that show. If you have Peacock (free with Xfinity / Comcast), they have the whole run of Columbo with less commercials. And amusingly, when you get to the late 80s and early 90s, they kept in the "ABC Murder Mystery" bumpers featuring Falk, Burt Reynolds and Lou Gossett Jr.

 

My problem with most network procedurals is that they have become "This is Us" with character's over-emotional back stories taking over from the action/cases. Tracker has mostly avoided that so far.

9-1-1 has become a true soap opera. The fun was the ridiculous calls the firefighters and cops would go on. Now it's all life outside of the station with maybe one case or rescue per episode.

 

It's always so much cheaper for a show to "look inward," so to speak. That, and everyone is copying the 1990s Law and Order model now. Meaning, as long as you're rotating just a few people in the cast every few years, you don't shed that much audience and you keep your payroll costs low. The only person still around on NCIS is the nepo cast member, whereas everyone else has been replaced Ship of Theseus style.