fastidium

Stemming from a recent LA Times article, some of the buzz about FX’s legal drama Damages is whether or not it will be renewed for a second season. While I’m sad that this show hasn’t attracted the numbers that FX had hoped for and I would really like to see it renewed, it doesn’t surprise me that a high quality show like Damages would get cancelled.

Television audiences are fickle. What would have happened to Heroes if, early in season one, the writers had made a plot mistake or not dealt with Hiro’s time travel properly? Most of the core audience that was initially attracted to the show would have fizzled and it would have ended there. But Heroes brought the X-Men into our world and other fans were attracted to the nostalgia and hidden secrets of the show. It attracted its core and then used the character-driven story to grow its audience. Battlestar Galactica was the same way.

American Idol is so attractive to various audiences because its made to seem like a show that anyone with hidden talent could win. And, we all know, there are plenty of those kinds of people out there, right? The truth about American Idol is that it has to create its own drama. People are attracted to the reality of anyone-can-participate but are kept coming back for more and encouraged to discuss the episodes with friends because there are background stories, rivalries, and outrageous judges. Its the sensationalism of the show that drives the huge audience, not necessarily the talent.

Drama on television is a hard sell. We usually want some comedy or love stories that run concurrently. I’m sure Damages attracted its share of legal-drama fans and drama-obsessed viewers (myself included). But its doubtful whether the legal-drama audience is enough to grow a show like the geek audience was able to grow Heroes. I love this show and I’ll be sad to see it go. But I think the unfolding mystery of what’s going on isn’t sensational enough to attract a further audience. Perhaps it has something to do with the type of case involved but there’s lots of murder, sex, and hidden truths so that shouldn’t matter too much to the typical attention-deficit television viewer. You would think that a cable network like FX would be ok with establishing a core audience in season one and attempt to grow it further in season two. I guess we’ll find out sooner rather than later.