'Southland' canceled

'Dateline NBC' will air in drama's Friday time slot

By Nellie Andreeva

It's the end of the road for drama "Southland," which has been canceled before the launch of its sophomore season.

Production on the John Wells-produced cop series is being shut down after six episodes.

"Southland," from Warner Bros. TV, was originally slated to debut in its new Friday 9 p.m. time slot during premiere week, but in August, NBC opted to push the start to Oct. 23 and air "Dateline NBC" in the meantime.

"Dateline NBC" will now continue to run in the Friday 9 p.m. hour.

It is not clear when the six produced new episodes of "Southland" will air.

Meanwhile, the cop drama starring Ben McKenzie will be shopped to broadcast and cable networks.

"I'm disappointed that NBC no longer has the time periods available to support the kind of critically-acclaimed series that was for so many years, a hallmark of their success," Wells said. "We remain extremely proud of 'Southland' and are actively looking for another home for the series."

"Southland," created by Ann Biderman, got off to a good start when it premiered in midseason in the Thursday 10 p.m. time period, succeeding NBC's long-running medical drama, "ER," also exec produced by Wells.

Additionally, "Southland" garnered solid reviews, but through its initial run last spring, the series showed ratings erosion.

Then came the Jay Leno factor, with NBC forced to shift its 10 p.m. dramas to 9 p.m. to make room for "The Jay Leno Show."

While "Southland" enjoyed support among NBC brass last season, after screening the finished episodes from the upcoming second season, the show's content was deemed too dark and gritty for broadcast TV, especially for 9 p.m. Additionally, a high-end drama like "Southland" is certainly far more expensive than newsmagazine "Dateline" for low-trafficked Friday night.

The cancellation of "Southland" ends (for now) a long relationship between NBC and Wells, who has been behind some of NBC's biggest series, including "ER" and "The West Wing," for the past 15 years.

It hasn't been a good start for NBC's scripted dramas this fall, with rookies "Trauma" and "Mercy" struggling along with most of the returning veterans, including "Heroes" and "Law & Order: SVU," which is still settling into its new Wednesday 9 p.m. slot.

Has the show even been aired this year yet?

I think the Leno decision was bad for scripted dramas.

Southland is a pretty solid show, I wouldn't mind seeing it pop up on cable. I could actually see this on FX.

Only NBC.

quote:

While "Southland" enjoyed support among NBC brass last season, after screening the finished episodes from the upcoming second season, the show's content was deemed too dark and gritty for broadcast TV, especially for 9 p.m.

That line gets me especially steamed regarding this news. Southland was one of the best shows to come out of NBC development this past year, but, because of the Jay Leno experiment, the "darkness" and "gritiness" that makes it such compelling television ends up working against it. So does this mean that NYPD Blue wouldn't make it on NBC this television season? With Law & Order: SVU still NBC's top-rated show, but falling from #20 to #40, and the Jay Leno show sinking like a rock, NBC, if it is that concerned with ratings, needs to stop the Jay Leno experiment mid-season. And if return on investment is such a concern for NBC, Heroes needs to go ASAP too.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: NateDoggg,

This network is a mess.

Normally, I disagree with new threads for show pickups and cancellations, but…

WTF?

Who cancels a show before it even airs? This is crazy.

This is a sad day for NBC and its production history of quality, sophisticated drama.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ph1993,

When someone finally cancels NBC? It was a great show and deserved at least a 13-episodes run! Jesus...

You had REGINA KING. Dummies.

Oh my goodness. This is stupid. This show actually had some promise and potential to be good. NBC is currently airing crap like Mercy, but can't find time for this? Ugh, Leno 5 nights a week in primetime....Grrr....

Of course, over the summer the execs started talking like they wanted to turn Southland into a regular old police procedural, which I was sure was going to bring down the quality of the show.

Hey, maybe if they pitch it to cable, they can find a network willing to air it as a real character centered show instead of a procedural.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LadyHathor25,

What? This was one of NBC's most promising shows last season, and the cast was excellent. They didn't do it any favors giving it the Friday death slot, but still, that's a huge blow to what could have been a potentially great series. I hope these unaired episodes crop up somewhere, or better yet, the show move to a cable outlet where it should have been in the first place. At least there they won't have to use those dumb bleeps all the time. Sad news.

Seriously WTF!? I really liked this show.

The people at NBC are dumb as hell. All of this over this stupid @ss Jay Leno "experiment." Yeah how's that experiment workin' out for ya NBC? Idiots.

Seriously, this FRAKKIN' ****es me off... NBC is just plain idiotic... The only worthy things left on the network are 30 Rock and The Office.... Southland was a great show... I hope it finds a home at FX or TNT. It would be a great fit for those cable outlets... which apparently I will continue to watch. NBC sucks! grrrrr!

Here's what Nikki Finke had to say about the cancellation:

NBC has axed Southland... I hear Trauma is next because of its ridiculouly excessive $3 million pricetag an episode. (When I screened the show, I was rooting for the helicopter to kill off every character...) My NBC insiders are letting Angela Bromstad off the hook, saying "she picked the best of ****" from Ben Silverman's failed development. "This is the last gift that keeps on giving from Ben Silverman." The insiders are even going so far as to give up on the rest of the primetime schedule for their network. "There's nothing watchable the rest of the year." Even midseason and spring of 2010? "Nothing watchable the rest of the season," I'm told. "Maybe Jerry Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref will work, but he's not even in it. This is not a fun place to be right now. And we committed to Jay Leno on the air for 2 years because he was worried we'd have an itchy trigger finger. It's an embarrassment for all of us. Maybe he'll get fed up -- he's not right now -- and then we can re-negotiate." This is beyond sad. It's the destruction of a brand.

Lol I think it will be amazing if Southland got like 10 million viewers on a Friday. That will show NBC :P

So, NBC hasn't even announced when or if they air the new episodes, eh?

I can't believe they cancelled it before the episodes even aired! How ridiculous. Wow, were they *that* bad? And this is NBC, so the bar is pretty low, right?

This idea is so stupid. Canceling even before it airs? Someone better tell NBC they suck now. Thank God for their comedies, or else, no one will tune in to this station anymore.

Guess John Wells won't be sending a Christmas card to Jeff Zucker anytime ever. What a zinger that needs to be repeated:

"I'm disappointed that NBC no longer has the time periods available to support the kind of critically-acclaimed series that was for so many years, a hallmark of their success."

I think NBC just raised the white flag on their season today. I sh!t you not.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulHan,

Given NBC's track record of late, this doesn't surprise me. It would fit in over at FX though, so here's hoping.

Too dark and gritty for 9/8 central? That's why you have 10/9 central to air that stuff. Oh, WAIT! You DON'T! For the love of all? They couldn't even wait until football season is over and air it Sundays at 10/9 central? Might as well go off air or become PAX/ION. I have no problem with them wanting to keep Jay Leno in the NBC family. I have a huge problem with leveraging your entire lineup to do so. L&O original & SVU are not 9pm shows, they are 10pm shows. Ben Silverman should be ashamed at what he did to NBC. He's not, but he should be

And before anyone comes in and asks people to stop blaming Jay Leno, we aren't blaming Jay Leno. We are blaming NBC's mortgaging of their schedule for Jay Leno. There is a difference.