"The Apprentice" (NBC)
The ever-decreasing ratings for “The Apprentice” — its sixth season debuted with series-low ratings and slid from there — have pretty much matched the show’s decreasing entertainment value. Out of the gate, Donald Trump was an instant and brilliant reality star, firing people left and right while encouraging type-A personalities to destroy one another. Since then, the show’s production values have remained strong, but Trump and the candidates have flatlined. The candidates all blend together, and Trump’s shtick is tired. Even he seems bored, not even bothering to learn the names of the company executives who show up to sell their products as part of the tasks. Moving the show to Los Angeles and dumping Carolyn and George in favor of Ivanka and Don Jr. was a smart move, but it came five seasons too late, and did nothing to change the fact that its star was a one-season TV wonder.

"The O.C." (FOX)
“The O.C.” may have had main characters who were in high school, but its sensibility targeted 20- and 30-something hipsters, giving them a cheesy soap opera of their own. With its well-chosen soundtrack and witty dialogue, the show’s plots didn’t have to be complex to result in a entertaining and culturally influential (“Chrismukkah”) hour. But for some reason, the writers burned through their central plots immediately, allowing outcast Seth and popular girl Summer to fall in love, and bad-boy Ryan to start dating socialite Marissa. That made Seth and Ryan insiders instead of outsiders, which would have been the show’s logical conclusion. Instead, the show kept going for three more seasons and was forced to invent new conflicts, from the death of Marissa at the end of season three to an earthquake that destroyed everything at the series’ end. That’s standard for a soap opera, but shouldn’t have been “The OC’s” fate.

"Alias" (ABC)
ABC’s spy drama should have been a single-season show. Okay, a season and a half. Sydney Bristow — grad student by day and spy by night — was working for a division of the CIA that was actually run by a terrorist group, and along with her father, she became a double agent bent on taking down that organization, SD-6. At the halfway point during the second season, the writers decided to dispense with the show’s central conceit, and SD-6 was no more. Sydney finally was able to show her love for her real CIA handler, and tell the truth to her real friends in the organization who also thought they were working for the good guys. It was a satisfying conclusion, but it should have been the conclusion, as the show had few places to go from there. “Alias” tried to reboot itself several more times, but each new beginning was increasingly implausible, and none of the subsequent iterations managed to capture the balance of family drama, spy intrigue, and campy fun that the first 1.5 seasons did.

"Prison Break" (FOX)
Once disbelief was suspended, “Prison Break’s" first season offered an exceptionally engaging viewing experience. It ended with the promise of its title coming true: The main characters actually broke out of prison, finally putting Michael Scofield’s detailed plan into play. The prisoners were on the run and spread across the country, and they quickly became annoying. A group of people with competing interests working toward one end (breaking out of prison) was far more interesting than a group of people pursing their individual interests (which mostly involved chasing after and/or stalking the loves of their lives), even if the former was a lot more implausible. The complete change in approach for season two seemed to acknowledge that the show as defined in season one really was a single-season concept.

"Road Rules" (MTV)
A few years after creating the genre we know today as reality TV, MTV created the first competition-based reality show, “Road Rules.” Essentially a spinoff from “The Real World,” the show found five strangers driving around the country in an RV, completing missions in various communities. At the end of the whole show, they received a “handsome reward.” There were no eliminations, no votes — just five people navigating the country and their relationships with each other, both of which offered tension and drama. Ever since, the show has devolved into increasing ridiculousness as producers changed the formula, from moving the show around the world to replacing cast members to dropping the RV entirely. And while MTV cancelled the show a few years ago, it’s back this spring, and is more of a joke than ever, with the cast only traveling around Southern California on weekends and forming alliances like they do on “The Real World/Road Rules Challenges.” Despite the fact that “Road Rules” began as a distinct series, it all-too-quickly became a pale imitation of the show it’s supposed to feed.

"The O.C." (FOX)
“The O.C.” may have had main characters who were in high school, but its sensibility targeted 20- and 30-something hipsters, giving them a cheesy soap opera of their own. With its well-chosen soundtrack and witty dialogue, the show’s plots didn’t have to be complex to result in a entertaining and culturally influential (“Chrismukkah”) hour. But for some reason, the writers burned through their central plots immediately, allowing outcast Seth and popular girl Summer to fall in love, and bad-boy Ryan to start dating socialite Marissa. That made Seth and Ryan insiders instead of outsiders, which would have been the show’s logical conclusion. Instead, the show kept going for three more seasons and was forced to invent new conflicts, from the death of Marissa at the end of season three to an earthquake that destroyed everything at the series’ end. That’s standard for a soap opera, but shouldn’t have been “The OC’s” fate.
I liked The O.C. and I'm glad it lasted as long as it did.

I wish the networks would embrace the idea of a "limited series." Some high concept ideas like Prison Break or Alias eventually run out of ideas.

Why not do a 12 episode series and treat it like a big time made for TV epic event? And if the show does well, do a sequel a year or two later.

Oh wait, i forgot. They used to do this. It was called a mini series!

;)

"The Apprentice" (NBC)
The ever-decreasing ratings for “The Apprentice” — its sixth season debuted with series-low ratings and slid from there — have pretty much matched the show’s decreasing entertainment value. Out of the gate, Donald Trump was an instant and brilliant reality star, firing people left and right while encouraging type-A personalities to destroy one another. Since then, the show’s production values have remained strong, but Trump and the candidates have flatlined. The candidates all blend together, and Trump’s shtick is tired. Even he seems bored, not even bothering to learn the names of the company executives who show up to sell their products as part of the tasks. Moving the show to Los Angeles and dumping Carolyn and George in favor of Ivanka and Don Jr. was a smart move, but it came five seasons too late, and did nothing to change the fact that its star was a one-season TV wonder.



They should have explained why they felt Carolyn should have been replaced. And no this should not have lasted one season. The only part of the show I don;t like is after the person is fired, he tell everyone else that is left in the boardroom to-"GET OUT!!!!!!! GO!!!!!!!

I be like "HUH???

I wish the networks would embrace the idea of a "limited series." Some high concept ideas like Prison Break or Alias eventually run out of ideas.

Why not do a 12 episode series and treat it like a big time made for TV epic event? And if the show does well, do a sequel a year or two later.

Oh wait, i forgot. They used to do this. It was called a mini series!

;)


Ah yes, the good ol' days of the mini series. The great ones like Roots, V, V The Final Battle, Shogun, The Thorn Birds, etc...

Speaking of miniseries, The Awakening Land (1978) starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Hal Holbrook and Jane Seymour was a great one: http://imdb.com/title/tt0076981/

One show that I think would have been better served as a miniseries was Christy. The 1994-95 series starring Kellie Martin and Tyne Daly is now available on DVD, and (loosely) based on Catherine Marshall's 1967 novel. The acting was terrific and the production values were top-notch. The series was entirely filmed on location in the mountains of Tennessee, where the book was set. The show changed a lot of characterizations and situations and made it to be a sappy soap opera, complete with a wife back from the dead. They ended it on a cliffhanger (CBS had cancelled the show) and 6 years later PAX made a movie trilogy with an almost entirely different cast, and changed things around even more (a female pilot in 1912, for crying out loud!).

As good as the book is, in hindsight, they should have just stuck to novel and made it as a miniseries. Just my 2 cents...