I know we've posted articles in diferent threads but i found some intersting ones today that bring some new facts so I'm starting a new thread and perhaps we can keep it only as a 'what's the media saying about the show's cancellation' section :wave:

The Fox 2008-09 Lineup: Not Idling Until Idol

The shows that Fox chose not to renew are an obscure lot; only Back to You aired even a full season's worth of episodes. The sitcom got decent notices, but while Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, and Fred Willard have awesome comedic resumes, all three are well outside the typical Fox demographic.

http://www.film.com/tv/story/fox-2008-09-lineup-not/13982602/20838735

On TV with Lisa de Moraes

Reality, Non-Reality and Everything In-Between


Re: "Back to You": So has "Back to You" been canceled? I didn't see it in next fall's lineup. I kind of liked the chemistry between the Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton. I hope they give it another chance.

Lisa de Moraes: Fox network has passed on the show for next season but it's being shopped around. Given how CBS-ish it is, that would seem a natural second home, but it's not looking likely. ABC's pickup of NBC's "Scrubs" happened in large part because that sitcom is produced by ABC-parent Disney. (the guy who actually developed it years ago at what's now called Disney TV is the guy who now runs the entertainment division at ABC, Steve McPherson.) But "Back to You" is produced at the Fox studio, so CBS does not have the same financial motivation to keep the show going in order to amass enough episodes to make it viable for syndication. Now, if CBS Prods. was given a financial stake in the show, or fully took over production of the show, that might make the difference. I can't picture Fox studio agreeing to do that, but you never know...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/05/11/DI2008051101909.html

It replaces the canceled "Back to You," the TV-station sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. An online petition is afoot to save that show.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/features/story.asp?ID=244936

'Back to You' the latest victim of Fox's flirtatious nature
Friday, May 16, 2008
By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Fox is a big flirt.

The network and multiple executive regimes have a long history of falling in love with TV shows that sound great on paper -- "The Tick," "Firefly," "Wonderfalls" -- and just as quickly losing interest.

This year's victim was Pittsburgh-set newsroom sitcom "Back to You," which has been canceled.

When Fox launches its fall schedule on Aug. 25, the network will have two more potential victims with additional shows waiting in January.

Fox confirmed that a "24" TV movie will air this fall. Slated for 8 p.m. Nov. 23, the two-hour production is a prequel to season seven, which debuts in January. The film will be shot on location in South Africa, "exploring Jack's complex emotional state of mind," according to executive producer Howard Gordon, as Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) handles an international crisis. Back in America, a new president (Cherry Jones) is about to be inaugurated.

Although Fox inexplicably renewed " 'Til Death," Entertainment Weekly reports the young couple next door, played by Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster, will be dropped in favor of the character introduced this season played by J.B. Smoove.

"It's creatively up for grabs right now," said Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly. "I'm not sure where we're at with that."

As for "Back to You," Reilly said the show's cost and demographic appeal were factors in its cancellation, but not the ultimate factor.

"This was not an easy decision," Reilly said, but with big-name stars in Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, there were expectations for better ratings. "The show didn't really seem to be striking a chord and as far as the creative direction went, it was a pretty mixed bag.

"We're looking to find the next generation of live-action Fox hits," he said, "and where the show was headed, it just didn't feel like it fit into that mix."

Three unaired "Back to You" episodes remain and will likely wind up on DVD. Other canceled series include "Canterbury's Law," "K-Ville," "New Amsterdam," "The Return of Jezebel James" and "Unhitched."

Fox will likely continue to be a flirt in the future, falling in and out of love with the next pretty thing that walks by. Take heart disgruntled viewers; it's not you, it's them.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08137/882288-42.stm

Kelsey Grammer lobbies to revive ailing sitcom
Steve Gorman , Reuters
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Kelsey Grammer, whose latest sitcom, "Back to You," was canceled by Fox after one season, said on Wednesday he has personally lobbied CBS executives to give his show a second chance on their network.

But the Emmy-winning veteran of "Cheers" and "Frasier" is finding that his star power may not be enough to save the newsroom comedy, which Fox announced last week would not return in the fall.

Grammer, 53, told Reuters that he called CBS Corp chief executive Leslie Moonves on Monday to suggest a pickup, and that Moonves told him his network was "thinking about it."

A follow-up call the next day to Nina Tassler, the CBS Entertainment president, was less encouraging, Grammer said.

"She dismissed it," he recalled.

So did viewers and many critics.

Grammer plays a pompous TV news anchor who lands back at his old Pittsburgh station with his former co-anchor and paramour, played by "Everybody Loves Raymond" co-star Patricia Heaton. With its big-name cast and producers, it is one of the most expensive comedies on U.S. television.

Grammer, who gained fame playing a pompous shrink for 20 years on "Cheers" and its spinoff "Frasier," said he was surprised by Fox's cancellation, and felt the News Corp-owned network had not given the series enough time to establish itself.

"I really believe in the show. If I didn't I wouldn't have tried to fight for it," he said.

As a kind of throwback to the traditional TV sitcom genre, "Back to You" was widely seen as an odd choice for Fox, a network better known for cartoon fare such as "The Simpsons," edgy dramas like "24" and the hit talent show "American Idol."

The season finale of the show, its very last episode unless another network comes to the rescue, aired on Wednesday.

It is rare -- but not unprecedented -- for a network to rescue a rival's reject. Walt Disney Co's ABC will next season take over the veteran hospital comedy "Scrubs" from NBC, a unit of General Electric Co.

Many have suggested CBS, looking to expand its comedy offerings next season, might be a more natural fit. But the most-watched network earlier on Wednesday announced plans to launch fresh sitcoms on the back of existing fare like "Two and a Half Men" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine."

Grammer is not alone in his quest to keep "Back to You" alive. A spokesman for the show's producer, 20th Century Fox Television, said the studio would "love to explore" options at other networks. Grammer said he has heard little from the studio.

20th Century Fox Television, a corporate sibling of the Fox network, makes shows for all the networks.

http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=740aaa15-4d9a-401f-a4fe-c074bdf127d3

2. You were surprised that the Kelsey Grammer/Patricia Heaton sitcom Back to You has been canceled after only one season.

Trevor Snyder: Fiction - I was more surprised to read this question and find out that the show had even lasted a full season in the first place. Honestly, I had forgotten all about this thing, and hadn't thought about it once in the past...oh, I don't know...six months? I don't know a single person who watched the show, and I never saw much promotion for it, so no, I can't say I'm surprised...or saddened...that it's now gone.

Matt Richissin: Fiction - After finding out that Back to You was canceled I have spent the last 4 days crying in my shower, eating Rodeo Cheeseburgers and listening to the Cure wondering why the world is so cruel. In all honesty, I'm more surprised how poor FOX is at marketing it's own shows. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was somewhat expensive to get Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton on a sitcom. Then why neglect to give any kind of real marketing?! In the past month I've seen about 3.68 billion commercials for The Bill Engvall Show (which apparently is now TV's #1 comedy?) yet I can't recall ever seeing more than a 15 second spot for Back to You. I'll never understand why FOX continuously spends a ton of money on their shows and then neglects to market them. Why bother?

http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/75624/411-Fact-or-Fiction-Movies-05.16.08:-Week-126.htm

Thrills and laughs in Fox's fall lineup

The network also dumped its most-promoted new series from last fall, Back To You, with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton as feuding news anchors, even though its ratings were decent.

http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/story/535177.html

Kelsey asks CBS to save Back to You
Posted May 16th 2008 8:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cancellations, Reality-Free

Frasier has left the building, but Kelsey Grammer hasn't. Or maybe he just doesn't want to. The actor, whose Fox situation comedy, Back to You, was canceled after just one season, doesn't want to call it quits. He wants the show to continue and he's so determined, he's even lobbied for the show personally. The Emmy award winning star phoned CBS executives -- including CBS CEO Les Moonves -- to plead the case for Back to You.

When Kelsey phoned, Les took the call, and he even told Grammer that he'd "think about it," that is, moving Back to You to CBS. However, when Kelsey followed up with a call to Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment prez, she dismissed it. There really was no room on the CBS schedule for another sitcom; even Rules of Engagement (which CBS has a vested interest in bringing back) won't be broadcast till mid-season next year. There's no mention of Kelsey calling ABC or NBC; perhaps they didn't take his call?

I have to say that it's hard to believe that Kelsey Grammer would put himself out there for a show as mediocre as Back to You. He told Reuters, "I really believe in the show. If I didn't, I wouldn't have tried to fight for it."

Really, why? I mean, seriously, Back to You never lived up to the hype of two major stars -- Grammer and co-star Patricia Heaton -- and the writers from Frasier. In fact, it was the ill-conceived concept that did the show in. The whole idea that a conceited news anchor like Chuck Darling would return to his old stomping grounds -- Pittsburgh -- to reteam with another news personality, Kelly Carr, and stick around after finding out that she had his child after a one-night stand 10 years before, was ridiculous. He would have hopped the first JetBlue out of PA.

Comic situations work best when the principals are forced together -- like Frasier being forced to care for his father because he cannot put him in a nursing home (and Niles couldn't take him). In Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray and Deborah are stuck living across the street from his parents and brother -- they can't get away. That's funny.

In retrospect, Back to You might have worked better without the entire daughter angle. But it doesn't matter now. This sitcom is over and all the calls in the world to network brass won't save it.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/05/16/kelsey-asks-cbs-to-save-back-to-you/

For TV studios, failure happens
Twentieth rebounding from 0-for-7 finish
By STUART LEVINEMore Articles:

Does "Bionic Woman" ring a bell? How about "Big Shots"?
While enthusiasm is high for the new slate of shows, history dictates that only a handful will make it to a second season. That's even if they get through a full first season.

Twentieth TV, especially, knows the lesson well. Studio screened seven new shows last year and none are back. The most surprising might be "Back to You," which Fox didn't announce for renewal at the upfront. Sitcom came in with two Emmy-winning leads (Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton) and a topnotch creative staff.

"It's a business where the failure rate is much higher than the success rate," says Twentieth's Marion Edwards.

Adds CBS Par's Armando Nunez Jr.: "There are always lessons that you learn from one year to the next. We're dealing with a mature marketplace. There are odds against you any time you take a show out."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985957.html?categoryId=3141&cs=1

Networks Anticipate the Fall Cautiously

With fewer new shows to buzz about, talk centered on other questions, like why some marginal shows (like CBS’s “Moonlight”) were canceled, while others survived. One head-scratcher was Fox’s comedy “Back to You,” starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, which Fox won in a ferocious bidding contest last season. Fox dropped it, but kept the comedy “ ’Til Death,” which did no better in the ratings.

One reason offered by a Fox executive: “Back to You” never fit as a Fox show and should have been allowed to go to a more appropriate network (namely CBS) in the first place. CBS executives did consider picking it up, but decided they liked their own new comedies better.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/arts/television/17upfr.html?ref=business

Thanks for your links and articles Sonia! I will be emailing them with our links very shortly. :)

Patty Heaton interview with FOX News. This is pre-cancellation....but what the hell is Patty ;)


http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7799705&ch=4226715&src=news

I hope you don't mind, but I added all these to the links thread. Thanks for all of them - it was interesting to see some of the people's comments to the show!

Grammer says Back to You sitcom won't be back on Fox
Posted 12 hours ago
Kelsey Grammer said this week that Fox is dropping his sitcom "Back to You," calling the decision a surprise and a shame.

"They have let it go," Grammer told The Associated Press. "We were told all this time we were in good shape and we were coming back."

Last week, Grammer taped arrived home to a call telling him that the show was cancelled.

"Back to You," co-starring Patricia Heaton and set in a Pittsburgh TV station newsroom, debuted strongly last fall with nearly 9.5 million viewers. But its audience has slipped, with last week's episode drawing just under seven million viewers.

Television watching overall is down, a trend that's been blamed in part on lingering effects of a 100-day writers strike that shut down TV production.

Grammer said he spoke with Fox executives Peter Liguori and Kevin Reilly and they didn't fully explain the decision. He speculated that their interest in the show had "waned" so they were unwilling to be patient with it.

"I'm not really sure what the real reasoning is. I think they ended up with a show that was going to be a great show. It was a great show," he said.

An online petition campaign is afoot to save the show and Grammer and his wife, Camille, sent an e-mail note to friends inviting them to jump aboard.
Grammer said he's "nursing a tiny hope" that CBS might pick up the show after talking with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.

"I spoke with Les the other day and he was not completely discouraging," Grammer said wryly.

Grammer dismissed talk that the show, with two high-profile TV stars in him and Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), was too costly for Fox.

http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1031935

Let's be upfront: There's not much on the fall TV schedule

Equally mystifying is Fox's decision to cancel the promising Back To You while renewing the clearly rejected 'Til Death. There is talk about CBS expressing interest in the Kelsey Grammer-Patricia Heaton comedy. However, this sort of speculation always arises this time of year and rarely pans out. But it would be a good move for CBS. The smart Back To You is a much better fit on CBS than it was on Fox, whose comedies have generally tended to go low-brow.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-tjmay19colsbmay19,0,5490553.column

Canceled shows whose lives might have been saved


"Back to You" (Fox): Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton in a multi-camera, laugh-track-heavy old-school sitcom? Sounds great for CBS. The writing was mediocre, but it probably would have survived, and thrived, on CBS. It was a fully formed traditional comedy that could have easily been salvaged

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/05/18/DDB810OGTL.DTL

'DO NOT DISTURB'

Expect this low-brow Jerry O'Connell-Niecy Nash hotel sitcom to check out early on Fox. "Maybe they should've kept 'Back to You,'" Horizon's Brad Adgate said of the canceled Kelsey Grammer comedy.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/ad_ages_take_on_the_new_tv_sho.php

Oh my gosh, I can't imagine dropping Steph & Jeff from Til Death, that is ridiculous. This person is out of his mind, clearly!!! I hope Back to You goes to CBS, I do not want to support this station with idiots like that running things! I also really am hoping they release Back To You DVD's!!! Maybe I will get to see the taping I attended all put together. That would be awesome! Thanks for posting all these!

Always love a Patty interview! Thanks again! :)

Kelsey asks CBS to save Back to You
Posted May 16th 2008 8:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cancellations, Reality-Free

Frasier has left the building, but Kelsey Grammer hasn't. Or maybe he just doesn't want to. The actor, whose Fox situation comedy, Back to You, was canceled after just one season, doesn't want to call it quits. He wants the show to continue and he's so determined, he's even lobbied for the show personally. The Emmy award winning star phoned CBS executives -- including CBS CEO Les Moonves -- to plead the case for Back to You.

When Kelsey phoned, Les took the call, and he even told Grammer that he'd "think about it," that is, moving Back to You to CBS. However, when Kelsey followed up with a call to Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment prez, she dismissed it. There really was no room on the CBS schedule for another sitcom; even Rules of Engagement (which CBS has a vested interest in bringing back) won't be broadcast till mid-season next year. There's no mention of Kelsey calling ABC or NBC; perhaps they didn't take his call?

I have to say that it's hard to believe that Kelsey Grammer would put himself out there for a show as mediocre as Back to You. He told Reuters, "I really believe in the show. If I didn't, I wouldn't have tried to fight for it."

Really, why? I mean, seriously, Back to You never lived up to the hype of two major stars -- Grammer and co-star Patricia Heaton -- and the writers from Frasier. In fact, it was the ill-conceived concept that did the show in. The whole idea that a conceited news anchor like Chuck Darling would return to his old stomping grounds -- Pittsburgh -- to reteam with another news personality, Kelly Carr, and stick around after finding out that she had his child after a one-night stand 10 years before, was ridiculous. He would have hopped the first JetBlue out of PA.

Comic situations work best when the principals are forced together -- like Frasier being forced to care for his father because he cannot put him in a nursing home (and Niles couldn't take him). In Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray and Deborah are stuck living across the street from his parents and brother -- they can't get away. That's funny.

In retrospect, Back to You might have worked better without the entire daughter angle. But it doesn't matter now. This sitcom is over and all the calls in the world to network brass won't save it.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/05/16/kelsey-asks-cbs-to-save-back-to-you/
Wow, I am confused how this person can't see how two co-workers having an illegitimate child together after a one night thing, isn't a forced situation!?

The Washington Post

May 20, 2008 Tuesday

Where Are The Shows Of Yesteryear?

FOX
Fox's Dead List includes most of its new series with chick leads. The real question was why Fox had so many new series with chick leads this season, given that it hates shows with chick leads, unless the chick is totally ripped and brandishes huge guns. Among the fallen, or DOA, are "The Return of Jezebel James," "Canterbury's Law" and "Anchorwoman."

Also gone are "K-Ville," "Nashville," "New Amsterdam," "The Next Great American Band" and "Unhitched."

Fox's CBS-esque sitcom " 'Til Death" survived to bore another day while Fox's CBS-esque sitcom "Back to You" did not, despite their ratings similarities ("Back to You" averaged 6.5 million viewers this season; " 'Til Death" averaged 6.1 million). But "Back to You" was an expensive show because of the price tag that came with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, some of the supporting cast and some of the writers. When last heard from, Grammer was trying to get another network to pick up the show. Say, CBS?

http://dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/05/21/1A_MOLLY21_-_for_may.ART_ART_05-21-08_D1_62A7DIE.html?sid=101 (http://dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/05/21/1A_MOLLY21_-_for_may.ART_ART_05-21-08_D1_62A7DIE.html?sid=101)

Gimmicks fail to rescue shows from scrap heap

Blood, baby bootees and legumes weren't enough to save some series this season.

Moonlight, Las Vegas and Jericho, which inspired those donations from fans, are just a few of the series new and old that won't return in the fall.

While the demise of some shows -- including Bionic Woman, Cane and K-Ville -- was known months ago, the fate of some hung in the balance until the networks made presentations to advertisers last week in New York.

I was most invested in two shows: Reaper on the CW and Women's Murder Club on ABC.

Though uneven in quality, both have good casts with potential. One offers a sometimes-sharp, sometimes-sloppy sci-fi tale about a slacker who hunts escaped souls for Satan; the other features four women solving crimes. (My tastes are nothing if not varied.)

I won one, lost another.

Reaper will return at midseason -- which gives me roughly seven months to explain why you should watch it.

ABC, on the other hand, axed Women's Murder Club even though its ratings were no worse than those for Eli Stone, which was renewed.

I like both but would have done the opposite. I'm a sucker for Angie Harmon in Club -- and not just because the reed-thin babe could kick my butt.

ABC also smote one of television's gods, canceling the reality series Oprah's Big Give.

Fox waited 'til last week to renew the second-year comedy 'Til Death -- but not the funny and little-watched newsroom sitcom Back to You. The high cost of the latter (the stars, Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, don't come cheap) sent it off the air.

CBS might pick up Back to You -- the way ABC sewed up Scrubs from NBC. (Predictably, there's already an Internet fan campaign to save Back to You, with supporters sending $1 each to Fox and CBS to offset production costs. I almost miss petitions.)

I'm not passionate about many CBS shows, but I was happy to see that the network will stick with the Julia-Louis Dreyfus comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine and the first-year comedy The Big Bang Theory (which has vastly improved since its debut).

Also at CBS, the James Woods legal drama Shark -- which was good but quickly became a laughable parody of itself -- bit it. But the military drama The Unit will live to fight again.

Anyone remember the child-labor controversy of Kid Nation at the start of the season?

No? Just as well; it's not coming back, either.

NBC pre-empted any suspense by announcing months ago that the first-year dramas Chuck and Life would be welcomed back not this season but next.

ABC will do the same with Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice and Pushing Daisies -- but not, as expected, with Men in Trees, a victim of the network's haphazard scheduling.

A similar excuse can't be used for the death of the ABC comedy Cavemen, which was mocked from the moment it was announced last year and will go down as a great TV punch line.

Good news for the actors, though: No one knows what they look like.

Molly Willow writes about television for The Dispatch. Read the TV blog at Dispatch.com/blogs, under "Features."

mwillow@dispatch.com (mwillow@dispatch.com)

And how could they lose with Back to You starring huge fan favorites Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton ? It’s a fickle, fickle business made all the more so by these uncertain times.

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/226812/

'DO NOT DISTURB'

Expect this low-brow Jerry O'Connell-Niecy Nash hotel sitcom to check out early on Fox. "Maybe they should've kept 'Back to You,'" Horizon's Brad Adgate said of the canceled Kelsey Grammer comedy.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/ad_ages_take_on_the_new_tv_sho.php

I seriously hope this fails. It's already been done numerous times, and sounds like the worst sitcom pilot of the season, honestly.

Kelsey asks CBS to save Back to You
Posted May 16th 2008 8:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cancellations, Reality-Free

Frasier has left the building, but Kelsey Grammer hasn't. Or maybe he just doesn't want to. The actor, whose Fox situation comedy, Back to You, was canceled after just one season, doesn't want to call it quits. He wants the show to continue and he's so determined, he's even lobbied for the show personally. The Emmy award winning star phoned CBS executives -- including CBS CEO Les Moonves -- to plead the case for Back to You.

When Kelsey phoned, Les took the call, and he even told Grammer that he'd "think about it," that is, moving Back to You to CBS. However, when Kelsey followed up with a call to Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment prez, she dismissed it. There really was no room on the CBS schedule for another sitcom; even Rules of Engagement (which CBS has a vested interest in bringing back) won't be broadcast till mid-season next year. There's no mention of Kelsey calling ABC or NBC; perhaps they didn't take his call?

I have to say that it's hard to believe that Kelsey Grammer would put himself out there for a show as mediocre as Back to You. He told Reuters, "I really believe in the show. If I didn't, I wouldn't have tried to fight for it."

Really, why? I mean, seriously, Back to You never lived up to the hype of two major stars -- Grammer and co-star Patricia Heaton -- and the writers from Frasier. In fact, it was the ill-conceived concept that did the show in. The whole idea that a conceited news anchor like Chuck Darling would return to his old stomping grounds -- Pittsburgh -- to reteam with another news personality, Kelly Carr, and stick around after finding out that she had his child after a one-night stand 10 years before, was ridiculous. He would have hopped the first JetBlue out of PA.

Comic situations work best when the principals are forced together -- like Frasier being forced to care for his father because he cannot put him in a nursing home (and Niles couldn't take him). In Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray and Deborah are stuck living across the street from his parents and brother -- they can't get away. That's funny.

In retrospect, Back to You might have worked better without the entire daughter angle. But it doesn't matter now. This sitcom is over and all the calls in the world to network brass won't save it.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/05/16/kelsey-asks-cbs-to-save-back-to-you/

I would like to nominate the author of this article for Moron of the Year. Sheesh.

'DO NOT DISTURB'

Expect this low-brow Jerry O'Connell-Niecy Nash hotel sitcom to check out early on Fox. "Maybe they should've kept 'Back to You,'" Horizon's Brad Adgate said of the canceled Kelsey Grammer comedy.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/ad_ages_take_on_the_new_tv_sho.php
It will probably be cancelled before the World Series is over. :lol:

‘Back to You’ (Fox)

Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton in a multi-camera, laugh-track-heavy old-school sitcom? Sounds great for CBS. The writing was mediocre, but it probably would have survived, and thrived, on CBS. It was a fully formed traditional comedy that could have easily been salvaged.


http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/633686.html

http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/back-to-you-why-was-it-cancelled-is-it-gone-for-good/

Back to You: Why Was It Cancelled? Is It Gone for Good?

http://tvseriefinale.com/assets/backtoyou11b.jpg Fans of FOX’s Back to You (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/back-to-you/) sitcom were shocked to learn that the Kelsey Grammer — Patricia Heaton series had been snuffed out after only one season. Most industry insiders had expected Back to You to return next fall. In fact, executive producer Steven Levitan said that FOX had assured him of a renewal on the same day that it was ultimately cancelled. So, what happened? Could the series still return for season two?

Though Back to You had a decent premiere (9.44 million viewers), subsequent episodes fell to a low of 6.4 million. On the two occasions that FOX gave the sitcom the coveted timeslot following American Idol (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/american-idol/), viewership shot up to 12.15 million. Unfortunately, that number seems less impressive when you consider that’s less than half of the Idol lead-in.

What’s more, when Back to You was moved out of that timeslot, the numbers fell back to six or seven million viewers.

Levitan believes that the sitcom was just not a good fit with FOX. He told the Pittsbugh Post-Gazette, “We’ve been on the wrong network from the start. We got talked into it. That was our blunder… We were on a network that appealed to a different kind of people than we’re aiming for… FOX has a lot of people who tune in for American Idol and then they tune out.”

Interestingly enough, when the series was being developed, FOX, ABC, and CBS all wanted the sitcom. “FOX had the better deal and lots of big promises they didn’t keep,” Levitan notes. “And the one person who didn’t bid on it was Kevin Reilly at NBC (http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/back-to-you-why-was-it-cancelled-is-it-gone-for-good/#), and then he [soonafter] came over to run FOX.”

Discussing the cancellation, FOX Entertainment chief Reilly said, “This was not an easy decision but with that kind of top-profile talent and… proximity to [American Idol] in the second half of the season, the expectations were higher.” He continued, “The show did not seem to be striking a chord, and in terms of creative direction… it was a pretty mixed bag.”

Levitan says, “We were surprised [by the cancellation], but not shocked? Nothing surprises me with [FOX] anymore.”

It’s been suggested that ‘Til Death (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/til-death/) was renewed instead of Back to You because the Grammer — Heaton sitcom was more expensive to produce. Levitan counters that he was never asked to look into ways to trim the show’s budget to make a second year possible. Grammer notes that the budget wouldn’t have been an issue if the network had wanted to renew the sitcom. “That’s rarely a stumbling block if they really want a show,” he said. “There are ways around that. They just really didn’t want it.”

There has been talk that the sitcom might move to another network, most likely CBS. A handful of episodes were sent to CBS Corp chief executive Leslie Moonves for viewing. Levitan concedes, “It’s always a long shot, but they [CBS] took JAG from NBC and that turned out to be a hit for them for years, so it’s not unprecedented. But it is a long shot.”
Grammer called Moonves personally and the exec said that the network was considering it. When he later called Nina Tassler, the CBS Entertainment president, Grammer says she dismissed the idea. The former Frasier (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/frasier/) star said, “I really believe in the show. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have tried to fight for it.”

Though the sitcom’s chances for survival seem quite grim, 20th Century Fox Television (http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/back-to-you-why-was-it-cancelled-is-it-gone-for-good/#) (who produces the series) is reportedly still trying to find a new home for it. Their deadline is June 11th, likely when show contracts expire. Fans of the series (http://savebacktoyou.webs.com/) are still actively campaigning to save their show by sending money (in a symbolic gesture to help offset production costs) and water bottles (a reference to a particular episode). Presumably they’d also like to see FOX air the remaining four episodes as well.

Admittedly, the sitcom’s return is a long shot at best. In the event that Back to You stays cancelled, Grammer has been signed to join the Roman’s Empire pilot for ABC. Empire’s a single-camera comedy and Grammer will play the patriarch of a wealthy and eccentric family. There are also rumblings that co-star Heaton would like to do a daytime talk show. The actress had been interested in doing one when Everybody Loves Raymond (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/everybody-loves-raymond/) ended but took herself out of the running when she signed on to do Back to You.

[/URL]It seems that, one way or the other, Grammer and Heaton will likely be returning to television soon. Which network? Which show? Stay tuned! [URL="http://%20tvseriesfinale.com/"]http://tvseriefinale.com/assets/tvseriesfinale-end.gif (http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=crA2wShZ3vk&offerid=78941&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewTVShow%253Fid%253D264174678%2526partnerId%253D30)

'Back to You' was doomed from the start

By Scott D. Pierce
Deseret News

A lot of TV insiders seem surprised that Fox canceled "Back to You" a couple of weeks ago. Shocked might even be a better word for it.
Frankly, I'm sort of surprised that this came as such a shock. The ratings weren't good and neither was the show.

(Of course, "good" is a relative term. And, yes, it can leave you flummoxed to think that Fox canceled "Back to You" and renewed "'Til Death.")

"Back to You" had plenty of star power both in front of the camera and behind it. Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") and Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") headlined the half hour, which was produced by Christopher Lloyd ("Frasier") and Steve Levitan ("Just Shoot Me").

But what resulted from this pooling of talent was a pedestrian sitcom that seemed old and tired the day it debuted.

It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good. It wasn't the worst, but perhaps it was the most disappointing show that debuted on any network last fall. The writers' strike certainly didn't help, but when Fox aired "Back to You's" 14th and, perhaps, final episode on May 14, it wasn't a big improvement on the not-so-good pilot.

(There are a couple more episodes that haven't aired, and Fox has not announced any plans to put them on the schedule. They will, no doubt, end up on the DVD.)

Whatever the show's strengths and shortcomings, it was doomed from the start — actually, several months before the start — because it was on the wrong network.
In a postmortem interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Levitan acknowledged the obvious truth.

"We've been on the wrong network from the start," he said. "We got talked into it. That was our blunder. (Fox is) a network that appealed to a different kind of people than we're aiming for."

To which we can only say, "Duh!"

"This show is completely out of place on Fox," I wrote last September. "It might fit on CBS's Monday-night lineup, but a show where the combined ages of the two leads is 101 is not what the Fox audience is looking for."

And, no, I'm not claiming any great foresight. I was hardly the only one expressing doubts about "Back to You" on Fox last fall.

Both ABC and CBS bid on the show, but Fox Studios sold it to the Fox network ... and the show's fate was sealed.

By the way, while there were reports that Fox Studios was shopping the show to other networks — particularly CBS — those talks have gone nowhere. CBS did not pick up "Back to You" for either its fall or midseason schedule. And now there's word that Grammer has signed on to star in an ABC comedy pilot — he'll play an eccentric billionaire in "Roman's Empire," the Americanization of a British sitcom.

In the end, it didn't help that Grammer and Heaton were on "Back to You." And not just because they didn't come cheap — making "Back to You" a relatively expensive prospect for the network — but because their presence raised expectations for the show higher than they might otherwise have been.

Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly told reporters that canceling the sitcom "was not an easy decision. But with that kind of top-profile talent and ... proximity to ('American Idol') in the second half of the season, the expectations were higher."

Reilly, by the way, was the president of NBC Entertainment when "Back to You" was shopped to all the networks in early 2007. And NBC was the only one of the Big Four that didn't show much interest in the sitcom.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700229452,00.html

Kelsey Grammer cast in ABC pilot, Back to You not moving to CBS

Kelsey Grammer has been cast in the ABC comedy pilot "Roman's Empire," from Ashton Kutcher's Katalyst Films, Tiger Aspect and CBS Paramount Network TV.

Grammer, coming off the canceled Fox comedy "Back to You," will play an eccentric billionaire in the comedy about a guy who can't get away from his ex girlfriend wealthy family. Cast also includes comic Nick Thune, who inked a development pact with ABC earlier this year (Daily Variety, March 3).

"Roman's Empire" was penned by Al Higgins. Shooting on the single-camera comedy begins Saturday.

Grammer is repped by CAA.

Source: Variety.com

http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/back-to-you-why-was-it-cancelled-is-it-gone-for-good/

Back to You: Why Was It Cancelled? Is It Gone for Good?

http://tvseriefinale.com/assets/backtoyou11b.jpg Fans of FOX’s Back to You (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/back-to-you/) sitcom were shocked to learn that the Kelsey Grammer — Patricia Heaton series had been snuffed out after only one season. Most industry insiders had expected Back to You to return next fall. In fact, executive producer Steven Levitan said that FOX had assured him of a renewal on the same day that it was ultimately cancelled. So, what happened? Could the series still return for season two?

Though Back to You had a decent premiere (9.44 million viewers), subsequent episodes fell to a low of 6.4 million. On the two occasions that FOX gave the sitcom the coveted timeslot following American Idol (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/american-idol/), viewership shot up to 12.15 million. Unfortunately, that number seems less impressive when you consider that’s less than half of the Idol lead-in.

What’s more, when Back to You was moved out of that timeslot, the numbers fell back to six or seven million viewers.

Levitan believes that the sitcom was just not a good fit with FOX. He told the Pittsbugh Post-Gazette, “We’ve been on the wrong network from the start. We got talked into it. That was our blunder… We were on a network that appealed to a different kind of people than we’re aiming for… FOX has a lot of people who tune in for American Idol and then they tune out.”

Interestingly enough, when the series was being developed, FOX, ABC, and CBS all wanted the sitcom. “FOX had the better deal and lots of big promises they didn’t keep,” Levitan notes. “And the one person who didn’t bid on it was Kevin Reilly at NBC (http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/back-to-you-why-was-it-cancelled-is-it-gone-for-good/#), and then he [soonafter] came over to run FOX.”

Discussing the cancellation, FOX Entertainment chief Reilly said, “This was not an easy decision but with that kind of top-profile talent and… proximity to [American Idol] in the second half of the season, the expectations were higher.” He continued, “The show did not seem to be striking a chord, and in terms of creative direction… it was a pretty mixed bag.”

Levitan says, “We were surprised [by the cancellation], but not shocked? Nothing surprises me with [FOX] anymore.”

It’s been suggested that ‘Til Death (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/til-death/) was renewed instead of Back to You because the Grammer — Heaton sitcom was more expensive to produce. Levitan counters that he was never asked to look into ways to trim the show’s budget to make a second year possible. Grammer notes that the budget wouldn’t have been an issue if the network had wanted to renew the sitcom. “That’s rarely a stumbling block if they really want a show,” he said. “There are ways around that. They just really didn’t want it.”

There has been talk that the sitcom might move to another network, most likely CBS. A handful of episodes were sent to CBS Corp chief executive Leslie Moonves for viewing. Levitan concedes, “It’s always a long shot, but they [CBS] took JAG from NBC and that turned out to be a hit for them for years, so it’s not unprecedented. But it is a long shot.”
Grammer called Moonves personally and the exec said that the network was considering it. When he later called Nina Tassler, the CBS Entertainment president, Grammer says she dismissed the idea. The former Frasier (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/frasier/) star said, “I really believe in the show. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have tried to fight for it.”

Though the sitcom’s chances for survival seem quite grim, 20th Century Fox Television (http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/back-to-you-why-was-it-cancelled-is-it-gone-for-good/#) (who produces the series) is reportedly still trying to find a new home for it. Their deadline is June 11th, likely when show contracts expire. Fans of the series (http://savebacktoyou.webs.com/) are still actively campaigning to save their show by sending money (in a symbolic gesture to help offset production costs) and water bottles (a reference to a particular episode). Presumably they’d also like to see FOX air the remaining four episodes as well.

Admittedly, the sitcom’s return is a long shot at best. In the event that Back to You stays cancelled, Grammer has been signed to join the Roman’s Empire pilot for ABC. Empire’s a single-camera comedy and Grammer will play the patriarch of a wealthy and eccentric family. There are also rumblings that co-star Heaton would like to do a daytime talk show. The actress had been interested in doing one when Everybody Loves Raymond (http://tvseriesfinale.com/shows/everybody-loves-raymond/) ended but took herself out of the running when she signed on to do Back to You.

[/URL]It seems that, one way or the other, Grammer and Heaton will likely be returning to television soon. Which network? Which show? Stay tuned! [URL="http://%20tvseriesfinale.com/"]http://tvseriefinale.com/assets/tvseriesfinale-end.gif (http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=crA2wShZ3vk&offerid=78941&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewTVShow%253Fid%253D264174678%2526partnerId%253D30)

That's a great article - he mentions and gives the link for our campaign (both the bottled water and money campaign).

Monday, May 26, 2008

Roush on Back to You

Question: I was wondering if you had any idea why Fox chose to cancel Back To You instead of 'Til Death. If I remember correctly, Back To You pulls in higher ratings and has a bigger backing from critics than 'Til Death does. Was it mostly a cost related issue? I would assume Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton don't come cheap. — Stephen

Matt Roush: You would assume correctly. I can't explain why 'Til Death got a reprieve, but everything I heard and read regarding Back to You's cancellation had to do with money. There was a costly bidding war last year over that show and those talents — not just the stars, but the veteran sitcom writers who created it — and I think it's fair to say that the show ultimately fell short, both creatively and in the ratings. Many have wondered what would have happened had CBS, which seems a much more suitable home for this kind of comedy, had landed it. A moot point now.

Kelsey Grammer now part of ABC's 'Empire.' Following the cancellation of Back to You, Kelsey Grammer may not have much of a layoff.

The multiple-Emmy winner has signed on to ABC's comedy pilot Roman's Empire, the show-biz trade papers report. He'll play the title character, an eccentric billionaire.

The show marks Grammer's first role in a single-camera comedy after more than two decades of playing Dr. Frasier Crane on multi-camera shows Cheers and Frasier. This season, he starred Back to You on Fox with Patricia Heaton. His casting in Roman's Empire likely will put to rest speculation that the show might switch networks.

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/television/20080530_The_CW_sets_its_Sunday_lineup.html

Are chances really as slim as the articles are saying they are?

Are chances really as slim as the articles are saying they are?

We're hoping they're not! Let's try to be positive and do the best we can in the next 10 days. The deadline is June 12 I think.

:wave:

The TV season's canceled shows
Eviscerated by the three-month writers strike, this last television season was the strangest in recent memory.
By Mary McNamara
May 27, 2008


But it was back to the trenches for the rest, and for those already weak or wounded -- "Moonlight," "New Amsterdam," "Aliens in America" and "Back to You" -- any hope of building enough word of mouth to overcome early low numbers was faint and soon vanished altogether. As will the shows.

Reviewing the rolls of those fallen in action, I must confess that while there were a few I liked -- "Aliens," "Back to You" -- most I did not. Still, it seems unfair that they should be judged as no other shows have been judged, on seasons ripped apart by internal strife and resumed amid so much expectation and occasional time slot changes.

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/news/more/print/env-en-cooler28-2008may28,0,7726476.story

I hate reading articles that pretty much say that BTY is history, because we all know there is a great chance it won't be. We need to stay positive know matter what!

I sure hope we get the last laugh!!!

By: Brooke Cain

I warned you, but no one listened. I feel like Al Gore, eight years ago, back when we had polar ice caps and drinking water.

A few months ago I used this spot to opine the fact that I, above most others, deserve a Nielsen box. I not only laid forth evidence demonstrating mass quantities of television watching, but I made a case that I am a connoisseur (not a purveyor! yes, I got the e-mail messages) of quality shows. My goal was, and continues to be, saving good shows that knuckleheads with Nielsen boxes apparently won't watch. No offense.

Nine months ago I felt optimistic about the new TV season. There were a lot of promising shows, and I was happy to add a few more to my routine. And, despite the drama of the writers' strike and the confusing new midseason starts and restarts, I thought my shows were doing OK.

Then, reality bit. It's that time in late spring that lovers of fledgling shows dread -- when networks announce the shows going off to that big TiVo in the sky. Sadly, a lot of the shows I championed earlier this year are on the roll that's been called up yonder.

I did all I could, sitting in here in my cold, Nielson box-less world, shouting into a void of boob tube apathy. I am not to blame. The burden was on the Nielsen families, those power-hungry minions of The Man who lounge around in robes made of kitten hides, watching "Two and a Half Men" and "The Price is Right" in prime time. No offense.

What did they do, exactly? In the words of Jason Castro (if you have to ask...), they shot the tambourine man. Yeah, that's right. That's exactly what they did. (I'm not sure either, but it sounds bad, and he's adorable, right?)

Memo to Tambourine Man Shooters and Killers of My Shows:

It's too late now, but you all should have watched "Back to You" on Fox. Set in a local TV newsroom, it had an A-plus cast and great writing. In the final show, Chuck and Kelly (Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton) disclose the fact that they have a love child together (although "love" is a very strong word with these two) at the same time the station invests millions in a huge ad campaign celebrating Chuck's return to the station: "Chuck and Kelly -- Doin' it again!" It was great. And it had Fred Willard. And it is gone.
Another show that never got the support it deserved was "New Amsterdam," also on Fox. This drama had a 400-year-old detective (who conveniently stopped aging somewhere in his gorgeous physical prime) who couldn't die. In flashbacks, we see Amsterdam making the most of his endless time on Earth, working as a Civil War physician (I should have known a show with a cameo from Walt Whitman was too good for this world), portrait painter, jazz musician, furniture maker, World War II soldier, stable boy, con man...

I just can't even tell you how good this show was. There was a crime to solve each week, which spoke to the crime-show-lovin' side of me, but the crime was incidental to what you really cared about -- the haunted John Amsterdam and the peeks into his past. It was smart, it was dark, it was funny, it was twisted.

"Notes from the Underbelly." Yeah, critics didn't love this show, but almost everyone I know did. Dark humor, quirky characters, no laugh track. Very similar in style to "Samantha Who," which is doing well, but without the big-name stars, so it was largely ignored. Too bad because it deserved one more season.

Nielsen folks did get some things right, but you shouldn't really expect a parade for rejecting something called "My Dad is Better Than Your Dad." I don't know what that is, but it sounds awful. And you didn't watch "Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann." Big whoop.


Finally a voice of reason :cool:


http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1098062.html

Finally, a critic who like the show! They got everything right - the show had great characters, great writing, and great episodes. I just wish more people would have watched originally.