“Three Rivers” Done? Nothing Official But Alex O’Loughlin Has Been Here Before

I started to post this news last night, but I just didn’t have the heart to, and a small part of me still hoped it wouldn’t be true. Then, I kept reading conflicting stories: “Three Rivers pulled immediately from Sunday night lineup”; “Three Rivers to air in later time slot”; “Three Rivers to finish out season”; and similar news items.

While CBS has not officially announced a cancellation, and at this point, they are planning on airing all of the remaining episodes, the writing is definitely on the wall. I had a lot of hope for this show, but I have to be honest here, and say that I was really pulling more for Alex O’Loughlin than the show, itself. I’m not as sad and shocked about losing this show nearly as much as with Moonlight. After a couple of episodes of Three Rivers, I just couldn’t follow it anymore. I just lost interest. I got the message of organ donor awareness in the pilot episode. The fact that nothing changed to hold my interest is, I think, a common complaint among those I know who gave Three Rivers a try.

I feel really bad because I know that Alex threw is whole heart into this show, and really believed in it. To be fair, I think CBS did too. As I said before, there have been a few different stories floating around out there, beginning with THR’s from yesterday. But Alex’s own words nailed it down, even if CBS hasn’t given the official word.

A lot of you probably already know this, because you guys know what’s happening in my life before I do, but today I was informed that Three Rivers would soon draw to an end. (Continue reading.)

Some good did come out of this show, besides the awareness that donating organs is not a scary thing. Alex is an Ambassador and official spokesperson for Donate Life America. He will give 110% to this organization, just like he does with any acting job he does, and that can never be bad. I’m looking forward to Alex’s next acting project, and I hope we won’t have to wait too long.

Oded Fehr Joins Three Rivers, Show Explodes From Hotness

Question: When is does a show tip the balance into too much hotness? When Oded Fehr joins Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Henney and Christopher J. Hanke on Three Rivers for a two-episode guest role, that’s when. This Nice Girl may be standing by with a bucket of ice to pour on her TV to prevent a meltdown.

The Israeli hottie, best known for his roles in The Mummy and Sleeper Cell, joins Three Rivers for a couple of episodes early in 2010 as Dr. Luc, a charming heart surgeon returning to Three Rivers after spending time working abroad. O’Loughlin’s Andy Yablonsky butts heads with him in what are sure to be some electric scenes.

In other noteworthy guest star news, Felicia Day (The Guild, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog) appears in the December 6 episode as part of a daisy-chain of donors and recipients.

NGTV Guide: Sunday, November 22

It’s the last weekend before the holidays officially start; take a few minutes tonight to relax with Alex O’Loughlin & Co.

Three Rivers – CBS 9/8c
“The Kindness of Strangers” – The wife of a billionaire suffers the consequences after a setback leaves her without a new liver and her husband resorts to buying one on the black market. Meanwhile, a friend from Andy’s past resurfaces.

NGTV Guide: Sunday, November 15

Mandy Patinkini checks into the hospital under Alex O’Loughlin’s care tonight. This should be interesting…

Three Rivers – CBS 9/8c (or later depending on football)
“The Luckiest Man” – Andy treats a car crash victim dying from ALS who asks to be to taken off of life support so his organs can be used to save others. Meanwhile, David tends to a foster parent with pulmonary hypertension who refuses admission to the hospital.

NGTV Guide: Sunday, November 8

We wind up our weekend with some heroic doctors, provided the heroics on the football field don’t go on too long.

Three Rivers – CBS 9/8c (barring sports overruns)
“Where We Lie” – Lisa becomes very attached to an 8-year-old boy who she witnesses being crushed by a ride at a fair. Meanwhile, Andy and David try to get a VAD (ventricular assist device) for one of their patients.

NGTV Guide: Sunday, November 1

Alex O’Loughlins Dr. Yablonsky is up against it again this week. Here’s hoping sports don’t push tonight’s episode back too late!

Three Rivers – CBS 9/8c
“Alone Together” – In order to save his life, Andy tries a risky new procedure on his wife’s partner who suffers from an aortic aneurysm.

Help a Struggling Series

Every TV season, new shows premiere on the major networks; some are watched in droves by the viewing audience while others languish and disappear all too quickly. I think all of us – whether you are an avid TV viewer like us here at NiceGirlsTV or the occasional viewer – have had certain shows over the years that touched a special place in your heart.

For me those shows include Prey, Firefly, Pushing Daisies and Moonlight (just to name a few). These and MANY other shows aired for a very short amount of time; many not even getting a full season order from their respective networks.

This year is no different. There are a number of struggling newcomers out there that are either getting overlooked by the TV audience because they are simply being forgotten (i.e. the ABC series The Forgotten); the competition is too steep in their timeslot (i.e. the CBS medical drama Three Rivers) or, unfortunately, the show just hasn’t garnered the desired response from the viewing public (i.e. the NBC medical drama Trauma).

There is one other new series that is having a hard time keeping eyeballs glued to the screen – for whatever reasons – and that series is: ABC’s Eastwick. This series had been languishing at the network for years with several failed attempts to bring the John Updike novel and box office hit Witches of Eastwick to the small screen. This year finally seemed to be the right time for the show to emerge from the pack of newcomers, but the ratings just have not been there.

Debuting on September 23, Eastwick garnered a fairly respectable 8.5 million viewers; however, one week later it dropped down to 6.6 million and the following week the series got only 5.28 million viewers. Its fourth and fifth episodes received a dismal 5.09 and 4.93 million viewers, respectively. This progressive decline is not good for any new show and admittedly the network will probably quietly cancel this show simply because the viewership is too low.

Therefore, I would like to make an open plea to all the women out there: Please watch Eastwick tomorrow night on ABC at 10 PM. Tell your friends, family members and co-workers about this show that has been called a cross between Desperate Housewives and Charmed. It really is a delightfully funny and wickedly smart series with plenty of eye candy for both men and women. As everyone knows from the advertising, Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price and Jaime Ray Newman star as the witches of Eastwick.  These lovely ladies are surrounded by Paul Gross (Due South), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY), Johann Urb (Dirt) and Jack Huston (TV’s Spartacus).  The storylines are witty and never cookie cutter.  There is much more to the show than just witches romping around in the town’s fountain.  Give it a try and you just might like it.

NGTV Guide: Sunday, October 25

In the “rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated” column, we have tonight’s Nice Girls appointment television with Alex O’Loughlin.

Three Rivers - CBS 9/8c
“Code Green” – A bus carrying a high-school football team crashes, and Andy’s group rushes to save lives. The parents of one boy must make the difficult decision of whether to donate his organs

Double TV Jeopardy

Every TV season new shows come and go – sometimes too quickly – while some returning shows fail to meet up to expectations of both the viewing audience and the powers that be at the networks. The reasons for these – shall we say – failures are varied, ranging from little to no publicity by their home network, extremely stiff timeslot competition, poor writing or production value, etc.

This year there are several new shows as well as a few returning series that are currently in jeopardy mainly because of low ratings. And, while I don’t watch all of the shows mentioned below, they are the series currently in double TV jeopardy.

First, let’s start with the new shows:

1. Three Rivers on CBS – The drama that should have taken over for ER in terms of gripping medical stories, likeable characters (for the most part) and a worthy cause (organ donation) has, unfortunately, flatlined. Much behind the scenes drama has taken place with this new Alex O’Loughlin vehicle – namely recasting, reshoots of the pilot and then a network decision to air episodes out of order. Not to mention tough competition in the 9 PM Sunday night timeslot and an unrelenting machine called Sunday football.

The show opened with 9.1 million viewers, sank to roughly 7.3 million viewers the following week and received around 7 million this past weekend. And, while these numbers aren’t awful, when compared to the oppositions’ ratings – it’s not good – and the networks “need” for the 18-49 year old market just isn’t helping this show along at all.

2. The Forgotten on ABC – Much like the show’s title this new Christian Slater-led series is being forgotten by the viewers simply because of poor advertising by its home network and tough competition in the form of Julianna Margulies and her new series The Good Wife on CBS.

The series opened fairly well with 9.5 million viewers, but has maintained an average of 7.6 million viewers for the last 3 airings. Again, these aren’t terrible numbers – especially in the age of countless viewing options – but it’s not going to be enough to keep the show on the radar for much longer, as if it was even on most viewers’ minds to begin with.

3. Trauma on NBC – This action-packed drama about emergency responders in San Francisco had an extensive publicity machine behind it (thank you, NBC, I think) with countless promotion on TV, the internet, billboards, radio commercials and much more. However, all that publicity has obviously turned viewers away as each week, since its debut, the show has sunk lower and lower in the ratings with its last two airings only garnering 5.5 million viewers. This show, unfortunately, is solely existing on life support now.

4. Eastwick on ABC – This new series based on the John Updike novel and the box office movie The Witches of Eastwick had a strong opening with 8.5 million viewers, but has dropped significantly each week since then. The network has recently stated it is sticking with the show right now, having no plans to cancel it despite the low ratings, but that assurance could easily vanish as quickly as any spell cast by the lovely witches in the series.

The returning shows that are facing serious problems are:

1. Dollhouse on FOX – The network recently announced they plan to air all 13 episodes of the second season of this new Joss Whedon creation; but given the fact not one episode thus far has cracked 3 million viewers (and even performed lower than the new Syfy series Stargate Universe), how can the network stand behind a series that obviously costs them more each week in production value than they are making back in advertising revenue. The ratings numbers simply don’t support a continuation of the series, but the network, for whatever reason, seems to be on the side of this series at least for now.

2. Cold Case on CBS – For a show that had always been a fairly strong performer for the eye network and has been on the air for 7seasons, the ratings slump that this cop drama has found itself in is a bit surprising. Part of the problem could be the weak lead-in from Three Rivers, the overruns of Sunday football, which is either bumping the airing of new episodes entirely, pushing into a later timeslot or the competition from other networks; but it just strikes odd that this show is under-performing.

3. Heroes on NBC – What was once a ratings giant for NBC, Heroes lost a huge portion of viewers during its very weak second and third seasons, driving fans away in droves. With the return of the show for its fourth (and probably final) season this fall, fans have seemingly given up on this band of super-powered humans; which is a shame, as the show has somewhat finally found its rudder and is drifting along in the choppy TV waters at a better pace. This revival of better storylines and focus is largely going unnoticed by the general viewing audience; especially when you consider the show has only averaged about 5.7 million viewers every week since its debut.

4. Smallville on the CW – This Superman-in-the-making series has been on the air for an astounding 9seasons and with its move to Friday nights, it would seem that the viewers (if not the network) has seen this move as the final nail in the coffin of the series’ longevity. Each week the show has averaged a disappointing 2.5 million viewers, making this probably the least watched season of the show’s history. Creatively the show may be moving closer and closer to the Superman legend, but it seems like too little too late, as the viewers have moved on. The Justice League, the Watchtower and even the impenetrable Lois Lane cannot seem to save this series that once was one of the cornerstones of this newly monikered network.

So, there you have it: A look at some of the shows that are in double jeopardy at the major networks. They certainly aren’t the only ones “on the bubble” or simply waiting for the cancellation axe to fall, and they won’t be the last. It will be up to each shows diehard fans to make a stand for each series, for the networks to take another chance on them or for the fates to play their hand, ending each one as painlessly (hopefully) as possible.

Are there any new or returning shows that you are concerned about? NGTV would love to hear your thoughts.

NGTV Guide: Sunday, October 18

It’s another episode switcharoo when CBS airs swaps episode 1.04 for 1.03. What gives, Moonves?

Three Rivers – CBS 9/8c
“Good Intentions” – After Andy convinces UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) to give a former drug addict a new heart, things take a turn when the patient disappears right before the surgery.

Next Page »