NBC flatlines Trauma

I’m trying, in my head, to come up with the last smart decision that NBC made. Leno? Nope. Chuck? I’m a fan of the move, but I’m not sure it was a smart move (though I really hope things work out … more Chuck is a good thing in my eyes). Giving us more SNL during an election year was pretty good, but doing it again this year? Not so much. I heard someone somewhere say recently that NBC isn’t even a major network anymore, and it’s a sentiment that I can’t disagree with.

The Live Feed is reporting that NBC is canceling Trauma. They will most likely be airing the thirteen episodes originally ordered, though, as we know, that promise is always a crapshoot. What I don’t get is that this comes after they decided to air the show during November Sweeps following a little ratings rebound.  I know the show hasn’t performed up to expectations, and I get that it’s an incredibly expensive show. I don’t just don’t think cancellation was the right option.

Dramatically, the show worked well. I’ve said the relationship between Nancy and Rabbit is comparable to Ross and Hathaway from ER. I know that’s high praise, but I think it’s well deserved. They click in a way that allows them to have great chemistry even though they are not in a relationship and aren’t trying be in one. Cliff Curtis and Anastasia Griffith are very talented actors that I hope will bounce back quickly. Curtis has danced on the outskirts of landing a great leading role for quite some time now (Not unlike another great actor from another recently canceled show I loved), and I truly hope this doesn’t hinder his career growth.

If I were running NBC (and really, are there those out there that don’t think they could do a better job?), I would have asked the producers to rework the budget. I know the theme of the show demands a lot of money for those special effects, but there’s always ways to do things cheaper (Just take a look at “Epitaph One” if you’re curious on how to do it). There are certainly some opportunities there for saving on some expense, and considering that Heroes is still around, you’d think they’d have more sympathy for a show on Monday night.

I’ve stated that I think that Trauma was probably my new favorite show of the fall (not called Glee, obviously), and it’s a damn shame to see it go. I’ve provided the week by week ratings below (courtesy of Brett, resident ratings guru) for your information.

(Oh, the last time NBC made a good decision? Easy: Partnering with DirecTV to keep Friday Night Lights on the air)

9/28 6.68m/2.2
10/05 5.37m/1.7
10/12 5.49m/1.8
10/19 5.46m/1.8
10/26 5.7m/1.9

Clacked by Ivey West
on Oct 29, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT