NBC Cancels "The Book of Daniel"

[Charlie Brown]

http://www.sovo.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=4770

NBC sources say weak ratings killed the controversial television drama “The Book of Daniel,” but the anti-gay American Family Association claims it caused the show’s cancellation by bombarding the network with e-mails and phone calls denouncing “Daniel” for “mocking Christianity.”

The show’s last episode aired Jan. 20; it was scheduled to run only through Feb. 3, according to the NBC website. NBC also announced this week the cancellation of “Will & Grace” and “The West Wing.”

The American Family Association, the Mississippi-based conservative group that boasts three million members, organized an effort to condemn “The Book of Daniel,” a series created by gay writer Jack Kenny. The AFA urged members to pressure local affiliates with e-mails and phone calls to drop the program before it premiered Jan. 6.

[NC_Nurse]

1. That sucks...

I even emailed to support the show.

The AFA is disgusting. Period.

[Christa]

2. Ta dum - I expected this

I did not think it was a really GREAT show, but I did find it entertaining.

One step forward, two steps back :banghead:

[Phoonzang]

3. Gee, what a surprise.

It lasted longer than I thought...I figured it would be 2 weeks instead of 3. It never had a chance, first of all it pisses of the conservative, second, a Friday night slot is death sentence. Ah well, at least I thought to record all of the episodes...

[onenote]

4. horrible ratings

that's what killed it, not AFA. It started out with 9 million viewers, which is bad. It dropped to 7 million, which is beyond bad

onenote

[FreedomAngel82]

21. And how do you expect them to have raitings when

cities won't even give it a chance?

[onenote]

27. four markets, less than 1 percent of audience

NBC has 230 affiliates. Four refused to carry the show: Little Rock AR, Terre Haute,IN, Beaumont TX, and Meridian Mississippi. Together, they make up around 1 percent of NBC's viewership. You know how many households there are in Meridian: 16,000. If the show had been aired their, how many of those household would've watched? If you forced them all to watch at gunpoint you wouldn't have impacted the ratings worth a damn.

onenote

[Charlie Brown]

32. Yes

I think many people are missing the fact that the show did not elicit much interest from mainstream viewers. It was marketed as a show exclusively about homosexuality, which I think was a mistake. They should have emphasized the ethical and tolerant messages of the show more. Add that to the crummy time slot (10:00 on Sundays, when everyone has stopped watching), and there's not a big chance at success.

The show was done in by NBC, not the AFA.

[supernova]

5. Too bad

It was gonna be a good show. :-(

[LostInAnomie]

6. I called it!

I called it a week before it started. I said that it would get canceled because of lackluster ratings and RR groups would claim a false victory.

Too bad they didn't put in a decent time slot.

[sakabatou]

7. You know

You don't hear anything about Morel Oral on CN.

[KingFlorez]

8. This is getting out of hand

No one has the right not to be offended, so why should NBC conform to right wing standards? These people make me sick.

[ABaker]

19. Are you saying

a show that ridicules gay people or black people should be kept on the air? I hope not.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. Call and complain

Or something needs to be done.

[onenote]

28. yeah call and complain they cancelled this show..the line won't be busy

Sorry, but nobody watched. It might have a life on HBO, where a show with 7 million viewers might survive for a while, but not on network tv.

onenote

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. That sucks

It was a great show. Damn fundies.

[Zynx]

10. Bad ratings = axe comes out

TV shows are notorious for being able to be killed at anytime. Very different from movies in this regard.

[oneighty]

11. Good AFA

Now you are going to do the same campaign against the killing in Iraq?

180

[knitter4democracy]

12. West Wing?

Drat. Are they going to say who's going to win the election?

[JeffR]

13. That'll be in the final episode

Someone posted something about it here the other day. Don't have the link.

[deadparrot]

31. Actually, the election episode will air in early April.

There'll be two or three more episodes before the series finale, following the two-part Election Day episode. :)

[knitter4democracy]

33. Oh good.

Still, if they have the Republican win, even with it going off the air, I'm so done with that show and will have to say something to NBC about it.

[deadparrot]

34. LOL. I know how you feel.

Even though he's not a bad guy, I'm just so tired of a Republican political climate in real life--I don't want them to take over my one outlet of anti-GOP energy. :hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. Same thing happened with "Nothing Sacred" in the 1990s

The fundies and conservative Catholics protested, even though it was NOT an anti-religious show, just showed priests and nuns as human beings, and the last few episodes were never shown and have never been picked up for syndication.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. They didn't even watch the show

I read some of what AFA claimed the show said/did and it didn't match with what the episode had in it.

[tonekat]

15. Aw Crap, we enjoyed that show

Unusually good for network TV. Yet junk like American Idol and all that reality garbage gets to stay on the air? What does that say about the viewing habits of Americans?

[HeeBGBz]

16. Kind of like the Producers

Nice choreography.

[Initech]

17. Fuck the AFA.

[Bozita]

18. sounds like something HBO could buy on the cheap

[FreedomAngel82]

20. So much for freedom of speech

It's surely dead now in America and this proves it even more.

[NYCGirl]

24. Had absolutely nothing to do with freedom of speech. No one watched the

show. Not very good ratings for the first show, and they just kept slipping. It was cancelled. That simple.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

25. Unfair

I never watched the show nor did I care to, however I am concerned about the general principle of a small minority of people (who probably never even watched the show) feeling that it is not only their right but also their obligation to pressure networks to drop shows (that some other people DO enjoy) solely on the basis of THEIR personal objections to it and the more that networks cave into them the more they will be emboldened to continue doing so. While I respect the right of everybody to decline to watch a program, movie, etc. that offends their sensibilities, I fail to see the fairness of depriving other people of the right to watch a program that they might enjoy. It's actually quite simple (at least to me):If people don't like a certain program then they may simply choose NOT to watch it. Nobody's forcing ANYBODY to watch ANYTHING and if people can't find anything on TV that they like, they have the right to promptly pitch their TVs and find other forms of entertainment that they can enjoy without feeling like they are compromising their moral principles.

[ABaker]

35. see post #19 n/t

[otohara]

26. Why Did NBC Even Go Forward w/ This Show?

knowing damn well the right-wing would bombard them and their advertisers?
Makes you wonder about the over paid CEO at NBC.

[Justsayin]

29. Make way for another

cop show I wont watch.

Me and my wife where really enjoying the show :(

[NVMojo]

30. that show was no worse than the soap operas on during the day!

Will and Grace? What the fuck?