Note: The opinion expressed in the Oh Smoo! editorial column do not always necessary align with the thoughts of The TV Ratings Guide as a whole.
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Because TV shows do not get picked up or cancelled just because I watch them or not. That's a simple fact we need to remember. If the world truly revolved around my TV preferences, Cristela would be returning for S2, Trophy Wife would be in its third season, 666 Park Avenue would be coming up on its syndication season, Raising Hope would be producing S6, and an older show called "Scoundrels" would have been a continual summer hit beyond its 2010 cancellation. Plus, my daytime faves, All My Children and One Life to Live would be coming up on their 46th and 48th seasons on the air, respectively. And Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Jersey Shore, 19 Kids and Counting and The Hills would have all been cancelled after their first seasons. But the world of TV doesn't revolve around me. Clearly, there are other factors to the equation, and other people's tastes in television, which cause a renewal and cancellation.
I attempted to watch Dr. Ken and decided not to return. It is not the worst show I've ever
watched in scripted history. That dubious honor belongs to Fox's Dads, a show so deplorable I turned it off after 12 minutes of the pilot. I just don't find the humor relevant in Dr. Ken. I already have another sitcom which explores Asian family humor with more sincerity and sophistication, thanks to Fresh Off The Boat. I do not enjoy Dr. Ken, but I am happy for the actors and producers, as they at least have one year of stability in the volatile entertainment industry. And I'm also happy for ABC, as they found another solid fare to hold their schedule together. They boast three solid sitcoms on Wednesday, two sophomore sitcoms which are at least producing moderate ratings, and two freshman comedies which are fairing okay. The last slot belongs to Last Man Standing, which is aging and outsourced. This places The Muppets and LMS as the weaklings among the 8 sitcoms, and Muppets was declared a partial order sitcom, regardless of performance.
Dr. Ken's mediocre success spells solidity for ABC, which suffered from bleak potholes in its schedule from 2007-13. I will not return to Dr. Ken, unless the writing somehow captivates me. I loved Desperate Hosuewives for most of its run, but didn't get into it until midway through S1 when the episode featuring Sharon Lawrence had of the PTA arrested for prostitution. You never know; I may one day become a fan. But for the time being, I'm just happy ABC has ratings Spackle to plaster a difficult timeslot which cursed Cristela, The Neighbors, Malibu Country, etc.... With LMS an aging and weak link in ABC's successful sitcom family, Dr. Ken may spell hope for ABC maintaining sitcoms on Friday.
So of my mentioned shows I wish survived, why did they all perish? Cristela was outsourced from Fox and had mixed reviews. It dipped into sub-1.0 territory, which no sitcom has ever rated and survived. Even on Fox and NBC. Just ask members of Cristela's freshman class, Shelfie and Manhattan Cancellation Story, which were yanked and forgotten after wasting space on Tuesdays, even for cursed ABC timeslot standards. Same goes for Trophy Wife, which suffered due to ABC's horse-smoo style Tuesday scheduling, which nearly killed the Goldbergs. Trophy Wife could have succeeded had ABC placed it in the Wednesday timeslots taken up by Bleak in the Game and Super Fart Night. Raising Hope died because fox satisfied its syndication
Scoundrels never lit the ratings on fire, and successful summer shows were unheard of during their era. And my daytime fares, AMC and OLTL, both had high New York production costs. The first was destroyed creatively for years, even making the last half of Revenge's S4 measure up to "Must See TV". Both suffered from years of valleys and laurels, and network executives decided to roll the dice with lifestyle and reality TV programming. After all, Reality TV and Z-listers behaving badly rated all too high in 2011. Why pay Susan Lucci $1M for her character Erica to have a trashy affair, when they could pay Snooki or JWoww $10K an episode to do something they would have already done for recreation like a hooker on Saturday night? I was initially furious, then disillusioned when ABC cancelled my beloved shows so disrespectfully, but I realized it was not about what my one TV set was watching. Why did ABC care about my one investment, when millions of woman in my age demo enjoyed reality TV? Just like why should ABC care if I cannot stand Dr. Ken, when clearly 1.5 women seem to enjoy this show. The bottom line is, it is about more than me/us. Do you enjoy Dr. Ken? Humor me as to why I should give this show a second chance, and maybe I'll join the ranks.