"Over there (via Fark):"
FX has opted not to renew veteran producer Steven Bochco's Iraq War drama series "Over There," citing lackluster ratings, the cable network said Tuesday.
"I'm deeply proud of 'Over There,' which was beautifully produced, acted, written and directed," FX president and general manager John Landgraf Landgraf said. "The series was arguably the most critically acclaimed new television show of the year, a fact which made the decision not to renew it all the more difficult."
Despite a strong debut that drew 4.1 million viewers, "Over There" tailed off through the rest of its 13-episode run, averaging just 2.1 million overall.
The novelty wore off, and - I suspect - people got a little uncomfortable watching fictionalized recreations of events that were actually taking place.
I'm not a TV critic (my current gig provides enough self-loathing, thanks), but even I know there's usually a lag between the actual war and the television entertainment based on it. MASH debuted 20 years after Korea (as did the movie upon which it was based), while China Beach and Call to Glory came out after a similar interval following the Vietnam War.
Movies have started mimicking this trend as well. Three Kings and Courage Under Fire (to name two examples) didn't come out until almost a decade after the Gulf War, and neither of these were all that negative, unlike Jarhead, which is being released this week (and is a very good film, BTW). Black Hawk Down was about one limited U.S. engagement, and it didn't come out for 8 years after the battle itself.
Hell, even Clint Eastwood waited three years after Grenada to release Heartbreak Ridge. Grenada hardly counts as a "war" however.
The Iraq War will have to come to and end and be years behind us before people are willing to see attractive performers re-enact Fallujah and the like. This doesn't seem very likely, given the inexplicably high ratings it seems to have in the White House.
At least there weren't any all-singing episodes. Or maybe there were, I didn't watch the damned thing.
I watched about five minutes of it before whisting low and going "Wow, this sucks harder than China Beach".
Jarhead looks wicked good, going to be there opening night.
Isn't this the guy who gave the inimitable, Cop Rock?
I'd have watched if they had a crossover episode with the cast of 'Joey'. 'Fallujoey' perhaps.
But surely there were lots of WW2 films that came out during the war? 'In Which We Serve', for one. 'Casablanca'.
Yup. I was talking about TV shows, initially, and how movies have recently undergone the same lag.
Beautiful last sentence there.