Eyes: Another great show down the tube

After five episodes of the superlative new show Eyes aired, it mysteriously disappeared from the Tivo lineup. When a second week went by and still no sign of it, I went looking on the web and found my suspicions confirmed: the show has been dropped from ABC's lineup for the fall, and the remaining episodes won't be aired. Of course not: like the ill-fated Wonderfalls on Fox a few years back, Eyes (a show set in a high-glamor private investigation firm) was smart, funny, and appeared to have a developing story arc that would have rewarded continuing viewers. (Of course, it wasn't until three years later and the series' eventual release on DVD that Wonderfalls viewers were rewarded with an amazing 13-episode story, but that's water under the bridge.) So naturally, after airing fewer than half of the filmed thirteen episodes, ABC pulled the plug due to poor ratings.

We all realize that TV networks are in business to make money and that there's no excuse for a bad show that has poor ratings, but when a program is so obviously well-written, acted, and produced, why can't the execs have the patience to let a show find an audience? And how many times must I write this same entry bemoaning the death of a newly-beloved show? The usual petitions to save the show can be found by clicking the banner below:



My gratitude and respect go to those folks who organize these campaigns, but I wonder: has any show other than Farscape ever been saved by petition? Let's cross our fingers for a DVD release of the remaining unaired episodes of Eyes at the very least.