Canceled TV Series Part 1: Joan of Arcadia & Judging Amy

Ratings For Friday, June 17, 2005:

NBC won the evening thanks to two episodes of Dateline which averaged a 4.6 and 4.5 in the 8PM and 9PM hour, respectively. At 10PM, Law & Order: Trial By Jury, finished second at 4.6.

CBS finished second with an overall 3.7. Two episodes of JAG finished second behind dateline, while Numb3rs finished 3rd in the 10PM hour.

Over at ABC, 20/20 won the 10PM hour with a 4.7. Earlier in the night though, the now cancelled sitcoms 8 Simple Rules and Complete Savages finished third with a 2.7. At 9PM, bad luck continued as Hope & Faith / Less Than Perfect finished fourth, behind the movie The Wedding Singer on Fox, which earned a 2.9. ABC just needs to find a good sitcom and they’d be set.

UPN’S Driven beat 2 episodes of WB’s What I Like About You to end the night fifth overall. At 9PM, Driven continued to beat repeats of Reba and Living With Fran, which earned a 1.4.

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT?

ABC: 8PM – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Repeat). 8:30PM – NBA Gametime. 9PM – NBA Basketball (Finals, Game 5: San Antonio Spurs at Detroit Pistons)

CBS: 8PM – Cold Case (“Sleepover”, repeat from November 7, 2004). 9PM – Twelve Mile Road (Movie).

Fox: 8PM – The Simpsons (Repeat starring Ray Romano). 8:30 – The Simpsons (Repeat) 9PM – Family Guy. 9:30 – American Dad.

NBC: 8PM – Dateline NBC. 9PM – Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Repeat from January 2, 2005). 10PM – Crossing Jordan (Repeat from March 20, 2005).

WB: 8PM – Charmed (Repeat from May 1, 2005). 9PM – Steve Harvey’s Big Time Challenge (Repeat From January 23, 2005).

What I’ll be watching: Lucky there’s a Family Guy to save us from these repeats!

TV NEWS TIDBITS:

- Big Brother begins Season 6 on July 7.

CAPTAIN MIKE’S CORNER: Canceled TV Series Part 1: Joan of Arcadia & Judging Amy

Here goes a list of some of the shows I watch regularly that won’t be coming back for the 2005-06 TV season. In other words, canceled TV series.

Joan of Arcadia (CBS) – When Joan of Arcadia premiered in September of 2003, it not only got critical acclaim, but also decent ratings for a Friday Night show. It was a modest hit. Joan of Arcadia was a show that both adults and teens could enjoy. Then came Season 2, where ratings began to decline. I think the writing got sloppier, too many things were going on, and Joan never seemed to learn any lessons from God. Still, I think CBS is giving up too soon on Joan of Arcadia.

Judging Amy (CBS) – Another CBS show that doesn’t deserve its fate. After 6 seasons, I think Judging Amy fans deserve better. CBS should have told Judging Amy producers that this was it, so that they could’ve prepared a proper Series Finale, to give everyone, especially the cast who’ve worked together for 6 years, closure. The sad part is that Judging Amy will be replaced by a new show called Close To Home, which looks destined to fail.

Coming up in Part II (Tomorrow): American Dreams & Jack & Bobby

This is Captain Mike signing off… Come back & visit tomorrow!