Mockingbird Lane - It didn't suck!

[Allyn Gibson]

Just for clarification. Is this not going to be a series and is this all we'll get?

Fuller called it a "backdoor pilot." In other words, it's a pilot that didn't get picked up for series and, barring some extraordinary circumstance, won't. In the old days, failed pilots used to get shown in the summer months as an anthology series kind of thing. That doesn't happen any more.

 

[the G-man]

I liked it a lot, it's not as goofy as the original, but (knowing Fuller's previous shows) I thought it showed potential for a series.

And the first ratings are in:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...kingbird-lane-special-aint-too-shabby/154934/

Can anyone interpret them? Are they good/bad, is there any chance that it will get picked up?

Decent but, given the high budget and the fact that ratings tend to drop after the first ep of a series, unlikely to move the network to greenlight. At best (and I think still unlikely), it might convince them to go back to the drawing board for a more 'family friendly,' less effects laden, half-hour sitcom.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

It came in third in its time slot behind an NCIS rerun.

Yeah, it's done.

 

[the G-man]

It came in third in its time slot behind an NCIS rerun.

To be fair, I think it did pretty good with the 18-49 demo (NCIS skews old, as we all know). But even so, that's probably not enough to save it.

 

[the G-man]

Actually, looking that numbers again. It did no better in the 18-49 demo than "Dateline NBC" and "Blue Bloods," two shows that skew pretty damn old.

If NBC can get the same ratings with (the very cheap) Dateline as with a big budget genre show, it's pretty damn unlikely they'd take a chance on this.

 

[Galileo7]

I had a mixed reaction to Mockingbird Lane.

The production design was fantastic. The cast was great. The direction was more like vintage Tim Burton than anything Burton's done since Sleepy Hollow. I enjoyed watching it.

The script, however, was not particularly good. Don't get me wrong, the one-liners were great. However, it was trying very hard to introduce all the characters while also having a story, and I don't think it did a very good job juggling that. And, for a pilot, I didn't get a good feel for what kind of series this would be. It felt very unfocused. It could have used Jim Dale as a narrator.

Oh, and Portia de Rossi was criminally underused. I agree with Ellen DeGeneres, she was almost unrecognizable in the role.

In short, there was a lot of good in Mockingbird Lane, but there it was also a fuzzy, unfocused pilot. That's probably why NBC passed on it.

Agree. This pilot had potential that was not really used.

 

[Admiral2]

U.S. network TV doesn't do six-episode shows. At least not intentionally.

Ashley Judd's "Missing" was six episodes. Seemed pretty intentional to me.

Nope. It was intended as an ongoing series. After it was cancelled, Judd's people retroactively decreed it a mini-series so she could get nominated in the 'best actress in a minseries or movie' Emmy category.

Ages ago CBS gave the original "Police Squad" six episodes, as well as Norman Lear's "704 Houser Street." Obviously, it's not a common occurrence, but it's not unheard of.

Neither "Police Squad" (which was actually on ABC, BTW) or "Houser Street" were intended as anything other than ongoing series. They both got six episodes (actually, "Houser" only got five) simply because that is how long the networks decided to wait before cancelling them due to low ratings. In fact, in the case of "Houser," the network didn't even bother to air all the episodes filmed.

Fine. Accidental or not, All I want is for Mockingbird Lane to have the same chance.

 

[the G-man]

Accidental cancellation? I thought that only happened to the original Star Trek?

 

[Sindatur]

Ashley Judd's "Missing" was six episodes. Seemed pretty intentional to me.

Nope. It was intended as an ongoing series. After it was cancelled, Judd's people retroactively decreed it a mini-series so she could get nominated in the 'best actress in a minseries or movie' Emmy category.

Ages ago CBS gave the original "Police Squad" six episodes, as well as Norman Lear's "704 Houser Street." Obviously, it's not a common occurrence, but it's not unheard of.

Neither "Police Squad" (which was actually on ABC, BTW) or "Houser Street" were intended as anything other than ongoing series. They both got six episodes (actually, "Houser" only got five) simply because that is how long the networks decided to wait before cancelling them due to low ratings. In fact, in the case of "Houser," the network didn't even bother to air all the episodes filmed.

Fine. Accidental or not, All I want is for Mockingbird Lane to have the same chance.

"The Avalanche has Started...It's too late for the Pebbles to Vote" (<-- Vorlon)

 

[bigdaddy]

Fine. Accidental or not, All I want is for Mockingbird Lane to have the same chance.

You actually need to get picked up as a series before you can get canceled after a few episodes.

Why waste more money on something that didn't take off. You should honestly be happy they bothered airing the pilot at all.

 

[Amaris]

Accidental cancellation? I thought that only happened to the original Star Trek?

Actually, didn't it happen, back in the 70s, to a number of classic shows on CBS? I think shows like Hogan's Heroes and Green Acres were cancelled by accident, in that they were thrown into a group of "rural" programs that were eliminated from the network lineup.

As for Mockingbird Lane, I loved it. Yeah, there were some more graphic scenes that I could have done without, but overall, the show was darkly funny. As has been said before by others, I like the casting just fine, and they all did well in their roles, but Eddie Izzard flat out owned it. I just about pissed myself, laughing at the brides remark. That was pure Eddie.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Well, Green Acres was a "rural" show, produced by the people who made the Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. It was even set in the same universe. Thought its tone was much different.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Thought it was wonderful - the most entertaining thing I've seen on TV in ages.

Izzard owned the damned thing. Brilliant.

Herman's introduction was a great sight gag. Making him look like the Universal Frankenstein or going any more retro with this than they did would be beyond stupid.

The hourlong program drew a 1.5/5 in adults 18-49 and 5.4 million viewers at 8 PM. In 18-49, that was only marginally better than the last scripted series premiere in the slot, the now-defunct CBS drama A Gifted Man (1.4 last fall). Mockingbird Lane did manage to finish No.3 for the night in the demo behind NBC’s Grimm and ABC’s Shark Tank, posting NBC’s best 18-49 rating in the hour with non-sports programming in two years. But probably its biggest accomplishment was the boost it gave Grimm (1.9/6), which shot up 27% from last week when it followed a Grimm rerun to log its second highest Friday result ever, only behind its series premiere last fall, to rank as the top program of the night in the demo. It shows that with a suitable lead-in that is not a hodge-podge of repeats, Grimm could be a pretty formidable player on Friday.

As for Mockingbird Lane, there are some extra scripts written, so there conceivably could be more episodes, which would amortize the big price tag on the pilot, said to be approaching $10 million. The ratings performance for the pilot does not automatically warrant that, and NBC brass are said to be lukewarm at best on the show’s creative direction, but the special did not crash and burn, and a big DVR boost could help its chances.

Sounds like there's a chance...

But then, I'd watch a "faithful" revival of The Munsters about...twice. I'd watch Mockingbird Lane every week.

 

[Admiral2]

Nope. It was intended as an ongoing series. After it was cancelled, Judd's people retroactively decreed it a mini-series so she could get nominated in the 'best actress in a minseries or movie' Emmy category.

Neither "Police Squad" (which was actually on ABC, BTW) or "Houser Street" were intended as anything other than ongoing series. They both got six episodes (actually, "Houser" only got five) simply because that is how long the networks decided to wait before cancelling them due to low ratings. In fact, in the case of "Houser," the network didn't even bother to air all the episodes filmed.

Fine. Accidental or not, All I want is for Mockingbird Lane to have the same chance.

"The Avalanche has Started...It's too late for the Pebbles to Vote" (<-- Vorlon)

Honestly, sometimes I hate being on this board...

By "accidental," I was referring to G-Man's response to my references to other shows that got six episodes or less before cancellation, not the cancellation itself, which of course wouldn't have been a fucking "accident."

And yes, I'm perfectly aware that the show would have to be picked up first to get the same chance the other shows got, which I thought was the point when I wrote "I would like the show to get the same chance." I'm not a fucking moron.

 

[Amaris]

Thought it was wonderful - the most entertaining thing I've seen on TV in ages.

Izzard owned the damned thing. Brilliant.

Herman's introduction was a great sight gag. Making him look like the Universal Frankenstein or going any more retro with this than they did would be beyond stupid.

5.4 million viewers, there may be a chance. People have said it looked expensive for a weekly, but I don't really think so - use the CG creatures sparingly from week to week, and the sets, etc are amortized.

But then, I'd watch a "faithful" revival of The Munsters about...twice. I'd watch Mockingbird Lane every week.

Same here. I would watch it every week, if for nothing else than to see Eddie Izzard take the piss out of everything.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Goddamn he was fun to watch.

But then, he's the only member of the family not at all conflicted by his nature. He just loves being a monster.

 

[Goji]

I had mixed feelings going into this. Not because I thought it would be anything less than wonderful (with Bryan Fuller involved I expected to - and did - love it), but because only getting one episode of your new favorite series feels like a pretty big tease. And that's basically how I still feel. I'm glad I watched it, but now I'll be even more ticked if they don't order this damn thing to series ASAP, and I was already pretty disappointed about it.

 

[the G-man]

Fine. Accidental or not, All I want is for Mockingbird Lane to have the same chance.

"The Avalanche has Started...It's too late for the Pebbles to Vote" (<-- Vorlon)

Honestly, sometimes I hate being on this board...

By "accidental," I was referring to G-Man's response to my references to other shows that got six episodes or less before cancellation, not the cancellation itself, which of course wouldn't have been a fucking "accident."

And yes, I'm perfectly aware that the show would have to be picked up first to get the same chance the other shows got, which I thought was the point when I wrote "I would like the show to get the same chance." I'm not a fucking moron.

Oh, c'mon, we're just funning with you.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

"NBC brass are said to be lukewarm at best on the show’s creative direction"...

Didn't they see Pushing Daisies? That would have told them precisely what to expect. Mockingbird Lane has exactly that charm, only darker (which honestly PD could have used, it could get too cloying.) They probably are scared at the grim humor, but I was instantly captivated by this pilot episode. I don't like much on broadcast anymore, but I'd watch this. Give us more, you NBC dopes!

Might as well just quote the whole thing...

As for Mockingbird Lane, there are some extra scripts written, so there conceivably could be more episodes, which would amortize the big price tag on the pilot, said to be approaching $10 million. The ratings performance for the pilot does not automatically warrant that, and NBC brass are said to be lukewarm at best on the show’s creative direction, but the special did not crash and burn, and a big DVR boost could help its chances. With NBC’s ratings gains extending to 10 PM where Dateline (1.5/5) was up 15% from last week to top the hour, the network won the night in 18-49, its first outright demo win on Friday with non-sports programming since Dec. 16 last year.

With a decent DVR boost, I could see the show getting a second chance. I don't think it needs any recasting, O'Connell is fine, the role is very different from the original Hermann but that's Fuller's perogative. The writing could be sharper. This pilot didn't have the snap of PD and dragged a bit at times, not enough to bother me, but I noticed it. There is plenty of potential here for a great ongoing series. Stuff like Lily not being vampy enough is easy to fix with some character development.

Another factor is whether Mockingbird Lane boosted Grimm. Its 1.9 on Friday is up significantly from last week's 1.5.

 

[Kitty Worrier]

I rather enjoyed this and would like it to continue. I enjoyed how dark it got, though that could be a bit much for NBC. Too bad too, Izzard was great, and I enjoyed de Rossi too.