One
of the most anticipated new series this season was Steven Bochco's Brooklyn
South, which opened to strong reviews and great numbers. However, almost
immediately the numbers dipped, with male viewers leaving for Monday Night
Football, and female viewers drawn to NBC's Dateline.
There
were several issues that initially hurt the show. The large ensemble cast
blended together, with only a couple of characters able to stand out. The
actors did their best, but most spoke with heavy accents and used inside
lingo, driving some viewers away. However, the show's main problem was
that the quality writing usually associated with a Bochco show was sorely
lacking. Steven Bochco, and David Milch, his collaborator, found their
focus split three ways, between South, the already established NYPD Blue,
and the under performing Total Security.
Bochco
has recently admitted that until Total Security was canceled, he wasn't
able to give his full attention to Brooklyn South. Viewers of the show
can tell you that even though the show had its strong points in the first
ten episodes, it really picked up in the second half of the season. Lesser
characters were almost phased out and story lines began to revolve around
key characters played by Dylan Walsh, Titus Welliver, Klea Scott and Jon
Tenney. Another key character, Yancy Butler's Anne-Marie Kelsey, was promoted
to detective in an attempt to separate the sea of uniforms and to allow
viewers to be able to follow a case from start to finish. But at the same
time, Bochco and company have also managed to make Kelsey's fellow detectives
look incompetent and chauvinistic, unlike Blue's sympathetic crew. This
has tempered the results of Kelsey's promotion.
Unfortunately
for CBS and Bochco, the change might have come a little too late. Ratings
for the show have barely risen in the last few weeks, and an attempt to
garner more viewers by pitting a new Brooklyn South against an NYPD Blue
repeat on Tuesday night failed miserably. Not only did it draw less viewers
than its normal Monday showing, but placed third behind Blue and NBC's
Dateline.
When
CBS announces in mid May whether Brooklyn South will be invited back to
the game, the decision might very well hinge on that poor performance.
It is widely speculated that Michael Hayes and Brooklyn South are both
possible pickups for CBS. Michael Hayes has the advantage of consistently
pulling almost two million more viewers than South, even while being moved.
South has failed to break out of its ratings slump, even when Monday Night
Football ended and The Practice took the opposing slot. The Practice has
gone on to respectable numbers, while South has barely moved.
There
are a couple of reasons CBS should hold off on canceling South. Many shows
have had slow seasons and grown in popularity down the line, including
another Bochco show, Hill Street Blues. Also, Bochco has held off on working
on a new show for the network so he could focus his efforts on South. The
results are noticeable, and critics have been pointing out that Brooklyn
South is a series that deserves a chance in a borderline situation. In
fact, USA Today recently named it as one of six shows worth saving, along
with Michael Hayes, NewsRadio and others.
However,
can a show that premiered to a huge audience (the premiere drew over 15
million viewers) and subsequently lost it (South now averages barely 7
million viewers) ever get it back? A series that starts and ends the season
with a small audience has a better chance to pull new viewers, because
they would be just that: new. Viewers who have watched a show and dismissed
it are much harder to pull back. Judging from the numbers of most crime-themed
dramas, Brooklyn South had almost all such viewers in its corner in the
beginning. There aren't that many new ones to find.
CBS
might do the right thing and give Brooklyn South a second chance. However,
if it does return, CBS should give it a new time and night, since it might
be a little easier to get new viewers on a new night.
