By Kofi Outlaw
The distinct honor of ‘
first cancelled show of the ’07 season’ has been given to the CW’s ONLINE NATION, which made it all of four weeks before getting the axe.
Don’t have the faintest idea what ONLINE NATION is (ahem, WAS) all about? Neither did I. Probably why it’s no longer with us.
Apparently the show, (which aired Sundays at 7:30 pm,) was VH1’s WEB JUNK without the professional comedians to, you know, make it watchable. Going the not-so-smart route the show purposely collected the web’s most irreverent and annoying video clips and blogs, assuming that viewers would somehow be entertained to watch them. Genius.
For its last outing ONLINE NATION drew fewer than 580,000 viewers according to Excite news—that’s less than a two-star youtube video draws on a BAD day. Of course some of the show’s (former) hosts are trying to make the whole debacle into a joke: Rhett McLaughlin and Lincoln Neal went so far as to feature a graphic of a tombstone reading “R.I.P. Online Nation” on their website. The pair also launched several online video sketches mocking the show’s demise, including Neal making a faux phone call to his mother in tears, and a call to a home improvement store asking of they had “any openings in the lawn and garden department.”
Technically speaking Fox network’s NASHVILLE was the first show of 2007 to disappear from the airwaves, having aired just two episodes. However Fox has hinted that the show may eventually make a return to the schedule.
Technicalities aside, this ‘first cancellation achievement’ marks a second distinction for the CW in’07; the network also had the season’s very first full-time pickup with GOSSIP GIRL, which draws approx 3 million viewers from week to week. The network’s highest-rated show remains AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL, which draws approx 6 million viewers a week.
Rant and let us know how you feel about ONLINE NATION going off the air, or if you even no what the hell I’m referring to. Otherwise I say R.I.P. ONLINE NATION, we hardly knew ye… The show will be replaced with repeats of ALIENS IN AMERICA, seems to be scoring better with both audiences and critics alike.