Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Cavemen: T.V. Armageddon


Television Armageddon is now scheduled for Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. (7:00 Central Time). Beginning tonight, with the premier of ABC's Cavemen, the end of T.V. as we know it will be upon us.


"Cavemen has a lot of people talking since it was first announced. People will continue to talk… about just how astoundingly awful it is".


Blogger comments such as these are just the beginning of the backlash against the program, known mostly for being the show that knocked George Lopez off the air. It was just last May that Lopez, the stand-up comic turned sit-com icon, blew a gasket in an interview with the Los Angeles Times when he said, "I get kicked out for a...caveman and shows that I out-performed because I'm not owned by [ABC Television Studios]...So a...Chicano can't be on TV but a...caveman can?"


Lopez went on to say, "You know when you get in this that shows do not last forever, but this was an important show and to go unceremoniously like this hurts. One hundred seventy people lost their jobs".


However, others, even within the same industry, had differing opinions of Lopez and his comments. Take, for example, lines from an episode of the FOX animated comedy, Family Guy.


Meg: "Chris, change the channel. I want to watch George Lopez."


Chris: "That show just furthers the stereotype that George Lopez is funny."


Now THAT'S funny.


And, as far as sneak-peak reviews are concerned, nothing about Cavemen is.


"This pilot is slow, talky and dull… with the only real visual flourishes revolving around the Cavemen donning different costumes throughout the show in their bid to fit in.


"One of (the actors) actually reminded me a little bit of Sanjaya.


And finally.


"This video will get passed around like the infamous “Star Wars Christmas Special.” It’s nice to know that the spirit of Ed Wood lives on."


Back in the early '70s, comedian Tim Conway had a vanity licence plate that read, "13 WEEKS". He said at the time that it stood for the number of weeks a show he was involved with would run before the network pulled the plug.


If there was a line in Vegas for how many weeks Cavemen will last before George Lopez can dance on it's Neanderthal Burial Grounds, it wouldn't be 13 weeks.


Cavemen's run may be one for the books. The history, err... prehistory books. For those of us with TiVo this might be our only chance to make a memory (fossil?) of one of television's greatest moments.


After all, Armageddon only comes along so many times.


Portions of this story originally appeared in, Ain't It Cool News http://www.aintitcool.com/ and The Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/


Copyright © 2007 Bill Friday

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