Studio 7

[Peter Sarrett]

Now that the series is over, I'm actually pretty bummed to see it go.  It really grew on me, and they made slight tweaks as the series progressed-- switching the single elimination from round 3 to round 2 to eliminate any chance of a tie; more engaging banter and personality from the host; much sharper editing of the memorization round to increase drama and watchability.  By the finals, the show had really hit its stride.  Not only did it work, but it was very slickly produced and was therefore a pleasure to watch.  And it was awfully fun to scream inarticulately at college kids who couldn't identify Mother Theresa.

I wasn't keeping track, but I hear the ratings were lackluster so I surmise odds are virtually nil that Studio 7 will return for a second season.  A shame.

[Matt Ottinger]

I never got a chance to see it, but if you were impressed I bet I would have been as well.  Davies knows what he's doing when it comes to giving a game a slick look.  I'd probably not have enjoyed watching airheads missing easy stuff, but I bet a lot of the rest of it would have impressed me.

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Sep 7 2004, 09:14 PM\'] I never got a chance to see it, but if you were impressed I bet I would have been as well. [/quote]
 You might have been impressed by some of it, Matt, but I'm wagering you'd've snorted your Bosco at the ritual of throwing a ring into the Wading Pool of the Seven when a contestant needed  help.

Nonetheless, drat!  I meant to watch the final ep, but lost track of it during the Olympics and  forgot to look for it after...

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' date=\'Sep 7 2004, 08:14 PM\'] I wasn't keeping track, but I hear the ratings were lackluster so I surmise odds are virtually nil that Studio 7 will return for a second season.  A shame. [/quote]
 Do we know for sure that S7 is officially dead & buried?

When last I watched, they were looking for people to audition for a second go-round,  and I read somewhere (Entertainment Weekly??) in someone's fall lineup preview that S7 was indeed listed as part of the WB's lineup (and I believe it was for the same timeslot -- which would be sad if "Joey" can revive NBC's Thursday Night's lineup, which will hurt S7's demos).

I for one thought it was a good show.  It's amazing how bad one can look if they do not keep up with the most recent news.

[Ian Wallis]

Add me to the list of people who are sorry to see it go.  I only actually saw 2 episodes of it, but taped the finale.  I thought it was pretty neat.  If you listen closely, you can actually figure out exactly when each episode was taped!

Maybe it will be back if (when) one of the network's new fall entries fail(?)

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Sep 8 2004, 10:23 AM\'] Maybe it will be back if (when) one of the network's new fall entries fail(?) [/quote]
 Nope.  According to Zap2it, Studio 7 has become the first cancellation of the season (a season that really hasn't officially started yet!).  Considering the finale only manged a 1.1 rating against reruns (the only other first-run show in that hour, WWE SmackDown!!, makes new shows year-round), the over/under against new episodes of The Apprentice and CSI: Original Recipe would have been a network-record-low half a point.  In fact, the Sunday repeats performed so poorly that Team Frog did not rerun the finale this weekend, showing a two-hour Charmed repeat instead.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Sep 8 2004, 10:14 AM\'][quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Sep 8 2004, 10:23 AM\'] Maybe it will be back if (when) one of the network's new fall entries fail(?) [/quote]
Nope.  According to Zap2it, Studio 7 has become the first cancellation of the season (a season that really hasn't officially started yet!).  Considering the finale only manged a 1.1 rating against reruns (the only other first-run show in that hour, WWE SmackDown!!, makes new shows year-round), the over/under against new episodes of The Apprentice and CSI: Original Recipe would have been a network-record-low half a point.  In fact, the Sunday repeats performed so poorly that Team Frog did not rerun the finale this weekend, showing a two-hour Charmed repeat instead.[/quote]
In fact, for the last few weeks there was no Sunday repeat of "Studio 7," but a second Alyssa/Rose/Holly Marie romp instead.  (And either one episode was never aired or aired on a Sunday, since the finale was week 7 on Thursday night.)

Ultimately, "Studio 7" frittered away the sizeable-for-The-WB audience of "Blue Collar TV" (which has a full 22-ep pickup besides the 8 shows they shot for summer).  Yes, there was a slight dip for "Reba" at 8:30, but the rednecks were reaching for their remotes at the first cry of "Help Me" at 9.  Although I mentioned the other day that Davies would've preferred to have "Blue Collar" as a direct lead-in to "Studio 7," I now think that it just wouldn't have worked--the shows are too incompatible.  And yes, by the time The Donald and Big Bill Petersen were back in action in September, Pat Kiernan would've been presiding over roadkill and I honestly don't know where they could've put it.

All I can say is that I admire The WB for giving the show a shot and I admire Davies for trying to do something a little different in a game show (basically, using the storytelling conventions of reality shows as the show's thread instead of a host speaking to an audience).  Experimentation is not a bad thing--I just hope that Davies has a hit with "Wife Swap" this fall, because he needs one bad.

[ChuckNet]

In fact, for the last few weeks there was no Sunday repeat of "Studio 7," but a second Alyssa/Rose/Holly Marie romp instead. (And either one episode was never aired or aired on a Sunday, since the finale was week 7 on Thursday night.)

I thought something was up when the T-160 tape I used for S7 left me w/an hr of extra space after the finale ended...having worked overnights a few times this summer, I assumed I'd forgotten to set my VCR one Thu night.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[vtown7]

I just moved to a new apartment which as one of its perks is a BellExpressVu dish with WGN.

I taped a late Saturday night rerun but alas as the cubs game ran over I missed it, but did get the Finale.

Add me to list of people that were impressed; I really enjoyed the show, nice to see the current events spin.

However what made my jaw drop was that memorization task... holy cow!  I told the school librarian about this ("Tales of a fourth grade nothing" just was being discussed with the grade 4 teacher) and she was in awe (being that the finale discussed children's books in said round).

All in all, too bad it had to go but I am pleased that I got to see it.

Ryan