It's Official: "Threshold" Is Canceled; "Amazing Race 8" Was A Flop

CBS slams door on 'Threshold'
By Gail Pennington
POST-DISPATCH TV CRITIC
01/22/2006

PASADENA, Calif.

Running a TV network means hyping your success and looking ahead to your
next hit. Being a TV viewer means looking for shows you like that have
somehow vanished.

Fans of the CBS science-fiction drama "Threshold" probably already had
an inkling that the show was history. CBS Entertainment president Nina
Tassler confirmed that when she told TV critics, "Unfortunately, the
show just never reached its creative potential, so I think we said bye-bye."

On the positive side, CBS found success with its five other new series
last fall, renewing all ("How I Met Your Mother," "Ghost Whisperer,"
"Out of Practice," "Criminal Minds" and "Close to Home") for the full
season.

A late schedule switch saved "Close to Home" but couldn't rescue
"Threshold," which had struggled on Friday but couldn't improve on
Tuesday. "Home" struggled on Tuesday but flourished when paired with
Jennifer Love Hewitt's "Ghost Whisperer."

"That (move) took 'Close to Home' from the verge of being canceled to
being a successful show on Friday night," Tassler said.

deering24...

Dammit...

Like most viewers, CBS would prefer to forget "The Amazing Race: Family
Edition."

"You know, we tried something," Tassler said. "I don't think we were
particularly successful with it, but sometimes you get criticized for
not experimenting with a form. ... The nice thing is, when we come back
to the next cycle, it's exciting. We're going back to our original form
- five continents, great competitions - so we know our audience loves that."

deering24...

Well, they automatically assumed that adding kids to the mix would widen
their audience. Instead it damaged the show's pacing--and upped the
quarreling/backbiting element, which is _not_ what people watch TAR for.

C.
**

Looking ahead, Tassler said the network was excited about "Comanche
Moon," Larry McMurtry's prequel to "Lonesome Dove," which probably will
air in a sweeps month next season. McMurtry and writing partner Diana
Ossana, a former St. Louisan, scripted Golden Globe winner "Brokeback
Mountain."

In other news from CBS: