This past Sunday night, my girlfriend and I settled into the couch for our weekly Sunday evening of tv viewing. And while I was disappointed that the hillbilly and his wife were not eliminated from The Amazing Race (the show we watch if the Simpsons is a re-run),
I was even more disappointed to not get a new episode of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. I love Aaron Sorkin's writing and the dialogue on Sunset 60 has been errific. But despite me loving the show and NBC ordering 3 more scripts from Sorkin, word has it that Studio 60 is on the verge of being cancelled by the network.
Placed in an unkind Monday night at 10pm timeslot by NBC, Studio 60 loses nearly half the audience brought in by the network's 9pm show, Heroes. Comparisons to Sorkin's previous smash hit The West Wing by critics haven't been all too kind and the network seems to have quickly lost faith. The end appears to be near.
So why is your Uncle Kingdom going to such lengths to bemoan the death rattle of his favorite new hour of television here on Tha O Show? To piss off Ben Boudreau? No, though that may be an entertaining side effect. The real is simple really. I heard another death rattle in the last few days. This one was from ECW.
The powers that be in Stamford have confirmed that "the C tour" is coming to an end with ECW wrestlers and matches to be added to "the B tour", Smackdown. No more ECW house shows. So ECW has its own tv show, has a second ppv being added to its yearly schedule but because their relatively small advertising budget has meant smaller attendances, its live event schedule is being cancelled.
So the question hanging in the air is simple: is the end near for the "third brand experiment"? Will ECW be folded back into the greater WWE scheme of things?
But there are other equally interesting questions to be posed... So I'm going to pose them in hopes of starting a discussion amongst you loyal... ummm... O Show-ers? O Show-ites? O Show-ians? O-maniacs? O-sters? Yeah! You loyal O-sters!!!
Has the WWE misunderstood something about the original ECW that has kept you from embracing the new version?
What has the new version done better than the original?
Is the WWE making a mistake by ending the ECW house shows? What could they realistically change to stop the financial pitfall that cancelling them seems to indicate exists?
If the ECW brand is folded, what's the best way to do it? What should/will happen to the wrestlers currently on ECW's roster?
And perhaps the most telling question I could ask you right now: Do you even care about the new ECW product?
3 comments: on "Another Column From Kingdom"
I, personally, HIGHLY DOUBT that the new eCW brand will be folding... I view it more as a safe financial move to keep the quarterly earnings reports coming off as a dissappoinment... many stockholders are quick to run when they see a profit drop... and considering they are buying WWE, Inc stock and not ECW, Raw, or SD stock... they dont want to see any negative signs... entertainment stock buyers are typically very high volume traders... That meaning in short WWE has to watch their P's and Q's so to speak
ECW is making great ratings for SciFi and it is easily recognizable if you look at a nielsen ratings chart... instead of just comparing it to Raw, SD, or even TNA who is getting an additional hour on spike tv... after months of ratings never (maybe once) breaking a 1.0...
Now compare the numbers:
TNA 0.8-0.9 average on a very succesful Spike TV network
ECW 1.4-1.8 average on an otherwise lacking network in SciFi
Believe me ECW is here to stay... it will travel further and further from the '99 format it was re-based upon and transformed into merely another WWE weekly program...
And think about it from this point... SD is only 2/3 the show (on a good week) Raw is.. and ECW is around 1/3 the draw...so why not put them together on house show tours?
I really need to proof-read my shit better before I post it. I just spotted a handful of grammatical errors in this little ECW rant. LOL
Ben... You WERE allowed to voice your disapproval. And yes, my comments WERE a little mean-spirited. That's because I'm saddened to see Hulk Hogan raise his children with what I personally feel is a piss-poor agenda. Nick, its been reported, was taken out of high school to accomodate the filming of the family tv show. Is that right? Brooke is being forced down the collective throats of the public as the next pop-tart diva. Did we really need another one? What's the back-up plan for her life if and when her singing career craps out? The true fact is I wish I didn't know any of this information. I want this stuff out of my brain. The only reason I do know it is because Hulk uses his celebrity status, earned through years of wrestling fans' eager support. And now he's using that support against us. I worry for his children's future and if that sounds direspectful, so be it. It's something that I would be perfectly willing to say to the Hulkster's face.
And now that I know that a little good-natured ribbing sends you all a'tizzy, I promise not to include your name in anything else I write.
No offence...
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