EVIL PUPPET MASTERS

It is pretty much official that Six Degrees will not be renewed by ABC, but you can go to ABC.com and watch the remaining unaired episodes.

According to this press release from ABC, we will start getting new episodes of Six Degrees starting Friday, March 23rd, where it will air at 9:01 p.m. (Eastern). Check back for more information regarding the episodes soon!

Nothing set in stone yet, but found the following bit of news from ABC Prez Stephen McPherson:

McPherson said that struggling dramas The Nine and Six Degrees also could return this spring, adding that Six Degress had resumed production to complete 13 episodes, while production on The Nine would not resume, because 13 episodes already had been completed.

Source: Mediaweek

 EPM Podcast 1X06 [95:00m]: Download (827)

Listen to us pontificate about the “Fall Finale” of Lost, plus some news items related to Six Degrees and What about Brian, and Listener Questions!

In an unsettling move for Six Degrees fans, ABC has decided to take the show off Thursday nights effective immediately*. It will be replace by Men in Trees starting November 30th. According to the article, Six Degrees will return in January, though what night is undecided at this time. I read a rumor elsewhere that there was additional retooling being done on the show, but I have yet to read that anywhere else.

*ETA: Six Degrees will NOT be on tonight. A repeat of Desperate Housewives will air in its time slot.

Ever wondered where the “we’re all interconnected” theory came from? And no, I’m not just talking about the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game (which, ironically, is not mentioned in the article). This article from the National Post starts off talking about the Six Degrees television show, and then examines the different manifestations of this theory in book, play and movie form.

 EPM Podcast 1x03 [83:00m]: Download (465)

Discussion of LOST Episode 3.03 Further Instructions, latest episodes and news regarding Six Degrees and What about Brian, the last Alias Magazine issue, plus our first Listener Q and A!

I don’t usually have time to put effort into a full-blooded review of the BR episodes that air each week, but I had mentioned in the first EPM Podcast that I had heard that things really start to come together in Six Degrees around the 5th episode. Well, the 5th episode “Masquerade” aired last night and I have to say that that analysis was spot on. It was probably the best episode since the Pilot.

***WARNING!! Spoilers for last night’s episode!!***

No, we did not learn what was in Mae’s box, but we did learn the “mystery” around who she is and why she is on the run. And I at least have a guess as to what The Box contains now (and it is not the Needles of Fire…at least, I HOPE not). The Carlos/Mae interactions were wonderfully done, and Jay and Erika played the scene at his office beautifully. I am really starting to get more comfortable with the Whitney and Laura friendship, which had started a little too “out of the blue” for me. The party scenes with them two were pretty funny. I loved to hear Damian talk about his girl to Whitney in the limo. I’m glad that Whitney is not getting over her ex-fiance so easily, even if he was a cad. I like what Laura’s character (and her daughter) bring to Mae’s character and to Whitney’s character, but I think we need to get more into what is happening to her alone. From the previews, it looks like we’ll see some of that in the next episode, as well as more about Damian, who was on the backburner most of this episode.

The only part that remains a bit clunky for me is Steven’s relationship with the young thang. The actress is doing a good job, but she and Campbell just don’t have any identifiable chemistry. I love Steven’s efforts to be a better dad to his son, and the Ecstasy/aspirin mix up was both hilarious and painful to watch a recovering drug addict go through. I was overjoyed when he broke it off with the girl, but then they made up in the end and I was bummed. I’m pretty sure that she is a plot device, like Whitney’s fiance was, but I’m just ready for her usefulness to be done with, thankyouverymuch. She reminds me a lot of Jenny from Alias.

So, like I said, a really solid episode with lots of potential. And I am eager for the next episode (which I haven’t really felt actual anticipation for another episode since the Pilot) — which makes next weeks repeat of Grey’s that much more aggravating. We will get a new episode, but not until two weeks (on Nov. 2nd).

What did y’all think? Talk here or in the EPM forums.

 EPM Podcast 1x02 [75:59m]: Download (338)

Discussion of LOST Ep 3.02 The Glass Ballerina, What About Brian S2 premiere, and where Six Degrees is going, as well as JJ’s interview in Star Trek Magazine and recent EPM article entitled Too Much of a Good Thing?

Here is a look at how ABC is spinning the numbers for Six Degrees:

“Six Degrees” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s freshman “Six Degrees” continued to outperform its CBS freshman drama competition (”Shark”) among Adults 18-34 (3.3/10), as well as across the key women demographics: W18-34 (4.5/13), W18-49 (5.2/13) and W25-54 (6.0/14). In Adults 18-34, “Six Degrees” outdelivered “Shark” by 18% (3.3/10 vs. 2.8/8).

* “Six Degrees” retained essentially all of its week-ago Total Viewer (9.1 million vs. 9.1 million) and Adult 18-49 audience (3.7/10 vs. 3.6/10), while growing its delivery with Men 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 2.0/6) and Men 25-54 (2.4/6 vs. 2.0/6).

* On average over the course of its first 4 airings, “Six Degrees” has improved ABC’s performance in the hour by 73% in Total Viewers (10.2 million vs. 5.9 million) and by 121% in Adults 18-49 (4.2/11 vs. 1.9/5) over the same nights last season.

From a press release by ABC that was posted at The Futon Critic.

I don’t care how they spin it, as long as they keep it on the schedule.

So I was poking around the ABC Medianet site to get the episode description for next week’s episode of Six Degrees, and I noticed in this week’s press releases that the Six Degrees episode that was supposed to air in two weeks (on October 26th) has been taken off the schedule for that night. Instead, ABC will air a new Ugly Betty, then double-repeats of Grey’s Anatomy.

I was a BIT freaked out, but then I found that it did indicate that the Six Degrees episode that was supposed to air 10/26 “What You Wish For” — will now air the following Thursday (11/2).

I liked this article from SignOnSanDiego’s Karla Peterson. She takes a look at the really good television shows that are tanking or not doing as well as hoped in the ratings this TV season. She includes Six Degrees in that list, and mentions the influence of Lost on our television viewing habits. Interesting quote:

And while those who have the fortitude for sprawling, multi-character epics like “Lost” and “Battlestar Galactica” seem willing to give comic-book themed “Heroes” and the apocalyptic “Jericho” a shot, the thought of also adding the more traditional dramatic stylings of “Six Degrees” and “Friday Night Lights” is enough to make their inner hard-drives explode. Not to mention their DVRs.

I would have to agree that this is probably the first TV season in a LONG time in which I have something I want to watch most nights of the week — sometimes even 2 or 3 on a night! And I am definitely a hard sell when it comes to television, so that IS saying something.

I’m not sure how I feel about this new viral campaign that Six Degrees is using. The tag line for the article:

Television company ABC is reportedly employing real people to get a viral campaign on track that’s promoting its recently launched show Six Degrees. Good looking, well dressed young actors are hired to slip handwritten notes to people in public places, inviting them to contact them online.

I’m not sure how I’d feel about strangers approaching me in the subway — spent too much time on the MARTA in Atlanta, I guess. But it is different.

 EPM Podcast 1x01 [68:00m]: Download (315)

Discusses LOST Ep 3.01, Six Degrees and 10 Burning Questions about LOST.

And according to this article by Susan Young at InsideBayArea.com, JJ has done some housecleaning — and the results should please the audience.

From the article:

Abrams says “Brian” felt more promising and that its promise had not been realized during its run last spring. And there was internal strife that Abrams says he simply didn’t want under his company’s banner.

So he took the opportunity to clean house. Most of the changes happened behind the scenes with new writers, some new producers and more support for creator Stevens.

“A lot more happens (in the premiere episode) than happened in all the episodes last season,” Abrams says. “I wanted to plow more story, not just one event discussed again and again.”

…
The result of Abrams’ expert tinkering, based on the two episodes sent out for review, is a much more intriguing show. It is, as Abrams says, the same show but it’s now working on all six cylinders.

“Brian” comes off much funnier and offers a much bigger emotional pay-off.

WAB returns tonight at 10/9 Central.