Friday brought the sad news that Fringe will be moving to Friday nights, as of next year. Why is this sad? Ask any Joss Whedon fan, basically – shows that move to Friday nights on the network have a long and illustrious history of being sent out to die. The idea that Fringe’s ratings could benefit from being aired on the least-watched weeknight of the week is…well, read that back to yourself. We’re predicting a tumble. What happens when a show tumbles in the ratings? It gets canceled. We’re not saying Fringe is doomed (we certainly don’t want it to be, since the show is hitting has been hitting its stride since the latter part of its second season), but the fate of these four genre shows tells us that history may not be on its side:
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
After a solid first season that brought decent ratings to Fox’s Monday nights, the relatively decent Terminator spin-off was given its marching orders only to see its ratings slide from acceptable to crappy. How many seasons on Friday nights? 1.
Dollhouse
Dollhouse was originally going to air before 24. Imagine that? Imagine if Dollhouse had actually been given a fighting chance! Of course, eventually it found its way to Friday and an early demise. How many seasons on Friday nights? 2, but the ratings were bloody awful.
Wonderfalls
Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller’s Wonderfalls was chucked on the scrapheap when it was still cool to be canceled by Fox on Friday nights, a shame as it is one of the most original genre shows to ever hit the network. How many seasons on Friday nights? 1.
Firefly
The fan-favourite series was aired out-of-order and left to rot on Friday nights. Let’s just say it went down really, really well with everyone involved. How many seasons on Friday nights? 1 (barely).
