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CW Didn't Bite, But Moonlight Still "Exploring Options"
Moonlight by Joel David Warren/The CW
Moonlight fans hoping to see Alex O'Loughlin and his vampire-drama buddies resurrected by the CW had their dreams squashed when Media Rights Capital officially released the Sunday line-up it had developed for the fifth network. Addressing the decision to pass up the opportunity to pick up the cult hit and its eight million viewers, MRC TV president Keith Samples explains to Variety, "It just didn't seem in the end that it was the right thing to do at this moment in time.
"We're going down a new path here, I'll be the first to admit," Samples adds. "Things will come up on this road we didn't foresee, and we will evolve."
That said, sources tell TVGuide.com that Warner Bros. TV still is "exploring other options," thought it is unclear if that relates to hosting existing episodes of Moonlight or delivering new ones. — MWM
Related:
• Official CW Sunday Sked: Laughs, Love, Loan Sharks
• Will the CW Bring Moonlight Back to Life?
• Moonlight Has Drawn its Last Blood
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May 27, 2008 1:22 PM
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Only the words of the great "Fred Sanford" will suffice in this instance...
YA BIG DUMMY!!!
Just insert Keith Samples' face in place of Lamont's.
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May 27, 2008 1:31 PM
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It sounds like Mr. Samples has taken a course in how to speak like a politician - use lots of words but don't really say anything.
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May 27, 2008 1:34 PM
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Did they honestly think that every single person who watched this show would watch it on CW, on Sunday no less? I find that very unrealistic.
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May 27, 2008 2:04 PM
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Did they honestly think that every single person who watched this show would watch it on CW, on Sunday no less? I find that very unrealistic. ~JoeDUDE
I know I would have. I watch television shows that interest me. I don't really care what network they appear on, nor should it matter. I would have watched Moonlight on CW, FX, TNT, Bravo, Lifetime, or whereEVER it ended up (if, of course, it had ended up someplace). It just didn't "end up" someplace, and the CW seemed like the likely landing spot if that were to have happened.
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May 27, 2008 2:14 PM
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Sigh......their loss. Honestly, I seldom look at anything on the CW. Smallville and Reaper, that's it. Only watch Smallville because I caught it a local independent channel in syndication and Reaper because I read about it here.
They could have picked up Moonlight and brought in an already established fan base and really pitched those new programs at us.
Won't be too long before CW falls along side of the WB and whatever that other network use to be.
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May 27, 2008 3:18 PM
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I would have watched it on whatever channel it landed on, as long as my cable company provided it. Sunday night would have been an even better night than Friday, IMO.
I think that CBS, and the networks that passed on Moonlight, let a good thing slip away. The fans of the show are very passionate and vocal, and post-strike, there was an intriguing long-term arc--the possible "outing" of the vampires, the mystery of who was behind it, and the resultant issues--that promised to be very interesting. *sigh* For a show that I had never planned to watch, it grew on me very quickly. My husband and teenage children liked it, as well.
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May 27, 2008 3:23 PM
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Hmmmm--Moonlight (which I watched every week and loved) or a show about loan sharks--what a decision to have to make! Oh wait, they made it for me--guess I won't be watching CW. Way to go guys--you could have had around eight million viewers but "it didn't seem like the right thing to do", REALLY?
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May 27, 2008 3:24 PM
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I wonder if there is a way to contact Keith Samples via email to let him know that he is an idiot!
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May 27, 2008 3:29 PM
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This should have been a no-brainer; the CW dropped wrestling because they want to appeal to women, right? What's more appealing than a gothic tale of romance between a vampire and a human? Plus, we get to see Jason Dohring and the adorable David Blue.
Reaper is the only show that I watch on the CW. They could have doubled my viewership of the network, and maybe convinced me to return to Supernatural. The network's struggles have already been documented, and I would think that adding a show with a built-in fanbase would beat an unknown quantity.
To be fair, it isn't the CW's fault that Kevin Samples passed on the show, but Dawn Ostroff isn't beating down doors to add it to their schedule, either.
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May 27, 2008 3:41 PM
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I'm not yet gonna freak out. Gotta keep the faith!
With CW's struggles, maybe it's a good thing this didn't happen. Hopefully, a more solid network, like SciFI, will do the smart thing and snatch up Moonlight.
Matt, thanks for the scoop. You know we ML fans are dying for any updates.
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May 27, 2008 3:52 PM
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Did they honestly think that every single person who watched this show would watch it on CW, on Sunday no less? I find that very unrealistic.
Of course that's unrealistic but I'm willing to bet that a bunch of us would have followed. And for this network, wouldn't "only" two or three million of the eight million "Moonlight" viewers make a significant difference? Looks like the CW can only count on me for "Smallville". And it also looks like I'll be watching my copies of "Wire in the Blood" Sunday nights. Tsk, tsk!
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May 27, 2008 4:07 PM
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Cable station here we come! (Hopefully)
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May 27, 2008 4:09 PM
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May 27, 2008 4:27 PM
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As with everything, I think this was probably a question of $$. I know that for an effects heavy show, Moonlight was fairly cheap to produce. But I'm betting it was still too expensive for the CW now...and definitely too expensive for MRC, which is conducting an experiment here. I could see MRC being tempted, but with rumors of the CW closing its doors next year (unless there's a significant ratings improvement) TPTB there probably wanted to try and keep costs down for now.
I haven't seen anything about stars attached to these shows, but I'm betting there won't be any big names that would require big paychecks either.
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May 27, 2008 4:35 PM
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