'Revenge' Creator Mike Kelley Leaves Show

Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) & creator Mike Kelley

I never really do entertainment based - or any sort of news articles on here but I found this quite interesting and actually a little irritating (let me explain why in a bit).

It was announced yesterday that creator of ABC's/E4's soap-y drama 'Revenge' would be leaving the show in its entirety. Mike Kelley's series starring Emily VanCamp and Madeline Stowe debuted in the US in September 2011 and is currently in its second season. The creator is set to finish post-production duties on the show shortly before he departs, which is expected to be next month.

The announcement surprised me mainly because I've never heard of a creator stepping down from a show this early on. 'Revenge' became a sleeper hit with its debut, gaining just over 10 million viewers on its first ever showing. The audience viewership stayed strong, as did its critical reception for the next 21 episodes in the season. However, its audience has depleted somewhat in the show's sophmore year, with only 5.49 million people tuning into its most recent episode, "Masquerade", on Sunday 31st March. The move is, as I said shocking to me, but what irritated me about Kelley leaving his beloved show behind was the supposed reason.

Kelley had allegedly lobbied for 'Revenge' to carry a shortened 3rd season, possibly to stand at 13 episodes, to abandon unnecessary story arcs and twists that ultimately aren't necessary to the shows main story. ABC opted against the idea, most probably because they would be losing out on thousands, maybe even millions of dollars of ad-revenue from only having 13 episodes in one series (although there isn't an official figure for how much 'Revenge' "charges", in October 2012 a 30 second ad cost a little over $150,000 according to this chart from ad-age). 

What ABC doesn't seem to understand is that a short season is exactly what the show needs at this point. At the end of season 1 we were left with a cliffhanger that 18 episodes later - still hasn't been fully seen to, and while the second series is good (at a stretch), it's been carried on for much longer then it probably should've been. The show is known for its ridiculously dramatic soap opera-like twists and turns; people from the past showing up unexpectedly, fake deaths, surprise pregnancies and the like, while also trying to maintain a very dark, crime related story at its core. The marriage of the two genres of soap and crime is what's brought the show into the forefront from its inception, but with its intricate and tricky sub-plots which are quickly getting more difficult to follow, viewership is declining. A concise season of much fewer episodes would allow less "waffle" in the show, and let the main story work perfectly without the interruption of pointless side arcs and guest characters.

Network television needs to put shorter seasons into practise. It happens here and there and shows such as 'The Following', (the first season of) 'Scandal' and NBC's 'Hannibal' are proof that it can actually work effectively. Plus all you have to do is look at the most celebrated TV shows of the 21st century so far: 'Breaking Bad', 'Mad Men', 'The Walking Dead', 'Game of Thrones', 'Luther', 'Downton Abbey' and 'The Wire'. How many episodes have they all had per season?

Not as many as Revenge.


You can read a review of Revenge Season 1 here.

NBC Thinks It's 2002

Christina Aguilera at the 'Blind Auditions' for The Voice Season 3
and Britney Spears at the first open auditions for The X Factor Season 2

Two of the most eagerly anticipated reality television shows will be making their return when the US TV season kicks off next week, and dirty tricks are being played before either show has even aired.

News has recently arrived that those at NBC have decided to air its sleeper success 'The Voice', with judges Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo Green and Christina Aguilera directly against the second season of Fox’s 'The X Factor', with judges Simon Cowell and L.A Reid along with new additions Demi Lovato and Britney Spears. Originally, the former was to reappear on Monday the 10^th over two nights, but a third has now been added, airing on Wednesday 12^th at 8pm. The same as The X Factor. Although it still remains unknown whether or not further episodes will air against each other, I think it's safe to say this won't be the last time either.

Those that are pretending that NBC did so because of the similarity between the two shows can drop it, as it’s a move that has obviously been calculated because of who is sitting in the judges seats this year. It also ties into age old conflicts of women being pitted against each other unnecessarily within the music industry...and the media industry in general. NBC is embarrassingly trying to reignite an old tabloid rivalry between Aguilera and Spears; one that hasn’t existed for years and one that neither star pays attention to. Both 'The X Factor' and 'The Voice' could easily have co-existed together on separate nights which would have meant that both networks, as well as the fans would win. 

l-r: Reid, Spears, Lovato & Cowell at the
Fox Upfronts in May 2012

'The X Factor' debuted last September with just over 12 million viewers, falling drastically short of Simon Cowell’s original statement that anything under 20 million would be “disappointing”. Meanwhile, 'The Voice' which is entering its 3^rd season has continued to grow since its inception, with its Season 2 Super Bowl lead-in watched by 37 million viewers, and subsequent auditions averaging at around 15 million viewers an episode. Cowell has spoken out against the move, reportedly stating that "this is a cynical, cold-hearted, unprofessional way of doing business", calling out NBC as being unfair towards judges on both sides, as well as its viewers.

While I remain doubtful that this kind of sudden move would’ve occurred between two male judges that have had a long history, the final thing I will point out is that NBC could’ve potentially shot themselves in the foot with this. The buzz of Britney Spears joining the panel for The X Factor seems unprecedented, as interviews and fluid promotional material from the artist has been few and far between since 2007, and to see the star on unscripted (and later) live television is a huge deal for many people. Only time will tell which show this season has fared better. But I know what I’ll be watching more of.