Upon seeing a headline stating that the first cancellation of a new fall TV series had occurred—just two weeks into the season—I thought it might be fun to try to deduce which network had done the deed. (Figuring out precisely which godawful new show had been axed was a more daunting task.) I chose NBC, and that turned out to be correct. The Peacock Network has dumped The Playboy Club. NBC is the most aesthetically ambitious of the major TV networks and the least effective at reaching its goals in that regard. It regularly chooses shows that promise a deeper and more serious look at social issues and the human condition than most other nets, but it generally fails to deliver the promised depth or convey material in an entertaining way. Thus, flop after flop. In case you haven’t heard of it, The Playboy Club was an hour-long drama, airing Monday nights, set in the mid-1960s at one of the swingin’ cool clubs named in the title, once upon a time a part of nudie magazine billionaire Hugh Hefner’s empire. Why the show failed ought to be evident: The Playboy Club is a concept that promises scandalous fun, but that sort

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Big Hollywood reviewer Kurt Schlichter says Fox’s new series Terra Nova, set in prehistoric times, isn’t worth watching. Judging by his description, I’m going to skip the show: But the premiere’s meh ratings, despite months of hype, showed that the creators better get a grip before the show joins its main attractions in extinction.  Here are some key takeaways from the endless two-hour premiere: 1. Enough of the Manufactured Family Drama . . . Remember 2005’s War of the Worlds?  It sounded great on paper.  You got aliens and Spielberg and special effects…it should have been awesome.  And what did we get?  We get this idiotic domestic drama with Tom Cruise arguing with a couple of urchins as they drive around the Eastern Seaboard.  Sure, he beat on Tim Robbins, which was cool, but otherwise it was like Are We There Yet? with an older, duller Maverick taking the Ice Cube role. 2. Can the Characters Not Be Idiots? . . . Someone is missing and needs to be found before darkness falls and the dinos come out to dine…what do you do?  Do you grab your rifle and join other trained warriors, moving quickly to locate and rescue the lost

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Upon hearing that ABC was planning to do a new series of Charlie’s Angels three decades after the show ended, one might be forgiven for expecting the show to be like its predecessor: entertaining in the classic Hollywood way—frankly hedonistic while expressing devotion to popular causes and a generalized love for mankind and desire that people just be nice to one another. The producers appear to know that glamour and pleasure-seeking were central to the original show’s appeal: the pilot episode of the new series begins in a swinging Miami, Florida, disco atmosphere. The story quickly kicks in with the  kidnapping of a teenage girl, and the hedonistic element is conveyed by the fast cars, bosomy dames, and the loud eurodisco music behind most of the first action scene. The three fashion-model-attractive private detection operatives known as Charlie’s Angels set out to find and rescue her, under the direction of their unseen boss, Charlie Townsend, and his assistant, Bosley. Unfortunately for those who like the classic Hollywood formula of morally infused fun, the new Charlie’s Angels manifests a strong urge to be meaningful, “dark,” and consequential. That would be a good thing if the show were successful at it, but unfortunately the

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