THE TRIO CABLER won praise from TV critics a few years ago by showcasing acclaimed but short-lived series under the banner "Brilliant but Canceled." In essence, it marked a resourceful way for a channel with a meager budget to make its dollars go further by using every part of the chicken.Now DirecTV's 101 Network is doing much the same with a bonus, offering all the episodes of axed programs -- including those that never saw the light of day -- billed as "The Complete Series." The satcaster's digging through TV's dearly departed began with the 2000 drama "Wonderland" and has expanded to include three recent Warner Bros. programs: "Smith," which begins this week, with four of its seven episodes never having aired on CBS; "The Nine," with 13 hours, four not shown by ABC; and "Eyes," which shot 12 episodes, though ABC aired just five of them.
We can only hope that this idea takes off and migrates further onto the internet.
BACK IN THE 1990s, late programming guru Brandon Tartikoff advised development execs that "Every show should be somebody's favorite show" -- a maxim that has evolved now that episodes can be bought and downloaded, creating a relatively new facility to translate cult followings into incremental revenue.Because seriously, I want GLOBAL FREQUENCY to have an airing...and let me put this out into the universe -- this is a web serial I would want to see ala ANGEL OF DEATH. Perfect format on the perfect distribution platform for that show.
