10 Decisions That Have Already Doomed Upcoming TV Shows
Let's be honest, nobody asked for an Echo series.
Making a movie is hard, but getting a TV series to the finish line is absolute lunacy.
Generally produced under much tighter time and budgetary constraints than an equivalent film, it's frankly impressive that anyone can produce quality long-form entertainment that sustains interest for hours and hours.
But it's also fair to say that many shows are ultimately doomed to fail because of a creative or business decision made much earlier in the process.
No matter how good parts of the series might be, it comes back to this one gripe which ends up sinking the whole enterprise, either critically, ratings-wise, or both.
These 10 upcoming TV shows, easily some of the most anticipated series of the next 12 months, might already be destined for critical and/or commercial failure because they've committed to an extremely risky idea.
Perhaps they're forging ahead without beloved cast members, have taken way too long to bring a new season to the screen, or even centered the show around a character nobody's really interested in.
It'd certainly be great to be wrong about these shows, but at the same time it's probably best to keep your expectations in check...
10. No Other Original Cast Members - Frasier Revival
On paper it's incredibly easy to see why Paramount is dusting off Frasier, inarguably one of the greatest and most beloved sitcoms of all time, for a revival almost 20 years after its original 11-season run ended.
Described as a "third act" of Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) story, it goes without saying that there's absolutely an audience curious to see what Frasier, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), Daphne (Jane Leeves), and Roz (Peri Gilpin) have been up for two decades.
Except, the 10-episode revival series won't feature any other legacy characters apart from Frasier himself, with David Hyde Pierce reportedly turning down an offer to return, while Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin are also apparently not part of the new season.
Instead, Grammer will be joined by Nicholas Lyndhurst, playing Frasier's old college buddy Alan, and Jack Cutmore-Scott appearing as Frasier's son Freddy.
But given that Frasier's entire charm involved him bouncing dialogue off Niles, Daphne, and Ros - not to mention the departed John Mahoney - it's tough to muster much enthusiasm for a revival lacking 80% of its mainline cast.
And even if the show ends up being a pleasant surprise, the missing cast members are sure to diminish interest among all but the most die-hard Frasier fans. This isn't how it was supposed to go.