What it was: Hoping to pique the interest of the sluggish holiday crowd, TNT's Mob City took a page straight out of The Walking Dead's playbook and aired as a 6 episode half-season. The idea was that the abbreviated presentation would serve as somewhat of a teaser for a potential return, which was a win-win for both the network and the show itself; it offered the guarantee of an unhindered run without having to take the risk of ordering an entire 12-episode season. With stunning visuals and a gripping premise, Mob City made sure to utilise the brief time it was given. The show itself was based on real accounts found in the book L.A. Noir: The Struggle For the Soul of America's Most Seductive City. Mob City's classic neo-noir atmosphere was a welcome addition to TNT's repertoire, but unfortunately not as welcomed as we had anticipated. Where it went wrong: Aside from the fact that December is considered one of the worst months to premiere a fledgling program, the half-season strategy didn't play out nearly as well for Mob City as it had for The Walking Dead. In the end, the show came across as more of a miniseries than anything else, and thus didn't have viewers scrambling to produce the ratings that could have kept this beautiful show afloat. We may never know if the show would have succeeded under more normal circumstances, but it's certainly nice to dream.
