Bad Medicine

It is no secret that the average American enjoys television and in the manner in which events are progressing (such as the common usage of the DVR), it would seem that most tv programs would be an automatic hit. Yet, this is not true, especially for medical dramas which at one point, were very popular. Now, they have become like an old annoying sort of trend with fewer and fewer daily viewers.

According to Nielsen ratings, the medical dramas, “The Mob Doctor” and “Emily Owens M.D”, both from the CW network, were officially cancelled on the last days of November. Although Fox was cautious and refused to use the actual word “cancel”, it is still obvious that both medical dramas were not successes with “Emily Owens M.D” only averaging 1.3 million views.

Yet, it appears that only one medical drama seems rise above any other show: ABC’s “Grey Anatomy” which ranks as the No. 1 drama on television with an average of 9.9 million total viewers.

I believed this article was important because it showed the struggles of one the most common’s television genres. Since “Grey’s Anatomy” was such a success, most people would think that similar shows would also follow those footsteps just like CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” after the Twilight franchise. However, this article completely contradicts that because it demonstrates the true and sad fate of the most typical programs. Yet I do believe that medical dramas may be successful, but since it’s been done one too many times in such a short amount of time, viewers became unsurprisingly bored. If television shows such like these were to be retired for a while and then be brought back with a new story line and more interesting characters, then there would be no problem.  

This article caught my eye because I was expecting something like this for quite some time now. I have never watched a lot of medical dramas, but I have seen all the commercials and billboards excitedly advertising such shows. At the beginning, I also thought that these programs would be successful because many fans adored “Grey’s Anatomy” and I thought the excitement would translate to other similar programs. However, after witnessing the cancellation of “Saving Hope”, I predicted other shows would have the same end.

As a student, this article impacted me because it taught me something new. It made me realize that certain media genres do not last forever, although at point, it may have been seen like that. It also taught me that the whole industry is a huge gambling bet, for one never really does know if a certain show or movie will be successful.

As a future filmmaker, this taught me that certain storyline eventually becoming bored and old-fashioned because the attention of the audience tends to move rather quickly. Due to this, I would have to be careful in creating a film that is compatible with the attention of the audience and try to avoid staying in a routine that will make viewers drift away. Yet, I could also consider this a challenge because I would be constantly attempting to better my work to match up with the expectations of the audience.

As a consumer, this article affects me because I used to watch “Saving Hope”. Although I was not a big fan of it, I did become somewhat attached to the characters and so when I discovered that it was cancelled, I was a bit sad. I realized that millions of fans from “Emily Owens M.D” and “The Mob Doctor” will  feel the same after they realized that their programs are no longer available. Although these programs were not the best, they still provided entertainment and to finally accept the fact they will no longer be shown, is disappointing.

After reading this article, I had several questions surrounding the producers of the cancelled show. When they realized that their show was cancelled, were they completely surprised or were they expecting it? After all, they must have created a show like this because they might have observed the huge success of similar shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” that inspired them to make shows like that. Also, how are the fans handling this news? I know I was a bit disappointed when “Saving Hope” was cancelled so I wonder if fans of the other shows feel the same, or will they quickly move on?  

The New York Times: Goodbye Medical Dramas