Why does NBC cancel great TV?

I so agree with you! Awake was AWESOME! It could have been the best series, & the way the ended it??? Its bad that it got cancelled, but did they have to have such a LOUSY finale? It was the WORST finale I've ever seen! Of ANY TV show! Worse than Seinfeld even. & that's bad! But yeah, I'm sick of the idiotic shows that seem to get aired season after season. I didn't even want to get involved with Awake, but the previews were so interesting & I was hooked after the first episode. What a waste of time that was! They could have at least gave their loyal viewers a good ending!

I read an article that had a very interesting theory (I've left the link below). The theory is that cable is to blame as it doesn't have to worry about ratings as much as the big networks, meaning they can experiment with their shows. The other networks however can't afford to take risks any more so they have to ensure that their shows have "broad" appeal to bring in the masses instead of creating shows for niche audiences. Some of these shows are insultingly simple and stupid. To me, Kyle Killen's shows have always seemed more suitable for cable, with their polished quality and ambiguous lead characters (I was actually really bummed after Lonestar was cancelled on FOX) Awake was very interesting and improved significantly near the end of the season like a lot of other unfairly cancelled shows (Terriers!) and what can I say about Jason Isaacs except WOW! hopefully he won't be out of work for long. I think its time Kyle Killen moved to cable, I guess on the bright side NBC at least showed all the episodes.

It's all about ratings. Network shows need to bring in the high ratings for them to keep them on the air. If Awake aired on a cable channel such as TNT, it would have had a better chance because they will give them more time to build up an audience.

No offense, but 'nothing but crap' sounds like you got it from somewhere instead of thinking it up yourself.

Anyway, it all comes down to one thing: RATINGS. I follow a few TV executives on Twitter and they always get asked the same questions "why was X show cancelled. It was the best show on TV." The answer is always the same: Not enough people watched it. When a show gets cancelled it's 99.9% because it got low ratings. If no one is watching a show then it doesn't make financial sense to keep it on the air because then the network would be losing money. So, to me, it seems useless to blame the network. It's not like they bring on new shows and then take joy in seeing them fail. They took a chance on this show because they thought it would do well in the ratings, but nothing like that is predictable.

Like you, i though Awake seemed promising. I loved the concept and thought it was unique to TV. I couldn't watched only the first episode and couldn't watch most of the second episode. I recorded it on my DVR hoping to find time to watch it later. In hindsight, I think I hated the show. The concept was great, but it was slow and boring. It was also too hard to follow, and when it's that late at night, my brain can't process storylines that complex and trying to keep up with what "dream" state he's in and how the storylines connect at the end. Needless to say, when I found out hte show was cancelled, I was happy to get it off my DVR, along with some other shows that I found interesting, but couldn't bare to watch (Ringer, for example).

So, Awake might have been a great show, I don't know because I didn't stick around long enough to watch it, but most viewers didnt' give it a chance. It's not the networks fault. They took a chance on it hoping it would be a success. It's the viewers who didn't like it. You're anger is misdirected. Instead of being angry that your show got cancelled, it might be more beneficial to see how you can drum up support and figure out ways to help increase it's viewers. that's what it needs more than anything if it's going to survive. ;)

Like the executive of Syfy tells it's viewers: a show on the brink of cancellation needs more viewers to stay alive, and complaining and putting together facebook pages asking that it not be cancelled isn't going to help if the show isn't failing in the ratings.

I rarely watch NBC, except for The Tonight Show and Grimm (one of my favorite new shows this seasons). But, I remember before Dancing with the Stars came along, ABC was in the same spot - low rated shows and no big break out hit, and then Dancing came along and now everythings looking great. I remember ABC put up with some low-rated shows (Alias, for example) before Dancing came along. NBC is doing the same. The ratings for Grimm isn't great, but since all the other shows on the network are pretty low rated, Grimm has managed to survive cancellation. Just think about, Awake got even lower ratings. o_O

Oh well, shows come and go. And what you think is great doesn't mean everyone else think that show is great and vice versa. Think of it this way, Viewers like you and myself rule what stays on TV. Nothing more, nothing less.

Alas, all my opinion. I learned awhile ago not to get too obsessed over TV shows because they'll come and go. I'm already imagining a day when my favorite shows won't be around (Survivor, The Walking Dead, Being Human, Shark Tank, other shows that i've been watching since day one). That's the way the TV-verse works.

As long as Grimm stays on the air, NBC can do what they want in my opinion

are they still in business?