thebetabruh OP t1_j5k9220 wrote on January 23, 2023 at 4:38 PM

Reply to comment by magus-21 in I'm astounded each time I watch Person of Interest's "If-Then-Else" by thebetabruh

It floors me that it starts out as a CBS procedural but with a twist and becomes such an incredible sci-fi epic

caddington t1_j5kj2cy wrote on January 23, 2023 at 5:41 PM

They totally snuck it past CBS. The show starts off pretty procedurally and doesn't really hint it will become too much more for a majority of the 1st season. People got hooked and by the time CBS realized it wasn't really what they'd been sold on it was too popular to cancel.

Deducticon t1_j5kmdhz wrote on January 23, 2023 at 6:01 PM

A writer who briefly worked on Lost was amazed that ABC got bamboozled into having an epic expensive weird sci-fi show on prime time TV.

wujo444 t1_j5kuqs8 wrote on January 23, 2023 at 6:53 PM

They literally fired executive that signed on making over 10 mln dollar pilot. I'm not even sure who was right in that case.

thebetabruh OP t1_j5kjmh1 wrote on January 23, 2023 at 5:44 PM

I remember a r/dataisbeautiful post about TV show ratings and I think during 2011/2012 PoI was the 9th or 10th most popular show in the US!

saufcheung t1_j5kqpex wrote on January 23, 2023 at 6:28 PM

I really enjoyed the show but it wasnt that popular. I recall it being on the bubble every season after the 2nd/3rd

caddington t1_j5l6f21 wrote on January 23, 2023 at 8:06 PM

The 1st season was really popular because it fit pretty closely to the normal CBS fare. Then in the following season it lost audience but had built up enough of a base that CBS couldn't justify cancelling it.

wujo444 t1_j5lxs3w wrote on January 23, 2023 at 11:00 PM

Eventually they could, because they didn't own the show, and didn't like splitting profits with Warner.