The Yes List - The Winners and Losers of Fall TV

With the 2011-12 television season in full swing and the cancellation orders stacking up, Jace Lacob rounds up the season's winners (Revenge! Homeland!), losers (Man Up! Whitney!), and draws… Winners, Losers, Meh December 09, 2011 Fall TV: The Winners and Losers With the 2011-12 television season in full swing and the cancellation orders stacking up, Jace Lacob rounds up the season's winners (Revenge! Homeland!), losers (Man Up! Whitney!), and draws. DARREN MICHAELS With the 2011-12 television season well underway, it's become increasingly clear that this isn't the best fall the broadcasters have ever had. Back in May, when the networks touted their new offerings to advertisers, it appeared they were trying to take some risks with their programming. But the opposite is true: most of those shows featured what the networks hoped were built-in audiences for retro brand settings (Pan Am! The Playboy Club!) or remakes of vintage television (Charlie's Angels, it's back to pop-culture heaven for you), but viewers largely stayed away from these and many of the new fall shows. Those claiming that viewers' attention is elsewhere, such as on the Internet, likely don't have a response for the oversize audience for things like AMC's The Walking Dead, now the highest-rated cable show on the air, or the first post–Charlie Sheen episode of CBS's Two and a Half Men. (The latter could be due to sampling, but the show has remained consistently in the range of 14 million to 16 million viewers since then.) It seems as though people are watching television, but they're increasingly just not that excited about what's airing on the broadcasters. (Just look at the declining fortunes of once-invulnerable reality franchise The Biggest Loser.) Which is downright worrisome, as the networks have to replace aging series and churn out new and zeitgeist-grabbing programming on a yearly basis. And sorry, Fox, but that wasn't The X Factor, despite the nonstop hype. But when you look at the out-of-the-gate failures of shows like The Playboy Club, How to Be a Gentleman, Free Agents, and Man Up! (and the dwindling returns on big-budget fare like Terra Nova), the picture is even more cloudy and portentous, and that's to say nothing of the reality drivel at the CW, which gave us the not-at-all-lamented H8R. Read the rest of this article on The Daily Beast Want more culture from The Daily Beast? Click below to read this week's top stories on entertainment and the arts. Batman's New Nemesis, the Muscle-Bound Bane, Revealed 'The Dark Knight Rises' introduces Bane, Batman's new bad guy. Chris Lee reports. A Day in the Life of The Roots' Questlove Follow the drummer of The Roots from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to an NYC gig, promoting new album Undun. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET The Yes List Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. Director Mike Mills on His Film 'Beginners' Luck During Awards Season by Mike Mills Justin Bieber and Other Celebrities in Ugly Christmas Sweaters (Photos) by The Daily Beast 'Dexter' Viewers Are Divided: The Showtime Series Hits a Crossroads by Maria Elena Fernandez

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