From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:
CBC needs to make room for original, ambitious TV dramas
CBC’s cancellation of Strange Empire is more than disappointing. It’s a disgrace, an abnegation of responsibility. That responsibility – indeed it’s a promise made by CBC executives – is to make CBC-TV the home of serious-minded, provocative, cable-quality programming. Strange Empire is the only series in recent years to even approach that level. Now it’s gone. Continue reading.
Someone was being a Negative Nellie when they wrote this…I get the outrage but I think CBC made the right decision with this. The ratings were really bad. I think we shouldn’t expect a network to renew something with that low of numbers. If the numbers were mediocre as opposed to bad then yeah, I think quality deserves a second chance. X Company, on the other hand, is a show I really like and maybe the ratings are mediocre but they aren’t terrible so I think it should come back. It is possible to make a show that is both populist and quality but it’s difficult.
I think Negative Nelly is his column name :)