Hank Steinberg is trying to keep the faith.
But it’s tough when the show you’ve poured the last 18 months of your life into has disappeared from the TV schedule and you aren’t sure when, or if, it’s coming back.
Steinberg is executive producer of “The Nine,” ABC’s drama that was supposed to have been one of the big hits of the fall season.
It was the sort of project that was seemingly blessed from the get-go. Critics loved the pilot, a tense thriller about hostages rescued from a 52-hour bank heist who emerge as a close-knit but emotionally battered group. The large ensemble was headed by veteran TV actor Tim Daly, who played a heroic cop with a troubled past. And to help ensure that viewers at least checked out “The Nine,” the network bestowed a golden Wednesday slot after the hit drama “Lost.”
Yet “The Nine” tanked. This wasn’t a case of a show starting out strong and then having the ratings slowly drop. The relatively low numbers for the “Nine” pilot–11.9 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research–only got worse as the weeks passed. The last episode to air before the network finally yanked the show, on Nov. 22, was watched by a mere 4.1 million.
Some outlets have reported that the series is officially canceled. And Steinberg can understand why skeptics may assume the worst.
“This may be hard for people to believe, but I believe they’ll bring it back for another shake,” he said recently.
The network says it has every intention of a return for “The Nine.” ABC executives are looking at running the remaining six unaired episodes starting in March or April, which would give the show’s small regiment of loyal fans a chance to tie up some loose plot strands. But the network didn’t order any new episodes, and some observers say it’s iffy whether ABC will even bother burning off the episodes.
“I don’t know if they can bring it back,” said Laura Caraccioli-Davis, executive vice president at Chicago ad firm Starcom.
The most vexing question remains: What the heck happened? How did such a promising show whiff?
“If we knew,” ABC Executive Vice President Jeffrey Bader said, “it would never happen.”
