Adios, amigos.
Hey, anyone remember "The Knights of Prosperity?" Probably not - or the memory is dim and rapidly fading. "Knights" hasn't been on since February, and left the air in a cloud of grim speculation about its future. Subsequently canceled, the burnoff begins tonight in a two-parter at 8:30 and 9:30 and in a few short weeks, "Knights" will be no more.
So what exactly happened? "Knights" was absolutely one of the most promising new shows of the 2006-7 season. It had "breakthrough" written all over it - at least by ABC. Just count the many breaks that were supposed to come through: the talented Donal Logue, as the hapless leader of the would-be band of blue-collar robbers who planned to roll Mick Jagger; a star writing crew, lead by Jon Beckerman and Rob Burnett, both "Late Show with David Letterman" standouts; Dave himself, who was listed as an executive producer (and Paul Shaffer even wrote the music.) There was a terrific cast too - besides Logue, there were noteworthies like Kevin Michael Richardson, Sofia Vergara, and Lenny Venito, one of my favorites and a veteran New York actor who (I'm sure you'll remember) was "Murmurs" on "The Sopranos." Also this: It was filmed entirely in NYC, making "Knights" one of the few remaining major network shows to actually shoot on location here ("30 Rock" - not nearly as hyped - remains).
Why the downfall:
A few theories:
1.) Not that funny. Really, it wasn't. "Knights" was charming, pleasant, cute, even amusing. But funny? Hardly ever.
2.) Jagger: Missed most of his episodes, but the first one was an abomination. Show was dogged by reports, rumors, whatever, that he had demanded changes in the script and in his role. He was an executive producer too, and when the talent becomes a show-runner (like Geena Davis on "Commander-in-Chief) then you can pretty much expect the worst, and rarely be disappointed. Of course, there are major exceptions to the rule - Bill Petersen on "CSI" as the most notable. Jagger, however, is great at one thing, and that's not TV. (Meanwhile, do twenty-two year olds even know who he is? Just asking...)
3.) Concept: Robbing rich celebrities? The well-worn caper format was reduced to this one simple three-word description. Idea, though, could have probably worked better for a contained hour-thirty-minute movie. A weekly series? No. The stretch marks were especially evident when Kelly Ripa became the last victim. She was fine. Her episode was fine. But it also felt like just another version of the same joke.
Meanwhile, I think I'll pay my final respects tonight. Ray Romano makes his appearance - he was on the show way back in February, when Gene decided he'd be their next target - and you don't see Ray on the tube that much any more. The plot sounds pretty interesting too: Romano never leaves his apartment (so how to rob him?) Imagine if this episode is the breakthrough ABC has been waiting for?