Teevieo » The Unit

The Unit Gets The Boot

Regina Avalos — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:50:55 +0000

Another day for upfronts, and we know now the fate of more of our favorite series. CBS took to the stage on Wednesday to tell us what just is happening with their network. We already knew from what happened to Medium at NBC, the eye network decided to take Medium under its wing. Right now, it definitely looks like it will accompany Ghost Whisperer on Friday nights. This sounds like a match made in heaven to be honest. We’ll have to see how it works out.

However, not everyone is getting saved from the ax. Looks like The Unit is done. CBS has canceled the series after four years, and this is one I wish hadn’t been canceled. It has been one of my favorite series to watch on television since its premiere. It hooked me in and it kept me entertained. Army Wives came out after with a similar premise, but The Unit just won me over, even if I do love both series. The Unit had been moved to Sunday night this past season, and that put it up against ABC powerhouse, Brothers & Sisters. This probably didn’t help much.

There is good news though. Alex O’Loughlin is coming back to CBS. Yes, finally. After CBS canceled Moonlight last May, they signed the actor to a year long deal to find him a new show. They finally did it. Three Rivers is set for premiere in the fall, and it will land on Sunday night at 10/9c, which will put up against Desperate Housewives. The series co-stars Katherine Moennig, who was recently seen on The L Word on Showtime. What do you think of these changes?

The Month Of May

Regina Avalos — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:51:29 +0000

Here we are in the month of May, and it really is a busy month in the land of television. It is a sweeps month, and all the shows are putting out their best. It is also the month where the networks make a lot of decisions on which shows will be returning next season. This year is different though. We have this three month dead zone in the middle of things where nothing was on air. No new programming to speak of, unless you were a reality show. In those cases, you moved forward without one worry about the writer’s strike messing everything else up.

Some are saying with the strike causing problems this season, the networks might be a bit easier with renewals for next season. Everyone is coming back to low ratings following the strike. Even power hitters like Grey’s Anatomy have seen a dip in the ratings. American Idol, who wasn’t affected by the strike at all, has even had lower than normal ratings this season. This helps shows that did well before the strike to come back for next season.

There are a few shows I’m waiting word on. Two over on CBS I’m hoping come back are The Unit and Moonlight. Rumors are that both are likely to return for next season, but there has been no official word from the network yet. The Unit has been a favorite of mine since its premiere, and this season was a hard one with the death of one crew effecting everyone. The strike left us all hanging, and I’m hoping that isn’t permanent. Moonlightis a new series this year, but it is already developing a strong fan-base. It returned to CBS just in the last couple of weeks, and fan reaction has been positive. Hopefully word will come soon about these two shows returning. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Unit Fights On

Josh — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 17:00:11 +0000

In my opinion, the CBS show The Unit remains one of the most underrated on Television. OK, you can’t get over the fact that the Allstate Insurance guy (Dennis Haysbert) is playing a resourceful, combat hardened super-soldier. Me neither. I keep expecting him to grease a couple of terrorists then turn to the camera and tell me about “accident forgiveness.”

I jest. Haysbert is an asset to the show, as was Demore Barnes, whose character, Hector, a member of the elite delta force unit, was killed of a couple of weeks ago. Though his death seemed to throw a wrench into The Unit, it was clear that the show will go on, relatively unchanged.

Creator David Mamet doesn’t write the scripts for the episodes anymore, but his trademarks (high-context dialogue, complex relationships) are still evident. The influence of the show’s co-creator, Shawn Ryan, of The Shield fame, is less evident. Though The Unit deals with people in a tough profession, it lacks The Shield’s grittiness. That is the only thing I expected from this show that it has failed to deliver. Everything else: near perfect.

The Unit is trying to fight its way past the writer’s strike, rationing out its remaining episodes. Their boots will next hit the ground a week from Tuesday (December 18th).