For some time now there’s been much discussion surrounding the fate of ABC’s two freshman sci-fi series, FlashForward & V.  Overall both have been performing rather poorly in the ratings.  But when it came to decision time, ABC decided to cancel one and keep the other.  As much as I have enjoyed following FlashForward, there were many hints to its eventual demise.  Two of them are the following: The ratings (FFpremiered to 12.47 million viewers and plummeted to 4.77 million viewers for last week’s ep) and a change in leadership (co-creator/showrunner David S. Goyer left the show in early February).  And here’s another one: ABC heavily promoted the new series the wrong way; in a number of ad spots the network was hailing it as “the next Lost.”  Although the show contains a myriad of characters, a complex mythos, and flashbacks to boot, it is most definitely not another Lost.  The direction and plot of the show are quite different from Lost.  ABC obviously felt some pressure to promote the show in this way since Lost is nearly finished, but I have a feeling FF might have fared differently if it was marketed in a more appropriate way.  In my opinion, I thought FlashForward started out great, then it started to lose its focus (right around when Goyer made his announcement), and now it finds itself back on track with a bunch of potential.  But now none of that matters anymore since it won’t be coming back after the May 27 finale.  I wonder if the producers will try to wrap things up for us..

And then there’s V, the mini-series reboot that could.  ABC aired this series in a very strange manner due to a number of early production issues.  They aired an initial “pod” of four episodes starting in November which garnered a huge following, then the show did not come back until the end of March.  Thanks to this long hiatus, viewership dropped during the latter half of the season.  As of late, however, the show has seen a surge in the ratings, especially in the coveted 18-49 demo, and in my opinion, it’s become more creative and engaging with the addition of some new characters and exciting and fast-moving plot twists.  According to the latest sources, V has been issued a 13-epsiode second season set to start this fall.

So what do I think about all this?  As a fan of both shows, I have to say I’m not so surprised that ABC decided to cancel FlashForward and keep V.  Although the potential for FlashForward is just starting to come to fruition, the delivery feels a bit “too little too late”.  V, on the other hand, always packed an explosive punch, from the initial pod of episodes to where to series sits now.  All I have to say is this: At least ABC decided to keep one of these shows; a sudden cancellation of both would have been devastating.

FlashForward airs Thursday nights at 8PM on ABC; the two-hour finale airs May 27.  V ends its first season run next Tuesday at 8PM on ABC.

[Via EW-AusielloFiles, here & here]