ABC has announced that “FlashForward” will not come back in January as previously scheduled. Instead, the show will take an extended three-month hiatus as to not conflict with the Winter Olympics and return on March 4, 2010.
ABC will air new episodes of its remaining twenty-four episode first season order back to back without repeats, but this hiatus is undoubtedly going to interfere with the timeline of the show corresponding to the day of April 29, the central date the series focuses on.
This lengthy hiatus, similar to the long hiatus ABC’s “V” is on (returns even later on March 30), is angering fans and makes the network look appear to be backing away from their commitment to the show, but critics think that this hiatus may give the show the time it needs to recalibrate the storyline. There have been changes in the production already that make you wonder what is going on behind the scenes- ie. Marc Guggenheim’s departure as co-showrunner and the production timeline being halted for several days for producers to tweak the show.
Ratings for the ‘fall finale’ this week showed the numbers dropping another 8% to an all-time low for the show, with 7.3 million viewers, 2.2 preliminary adults 18-49 rating. The downward trend in “FlashForward”s ratings continues. Will this lengthy hiatus be the remedy the show needs to get back on track or will this long break simply lose the show’s remaining fans? Let’s hope the break will allow the network enough time to re-promote the show during the Winter Olympics.
