ZERO HOUR - abc Series

Last night at 8 PM, ABC began airing a new series called ZERO HOUR. It stars Anthony Edwards and is one of those international mystery/conspiracy shows.

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/zero-hour

Yesterday, on one of the morning shows, Anthony Edwards was on to promote it, and mentioned that the series is 13 episodes, no more, no less, and it has a defined ending, which is why he signed on. We watched the first episode last night, and we're both intrigued enough to come back again, but I have to say that so much of the show seems rather derivative of other works. I see elements of:

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (movie) - we have a subplot here about Nazis in 1938 combined with religious articles/artifacts/overtones.

REVELATIONS (TV) - a six-hour NBC series with a globe-trotting professor teaming up with a rogue nun to investigate worldly miracles and church intrigue.

NATIONAL TREASURE (movie) - the following of historical clues in the attempt to unravel a current-day mystery.

MISSING (TV) - another limited-run abc series from a year or so ago with Ashley Judd traipsing around various European locations to find her missing son. (And ZERO HOUR is running in the same time slot!)

Now, the fact that I happened to like all of these, allows me to overlook the similarities for now, but hopefully it will take on a direction of its own.

Harry

 

Yes, it is derivative. In addition to the shows listed above, I also thought it had a touch of 'Lost'. I still enjoyed it, like a good B movie.

While watching I thought, "This better be a mini-series with definitive ending".



P.S. Was 'Missing' an intentionally, limited mini-series? Lost interest in that early (Judd is a terrible actress) and assumed it had been cancelled due to lack of ratings, without a proper ending.

 

That's essentially correct. I think it was intended to go on to a second season, but the ratings weren't very good. The ending they DID provide was more of a season-ending cliffhanger designed to get you to tune in next year.

ZERO HOUR is supposedly limited, so I expect a proper ending in the late spring.

Harry

 

Didn't watch, but saw today that the ratings were REALLY terrible. The show could be more "limited" than Edwards and the creators ever imagined...

 

It was a Cheeseburger of a pilot. It wasn't good for me but I had fun. Add Da Vinci Code and ALIAS to "inspirations", , , , I think if they could have given this a grittier edge it would have had to tighten up a bit and the dialog would be better. I was entertained, it tickles enough of my fancies, I'll keep watching.

it was amusing to see Adisson Timlin and Scott Michael Foster (who I watched together on Californication) acting like wide-eyed idealist youngstahs.

 

No wonder....the show was up against The Big Bang Theory and American Idol.

 

I would like to see a television series based upon the old radio series hosted by Rod Serling called cleverly enough "Rod Serling's Zero Hour." 78 stories were done in 1973-74. I could see 78 new hour long television episodes with classic narration by Rod Serling. A new Anthology series hosted by the great Rod Serling would be perfect.

 

I love how there was no visible breath at any time during their trek through the frozen wilderness.

 

Got some of the worst ratings yet:

Zero Hour Gets Record Low

 

It seemed like a low-rent version of the Da Vinci Code from the pilot. The cast seem more suited to basic cable than a show premiering on Thursday on a network. Those type of ratings likely mean it has been canceled, we just don't know it yet.

I will give it some credit, I never thought we'd see a series built around the Rosicrucians.

 

Which recalls Woody Allen's great line: "I never could trust a religion that had to advertise in the back of Popular Mechanics for members."

 

His career never seemed to rebound from the Mark's Sick E.R.'s his departure. Looking back it would have been great if he stayed two more seasons and the show would be been canceled, but of course it doesn't work out like that.

Oh yeah, Zero Hour has got to be finished.

 

I didn't like that he finds out his wife has been kidnapped by a world renown terrorist (and it turns out for good reason) yet he blows off the FBI like they are some kind of mall rent a cops. Come on!

 

I just watched the show on the DVR, and thought it was a hoot. Very funny, clever show, though I think Anthony Edwards is miscast. I liked the show and thought it kept me guessing, moved very fast, and looked really good. The ratings are in the toilet, though, so I'm skeptical that it'll continue. I'll stay watching as long as they continue to show it.

 

Update: Just cancelled, after only 3 episodes!

http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/abcs-zero-hour-cancelled-after-3-airings/

ABC‘s Thursday 8 PM slot has taken another drama victim. The network is pulling new series Zero Hour after three low-rated airings. For the next two weeks, encores of Shark Tank will air in the hour. Then seven non-celebrity episodes of Wife Swap will run in the slot before Wipeout, the only show to work in the Thursday 8 PM time period since Ugly Betty, takes over on May 9.

Zero Hour, starring Anthony Edwards in his first post-ER series role, premiered to an underwhelming 1.3 rating in adults 18-49 and slid in its consecutive airings, most recently to a 1.0 rating last night. Zero Hour adds to a long list of high-profile ABC dramas that suffered a quick death in the Thursday 8 PM hour over the last couple of years, including FlashForward, My Generation, Charlie’s Angels, Missing and Last Resort.

I blame the Illuminati! Or maybe the Rosicrucians. I hope they eventually play out the rest of the episodes -- I actually enjoyed it somewhat, as goofy as the show was.

 

I was watching it but like The Following, it was losing me quickly.

 

I'm hoping that Keifer Sutherland and the mute autistic kid from Touch will show up, hand Anthony Edwards the magic numbers, and solve all the problems so he can find his wife and go home, ending the mystery.

I told a friend of mine that Zero Hour had been cancelled, and he said, "Zero ratings!" Sad.

 

Well, I guess I'll just have to wait for either a DVD set or a summer showing to find out what happened on ZERØ HØUR. I'm not surprised they nuked it, but I remember in the past that a series that a network believed in would get at least a tryout to a different time slot to see if it helped the ratings. These days, like Network XXIII it's all about instant numbers and blipverts. Anyone got a ZiK-ZAK?




Harry

 

I didn't expect anything great, but it was starting out interestingly & the actors are likeable. That the entire storyline was already limited to one short season seemed like a good thing to me. Sad that people would rather watch that other crap for 13 weeks.

 

I'm surprised this was debuted now, instead of being a summer replacement series.

Not sure what else ABC is going to put in that time slot that will be a ratings winner. I suppose 'Wipe Out' will do alright against summer re-runs.

http://www.inquisitr.com/551807/zero-hour-canceled-after-three-episodes/

 

i watched about 10 minutes of it and turned it off. it just didn't interest me.

 

The fact that Anthony Edwards wife's name was Layla was throwing me off. All he kept saying through an episode was Layla Layla where are you? I will find you!

 

Well ABC's newest show Red Widow is even worse.

 

"You got me on ma knees... Layla!"

That was a little ridiculous. I still rolled my eyes at Anthony Edwards' and his staff's ability to jump on a plane and fly anywhere in the world at a moment's notice, without worrying about the money. You ever check to see how much it costs to fly to Germany or the North Pole when you book the flight that same day? Yikes...