TV Tidbits 76 - Ruby & the Rockits

Bah!!!! I really AM out of the loop these days! I am bummed. Ashamed. Disappointed. I don't know what's happened to me! (sigh) :o( I am hanging my head as I type.

This probably won't affect anyone but me, anyway, but since I posted about Ruby & the Rockits earlier this year, I thought I should at least follow-up. Apparently, ABC Family has decided not to extend Ruby past its original 10 episode order. Which means the episode that aired on September 22nd was the last one... ever. Dang! I mean, I guess my mom and I were the only ones watching but c'mon - it's David Cassidy! Granted, the show itself was beyond schmaltzy... but David and Patrick Cassidy were actually pretty funny. To me, at least. If they'd cut Ruby and the blond kid out of the show entirely it would've been awesome! ;o) I honestly did enjoy watching the show over my Lucky Charms in the morning and am bummed it died so quickly.

Published: September 12, 2009

ABC Family has decided to pass on ordering a second season of its freshman sitcom, Ruby & the Rockits.

In Ruby & the Rockits, former teen icon Patrick Gallagher (Patrick Cassidy) has been living quietly with his wife (Katie A. Keane) and their two sons, teenage Jordan (Austin Butler) and sarcastic preteen Ben (Kurt Doss).

Things change when Patrick’s former band-mate brother, David (David Cassidy), shows up with David’s previously unknown teenage daughter, Ruby (Alexa Vega). David doesn’t want to give up his show-biz life and leans on his brother to help raise his daughter, who’s a rising star on her own.

The show debuted on July 21st to 1.6 million viewers and 654,000 in the 18-49 demographic, making Ruby the second best sitcom launch in the network’s history. It even built out of the audience of fellow freshman comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.

Unfortunately, those numbers didn’t hold up and the sitcom lost steam in the following weeks. While the network has renewed 10 Things for another 10 episodes, ABC Family has decided to dump Ruby after one short season.

The final episode is scheduled to air on Tuesday, September 22nd. In the episode, titled “Smells like Teen Drama,” Jordan and Ruby compete for the attention of the same girl. Privileged’s Lucy Hale guest stars as Ruby’s best friend and Jordan’s new girlfriend. Meanwhile, Ben is being bullied at school. David and Patrick want him to fight back while his mother has a very different point of view.

TV Tidbits 30 - ABC Family Pilots

*Sigh* Seriously. WHY do networks insist on culling new TV shows from hit movies? Why? Do any of them succeed? Seven Brides for Seven Brothers? (One of my favorite movies, by the way.) The Outsiders? (Which, let's face it, did no justice to the book but had one of the finest, hunkiest casts ever assembled!) Working Girl? (A young Sandra Bullock.) Ferris Bueller? (A young Jennifer Anister... with her old nose.) NO! None of these were successful!!! Grrr. So, of course, ABC Family is developing a pilot based on 1999's 10 Things I Hate About You. Now, I like 10 Things - very much. It's a nothingburger movie, really, but the cast is great and it's really quite funny*. I don't remember it being a huge blockbuster, though, even if it did introduce Heath Ledger and his unruly hair to American audiences. And... it's almost 10 years old!! Isn't there some sort of statute of limitations on movie-to-TV show conversions? There should be. According to TVGuide.com, there is no cast in place as of yet though the film's director, Gil Junger, has signed on to direct the pilot. The show also "won't deviate too much from the feature," which is good, I guess, though I don't know how the plot will stretch to more than one season at best. Oh well. Since I won't be watching, I guess it's not my problem!

Starting @ 3:52 - "Are you telling me I'm not a pretty guy?" Priceless.

* If you watch Numb3rs but you've never seen 10 Things, you're missing out. David Krumholtz is friggin' hilarious in the movie! You'll never look at him the same way.

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On a similar note, ABC Family is also developing a pilot featuring David Cassidy. And other people, too, of course but who cares? You know we all want Keith!! Accoriding to TVGuide.com,

Ruby and the Rockits, headlined by Spy Kids' Alex Vega as Ruby. The multi-camera series revolves around an ex-teen idol (Patrick Cassidy) trying to live a normal life until his brother and former band member (David Cassidy) shows up unexpectedly with a teenage daughter.

The series comes courtesy of one-time teen idol, Shaun Cassidy, who will write with Ed Yeager. Ted Wass is tapped to direct.

It's a good thing ol' Shaun-baby is behind the camera because he is by far the ugliest Cassidy. Seriously. Observe.

It was somewhat difficult to find a photo of a young Patrick but he is in this movie, dancing with Kristy McNichol (skip to the 5:00 mark if you're in a hurry!):

I really have no interest in anything ABC Family has to offer (well, at least their original programming, anyway) but you know I'll at least tape the pilot of Ruby, if only to check out the Cassidy brothers. I'm such a shmuck.

Both shows are set to start production this fall in L.A.