And now it’s just over.
Cable television’s FX channel has decided not to renew the critically praised Iraq war drama “Over There” for a second season due to weak ratings during the show’s initial 13-episode run, the network said on Tuesday.
“Over There,” a first-of-its-kind contemporary war drama about U.S. troops in combat and their families back home, was co-created by Steven Bochco, the veteran TV producer behind such landmark cop shows as “Hill Street Blues” and “NYPD Blue.”
While “Over There” garnered mostly favorable reviews, the gritty, albeit fictionalized, depiction of a real war that has grown increasingly unpopular with the American public ultimately proved a turnoff to TV viewers.
Although the series contained references to real-life events that have stirred debate over the war, including the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal, the producers sought to avoid overt political messages about the conflict.
The show got off to a promising start on July 27 with 4.1 million viewers tuning in, a fairly healthy launch by cable TV standards, but the audience steadily declined from there.
Through the 13th and final episode on October 26, the program averaged a meager 2.1 million viewers overall. Only 1.35 million watched the series finale.
Good. Personally, I had not returned to the show since my generally disfavorable response to the premier episode.