Day Break

I thought ABC's programming strategy with Lost this year was brilliant: bunch up the first-run episodes into two batches and commission a one-shot limited series to fill in the gap. Just something that you could enjoy while Lost was on hiatus, a pleasing diversion that had a definite end. Apparently Day Break just couldn't pull the numbers ABC was looking for, though, and not all of the series aired. Fortunately, the network posted the rest of the episodes online.

It's a shame more people won't get to see this; it was good. Not by any means "the best show on television" but well worth watching. Diggs is appealing as Hopper, and the supporting actors, particularly Bloodgood and Baldwin, are solid too. The plot has enough twists and turns to keep even the most careful watcher guessing. Some of it doesn't actually make much sense -- in some episodes, Hopper is off doing things that won't actually stop some of the other bad things in his day from happening, but they somehow don't happen. (Creative license.) Still, unlike Lost, it all actually concludes neatly and satisfyingly.

This kind of show is actually the kind of thing that British television does well. Hardly any British dramas have more than 13 episodes a season, and many come to a definite end after only a season or two. (Example: The second season of Life On Mars is the last.) I think the smaller number of episodes allows for better writing -- Ron Moore of Battlestar Galactica has expressed similar concerns. (Which is probably why Season 4 of Galactica was originally slated to be 13 episodes. Sci-Fi apparently dangled enough of a carrot to get him to agree to 22, though.)

The Brits do it largely because they don't have the budget the American networks do. But I'd completely support any American network that wanted to schedule two 13-episode shows in place of a single 22-episode show. It divides neatly into the calendar year (you get to run each series twice in its entirety, so viewers can catch shows they missed the first time) and gives the viewer a new series to look forward to on a regular basis. At the same time, the network's financial commitment for each individual show is lower, so they're not betting the farm on 22 episodes of one show.

Of course, if they're not willing to do that, ABC's approach is a good compromise. I hope ABC does not let their disappointment with Day Break's ratings scare them away from repeating this scheduling gambit next year with a different show.

Great show! Characters were interesting and well developed. The writing was above par for TV with a subject that could have come off as just another sci-fi type twist in a mundane crime series. Not so, here.

The murder mystery is interesting on its own and then throwing in the problem of the day repeating and our hero trying to clear his name, made for a very entertaining show.

Too bad, ABC did not pick up another season of this. I watched it all online at ABC.go.com. It played well there especially because you could watch the first ten episodes all in a row.

Maybe they will pick it up and make it their first show exclusively produced for the internet. I doubt it, though. Any TV executives dumb enough to toss this show, won't be smart enough to figure out that most of it's new audience found it online and then capitalize on that.

Good Luck, Mr. Diggs. I will watch anything you produce!

A good, complex conspiracy at a steady high pace.

It's a shame, but I understand why it was taken of the air after just 6 episodes. It's simply too complex to be "mainstream easy entertainment". Too many leads and entanglements. But when that's said… it's a really good show. I actually had not expected it to be worth watching, but I just had to see what came next and how they would get out of this one. The many angles on the case are brilliant. You very often ask yourself "what would have happened if this and that". Here you actually get the answer to those questions. Well acted on all parts, doesn't make it worse that Moon Bloodgood plays the part as the girlfriend. Loved it. … but kind of hard to make a new season :-)

I sat engrossed as the pilot episode of Day Break careened through 2 hours of network time. It definitely has an x-files stamp in the writing and the look and intensity of 24. Cast is well chosen and the concept is far out. Feel reserved about how far the content can go without being-ahem-repetitive. Lots of opportunity for new quirky cast members which I hope will be taken into account in future episodes. Don't care for the flash memory cuts, hopefully they will diminish. There are plenty of seeded clues which could go in several directions: ie,I love the scruffy homeless looking guy who pops up twice so far. Will adjust my vote to ten if the show has staying power. Nice Job!

I really enjoyed DayBreak and realized early that if you didn't watch from the beginning you could get left behind. For this reason I never missed an episode. Yea! all 4 episodes :) On paper one might contend that a story line that repeats itself over and over should be easily accessible to first time viewers. In reality however the opposite was true.

The joy of watching the show was knowing the history.

I think the producers were on to the fact that drop-ins would be turned off if they thought they had missed the beginning. I say this because they had the wrong days on just about every episode. For instance every episode had more than one day but even by episode 4 the day was listed at 4 it was more like day 15.

I am sad the show was pulled, ABC promised to put the unaired episodes online but as of yet have not.

I thought Taye Diggs did a great job with the character.

I am 50-50 on whether his injuries carrying over were a good or bad idea.

I will miss the show I gave it a 10