Just one episode…
That’s all Alex O’Loughlin and the new doctors at Three Rivers were given by TEN.
Next week it is replaced by a repeat of NCIS (of course).
The organ transplant drama took just 499,000 on Wednesday night, fourth in its slot. Highlighting the challenges for the show was its drop from NCIS: LA which won at 1.07m.
The show’s debut was also complicated by TEN switching the premiere to Episode Two after CBS introduced a character in its second ep who had already appeared in the first. The network says CBS gave them permission for the switch.
Three Rivers has attracted poor to middling reviews in the US but so far only two eps have aired.
TEN is yet to clarify any plans for the remaining episodes.
Oh the perils of fastracking… damned if you do, damned if you don’t…
I hope Channel ten now schedule show for a late spot. At least I can record it and continue to watch. They have purchased show, we should get the opportunity to watch it.
I am appalled that ten can axe this show after one Ep. No consideration was taken regarding the fans of the show nor the fact that this show had an Australian actor as the lead. Channel ten, you suck.
I am so sad to hear that it will not be airing anymore. I am actually surprised about it.
I was curious from the promo ads and was really impressed during the first ep. I found it more enjoyable than Mercy after just one ep and was looking forward to getting into another medical show. I love Grey’s Anatomy and Nurse Jackie.
So here I was excited to see the next ep on a Wednesday night only to find out that NCIS was on.
I at least hope it stays on in the U.S. so I get a chance to see more.
what do tv stations take us viewers for a bunch of idiots …because the y seem to treat us like that. they encourage us to watch by advertising a new show and getting us to watch it then they take it away without so much as a sorry or an explanation they are rude and ungrateful to the loyal and to the people who cannot afford pay tv Is it anywonder the internet is overtaking the TV Boo to channel ten and channel nine a big raspberry to you both
F*** you Channel TEN. The show was good and I would have enjoyed the opportunity to get more into it. Lets see how your ratings go with a repeat of NCIS!!! Commercial TV in Australia sux ass. So glad for Foxtel. Maybe someone with xome smarts there will pick it up.
What the hell!!!!
This is small mindedness at it’s greatest.
Had to go through this with Moonlight and now Three Rivers didn’t even get a fair go.
For god sake play it again and give it a fair go.
Some advertising wouldn’t go amiss either.
Open up your small boring minds at Channel 10 and let us see this show.
You are Kidding! After only one episode Channel Ten you are cancelling Three Rivers and here I was thinking only Channel Nine did things like that, as they don’t care, Guys here is a show that could make a difference, it coukd change a lot of peoples lives for the better. I am not an Organ Donator, but after watching the show I am certainly going to change my licence. As for the show it had great promise and you most deffently did not give it a chance. If you ran it for 5 or more episodes we would of got to know the characters. I am very disapointed, as here was a show for the whole family. I did not know you could save, or make a difference to at least 50 people.
Wow! a show i don’t want to watch replaced by another show i don’t want to watch eather. so sick of NCIS which ten insists on shoving down our throath, i could gag. do us all a favour ten put somthing i could look forward to, like the show House md which im sure everyone would rather tune in for.
@Goonies,I know, it is weird having so many Lynn’s here, anyway I know there’s only one of me….I think.
Why do we have to support a sub-standard, boring show just because it has an Aussie in it? Being an aussie on an american tv show does not automatically equal hit show. You still have to entertain people.
PS – what’s with all the people called Lynn (in various spellings) that liked this show. Weird!!
I am so disappointed. Why can we not support our own??? I loved this show and now it’s gone:-( no wonder all of our talent goes to the UK or the US, what chance do they have here??? oh wait….. we have home and away and neighbours and some other crap cop shows… need I say more?
Well that’s pretty crap..
i missed it last week and was pretty keen to watch it, big fan of most of the actors in it.
pretty bummed, nice going TEN..
Okay I’ve now seen 2 ads for Three Rivers next week at 9:30 Wed, is the SC TEN just making an error or did TEN flip and decide not to keep it going? Well at least until CBS cancels it…
Is it possible that Channel Ten could change their minds before next Wednesday’s episode and continue with Three Rivers and can a repeat of NCIS really rate higher than TR that had 500,00 viewers.
How on earth can the execs at TEN make an informed decision after airing only One episode?
If CBS want to improve this show’s ratings in the US, they need to move it away from Sunday night football, Desparate Housewives and Family Guy. How can a brand new show be expected to compete with established, popular shows/events like those?
As far as the title goes, some people have commented that “Three Rivers” is unimaginitive or boring. The title isn’t just a literal reference to the rivers in Pittsburgh, it’s also a metaphor for the three viewpoints the show is based around – the patient, the donor’s family and the surgical team.
Whilst it may not have the bed-hopping of Gray’s Anatomy or the frantic pace and gore of Trauma, it’s based on a real-life transplant surgeon, Dr “Gonzo” Gonzalez-Stawinski and is bringing the importance of organ donation into the public consciousness. (There’s already a fan campaign to encourage more people to register as donors – fanstrdonorcampaign.com).
Whatever the future holds for Three Rivers, it has inspired people to become organ donors who would never have considered it before and for that reason alone it deserves to be given a fighting chance to find it’s way and establish itself.
Exceot the executives that approved The Gift?
I really believed that this show “about transplants and organ donors” would encourage more people to get in the Organ Donor Program . . . what an amazing way to boost a desperately needed area of medicine ~ think of the lives it would have saved around the world with learning more from behind the scenes and seeing the positive impact from both the donor and the recipients view.
The show would have blossomed had it been given a chance in both the US and here – I think the TV executives have a lot to answer for – not just for axing a TV show but for preventing what could have been an increase in Organ Donation, as people everywhere became familiar with it and not afraid of it. Shame on all of you!
Sappy that’s all I can say about the US first ep, it does set things up like ‘being an organ donor is good’ type of theme’ to the show.
Over all it wasn’t bad the only complaint is the over use of tech, I mean the huge touch screen like the NCIS: LA guys use. I know it looks cool but feels too futuristic IMO whats wrong with the white board and markers like in house, or is that too 20th century?
@Lisa, absolutely. However, I don’t claim to speak for the general public but it doesn’t take a genius to realise you would attract more people to a show by giving it a clever or intriguing title. There’s no sense of mystery about the title ‘Three Rivers’. Viewers gave this a miss from a combination of things – title, uncreative advertising and bad press. People are starting to get a bit more savvy these days about their viewing by doing a little bit of internet research before watching something. Three Rivers had been getting bad press and people wised up. The switcheroo, whilst in the show’s storyline favour, didn’t help because a lot of people misunderstood the nature of the switcheroo, and decided not to watch. It’s not like it was up against some other juggernaut, was it, that explains the poor figures?
Well, that’s really disappointing!
Typical free to air network thinking!
I thought the show got better last week as it went along,
and I was looking forward to seeing how it went.
Guess we’ll have to hope for a re-run in the “Silly Season:
or wait for the dvd’s to come out!
Once again, the network never thinks to consider the viewers!
I’m from California and am a huge Alex O’Loughlin fan. I think Alex is a brilliant actor and one of the best exports from Australia since Hugh Jackman. I so desperately want CBS Three Rivers to succeed. I have watched both episodes, and I liked both. I read Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen’s Q&A article stating that CBS has “Three Rivers” scheduled through November sweeps in the U.S. Two of the Sexist Men Alive are on Three Rivers, Alex O’Loughlin and Daniel Henney. Too bad Ten did not give them a chance at all. Kate Moennig and Alfre Woodard are good too.
Is It Me or does Ten give up on something without giving a show a chance to get established.
They did that to 90210,Taken Out and Now some of these new medical programmes.
Just watched an episode of this, saying its a dud is an understatement. It had some good acting from AOL and Daniel Henney (I expect we’ll see more of him in the future) but it was slow-paced and dull overall. The Ryan character was annoying and there was nothing really interesting happening. I can see why viewers never took to it here or in the U.S. Of course this is going to majorly p**s off the rabid Alex O’ Loughlin fans.
Its a shame as I wanted this show to be good…with the success of True Blood, Twilight and Vampire Diaries CBS should never have cancelled Moonlight.
Not a surprise… it’s extrememly rare for me to switch off a show before it ends, but that’s exactly what I did for this one…
Considering its gonna be axed in the us monday/tuesday, ten wouldnt of been able to air more than 3eps anyways. Shame cos it wasnt a bad show, but not must watch either. 499k is just not an acceptable figure for a premier ep of a 9.30 show, especially when the night before Lie to Me got close to 1.2 mil and the nigh after Burn Notice got close 800k. I expected 800k for this to be honest, and NCIS repeats will probably do 1mil in its old home (sad i no but true)
One episode!!!! I am gobsmacked.
Come on Ten, give it a go.
Please.
You are bloody joking, who pays these fools to make these decisions???????
@ Marco – ever heard of the saying “never judge a book by its cover”?
I wonder how many people who have criticised Three Rivers even saw an episode of it.
The media and Ten should hang their head in shame over this one. Three Rivers was not only a good medical drama, it was going to highlight the importance of Organ Donation as much as the David Hookes incident a few years ago. Ten, seriously stupid.
If Can West can pull their fingers out and sell Ten off, Ten should launch a 3rd channel to transfer lower rating shows to, as they were doing with 10HD. Before they do, Nine should get the Smallville show back off them for GO.
Won’t bother watching the one I recorded now – no point.
There were a few problems with this -
The organ donor surgeon doctors premise of the show, is rather limited and doesn’t have enough in it to be compelling for multiple seasons.
While Ten hyped the show to death with overly depressing soppy promos,
before fast tracking a new US show, wait to see if it takes off with US viewers in a big way (after 6 or 7 episodes) first. Three Rivers is likely to be cancelled in the US. Ten got lucky with Glee, but it’s usually the exception.
Other than discerning readers of this site, most Aus viewers don’t know and/or care less if Alex O’Loughlin is an Aussie, so he has nothing to do with it. It’s not like Ten flew him out to promote the show.
One episode and it’s gone! That is ridiculous. How can a reasoned and thoughtful determination be based on one episode. It doesn’t matter whether epi one or two played first. Give the show a chance to grow and establish itself. It has great potential, and that includes a good ensemble cast.
XD god that show must have sucked
Shame, it wasn’t that bad and Alex O’Loughlin was good in it. Was somethign different to watch, but there’s too many things on Wednesday as it is.
One bloody episode???? Are you kidding? How can anyone tell by one episode? It’s too bad. Three Rivers could’ve really had a loyal following given a fair shake and its leading man Alex O’Loughlin is an incredibly talented actor as well as a fellow Aussie. He surely deserved more than one go at it. Come on 10…have a heart, bring back Three Rivers!
I am very sorry that countrymens Alex O’Loughlin not want to support his new show “Three Rivers”. I live in Ukraine, at the other end of the earth, but happy to watch TV series and always support your favorite actor.
I’d lay bets most people don’t even know who Alex O’Loughlin is! The ads were not very enticing at all, and sorry, but sometimes the name of a show has a lot to do with people not tuning in. ‘Three Rivers’ is hardly the name of a movie, TV show or book I’d want to watch/read. Titles are meant to draw you in.
Alex O’Loughlin is an Australian born actor who is the lead on Three Rivers. This is a great new and refreshing medical show dealing with organ transplantation and the gift of life. Three Rivers and its talented actors should be given a chance to shine.
I’m sure the series will cartoning! I support 100% alex and I wish him good luck .. I kiss
It’s terrible. Alex’s Homeland not support him to his work and his new show. I’m disappointed in Australia…
I think it’s a shame that ten isn’t giving this show more chance than just the one episode. The episode they did air though is the pilot. It was CBS in the US who switched the order of ep 1 and 2 confusing the hell out of the viewers with the lack of continuity that was the result.
So true about your comment on fast tracking. The other disadvantages are mid-season breaks, random 1 week breaks where repeats or ‘summary’ episodes are played. This is why I was glad Aus didn’t fast track, because we got to see full seasons uninterrupted. But, I agree that it is a necessary evil to fight against illegal downloads.
The challenge for me back in pre-fast tracking days was to not type = the show’s name into google, because I knew a spoiler or 2 would pop up. I managed ok.
where is numb3rs
I believe the original Ep1 was considered boring, so a new Ep1 – aka “Ep2″ – was produced to air before it.
I think we are just tiring of such US network dramas. People are shifting to more high end premium cable programs but they are harder to scedual on a network. Personally I think network dramas are usually drivell with too many plot twists and hooks that it numbs the sences. I would rather stay up late to watch “Tell Me You Love Me” (not a bad show) on Ten than yet another Hospital Drama no doubt heavy in constant unsubtle hooks once it gets going.
@Justin
me too… not that’s a guide, I was tired that night.
But really one ep and it gets dumped, maybe if it lasts in the US (big maybe) then it will be shown over the summer.
BTW the new season of House is a step up from last season with a fantastic double ep opener, I hope when TEN airs it they do both eps on one night.
I’m sad to learn this news. I found it to be well acted. . I wonder how much of an influence online negative comments from people – I’m presuming many of whom hadn’t seen the show – influenced some to not watch the program.
Many readers will remember commentators who saw the first few episodes of a “new” Aussie show – All Saints – and said the show wouldn’t last longer than a few episodes and look how long it was on our TV screens.
For everyone that thinks Ten aired the wrong ep first, They didn’t.
But seriously, I am really annoyed that Ten didn’t give Three Rivers a fair go to gain an audience. @David Knox, you say we are smothered in medical shows, but have you counted how many cop/detective shows and spin-off there are? But still they produce more. All I want is for the networks to give us something a bit different and Three Rivers was different to the “standard” medical show. What a load of boffins must be working at Ten – this is a complete balls up. What a disgrace Ten.
The episode aired by 10 was the first episode in the series. It was CBS in America that switched them. They are doing it again with the third and fourth episodes as well, which won’t matter because they are stand alone episodes. It was only confusing to audiences in America because a character was introduced in the second aired episode that had already appeared in the first.
As for Channel 10, I think the promos here weren’t intriguing enough to have people tune in. Alex alone can’t make people watch, and the promos didn’t even show what the show was about. I know it had an abysmal showing for a premiere episode, but it should still be aired somewhere in the schedule with some better promotion. Yanking a show after one episode is really unfair. The show isn’t That bad and would definitely find an audience if it was given a fighting chance.
I’m really disappointed in Ten,they never gave Three Rivers a chance……I think it would have developed into a wonderful show,it just needed some time for us to connect with the characters. btw I thought the hospital’s lasted technology looked wonderful.
I think in this case ch 10 can be forgiven for only giving it one week – I was not interested in the slightest to check it out and all the ads were doing was annoying me.
Re House – I stopped watching it when they stuffed around with the ‘pick a newby’ series, i.e. one ep on, repeat, no ep, two new eps, no ep, rpt ep. My interest was waning anyway so when I was treated with that much contempt I said ‘stuff ya’
I still can’t believe people don’t get it that Ten *did* air the correct episode first! Sheesh.
That’s funny. I had it recorded on my IQ2 and earlier this afternoon decided that odds on Ten would can it, so I deleted it without watching it. And now I see this news! I’m almost at the point now where I won’t waste my time watching a show unless it’s had one successful season – unless it has such rave reviews that I’d feel I was missing out if I wasn’t watching when everyone else was.
I think Ten was counting on Alex O’Loughlin to bring in viewers. I really couldn’t see anything special about this show (besides the glass computer touch screen). The promos didn’t do the episode any justice, but in saying that the episode wasn’t too good to begin with.
This show could get better when they establish the relationships of the characters, but then what’s the point if there is no one watching it to begin with?
I would have checked it out had TEN not changed the order of episodes.
Bugger, I liked it because it wasn’t a bloody cop shop show !
@Jerome I’ve heard from ten insiders that they are planning on a massive relaunch of the show early next year. I don’t know what this means but a quote from someone who works at ten was “I think House has struggled over the year because it hasn’t had that 2 month promotion where everyone is highly anticipating about what is happening next.” I think they have their hearts set on bringing it back early next year – and from what I’ve heard – in a 9:30 timeslot with less competition for it to excel and hopefully manage a 1.0-1.2 rating.
It was a dud I feel asleep watching it. I liked the start that was intruiging but then it just went down hill.
i wonder if NCIS(R) will stay there. maybe new House will go there in 2 weeks with enough time to promote.
they should have fasttracked their existing drama house over the new drama 3 rivers in the first place.
2 bad , looked like a good series, maybe it would be okay in ta 10.30 slot somewhere, if it help 500,000 at 10.30 then ten should be happy
I hope this gets moved to a late-night time or something. I didn’t mind the show that much.
Gah! Why can’t they give shows a chance?? One episode and thats it?! I hate television programmers….
CBS judged episode two as being more interesting, which didn’t work, while Ten thought viewers would appreciate proper continuity. Turns out neither of these strategies worked, the show is a dud.
Nine did it with Flashpoint and arguably messed with longer arcs in the background. In hindsight, I read TEN as being boxed in by CBS messes here. Yes they sent me the Ep1 preview disk. Yes the next day they switched plans to Ep2. But it turns out this was because they were working on such a tight turnaround they send out Ep1 as soon as it came in the door. Once they got a look at Ep2 it appears there were continuity problems made by CBS. I doubt any of this mattered as the wider public would not have gotten wind of the switch. I suspect they just didn’t take to the premise period. It’s not a terrible show, and O’Loughlin was one of its better assets. But we are smothered in medical dramas, the idea of someone dying every week for another to live is a challenge, and that hospital looked like everything other than a hospital.
Okay, let’s get this sorted iut. Why do networks play episodes (from the first airing) in the wrong order. David, can you help?
No having (or wanting) to watch this show still makes me intrigued over the reasons for chopping and changing eps. Is EP1 so boring and slow that Ep2 get’s things rolling better or what is it making such weird decisions.