Fillion and Drive Taken Off of the Road

First off this is 100% my opinion, and yeah this is another rant. Yes, once again, Fox has screwed actor Nathan Fillion out of a starring role in a perfectly good television series. Fox’s brand new series "Drive" premiere only a week and a half ago with a two-night, three-hour series premiere, and then it’s first regular episode on its regular night in its regular timeslot has turned out to be its last, apparently. A report by TVGuide.com broke the news that Fox has already cancelled the show.

If poor ratings were really the problem with "Drive," then Fox might have considered actually giving the show a chance to get its feet off the ground. Many were enjoying the show more with each episode and getting deeper and deeper into the character development and becoming more invested in the outcome of all this, so before the show can even gather up some speed, Fox waved it into the pit and pulled "Drive" out of the ratings race having barely finished a test run on the racetrack.

This is pathetic. Two weeks on the air and three nights of episodes barely amounts to position from which this underdog can’t recover. The show is actually good, and now they’re talking about airing the "final two episodes" this summer, whatever that means. The TVGuide report mentions consecutive Fridays in May, but the official Fox site for "Drive" only drops the vague clue about the "final two" with no reason or rhyme.

The only thing that frustrates me more than the fact that I and several others out there have been really surprised by how much we’re enjoying the show and then Fox pulls the plug right when it’s really starting to get really good is that this is the second time Fox has pulled the rug out from under talented and very humble actor Nathan Fillion. If anyone deserves a break, especially from Fox, it’s him. Fox canned Fillion’s stellar series "Firefly" after botching a nine-episode run, airing them out of order on a seemingly random selection cycle, and then blaming the show for being unable to draw in an audience.

This is a sin "Firefly" and Whedon fans have begrudged Fox for a long time, and not without good cause. The show was a masterpiece of science fiction meets post-modern western and Fillion led the "shiny" and colorful cast through that innovative wonderland only to see it zapped from the airwaves. Now, Tim Minear, one of Whedon’s greatest finds in production resources (particularly from his work on "Angel") has to suffer a similar slight from Fox with his creation "Drive," and Fillion must be having bad flashbacks after a mere four episodes of putting the pedal to the metal only to hit a brick wall at full speed ahead.

I share the sentiment of the fans’ outcry that this is ridiculous. This show hasn’t even had a chance to fuel up properly and Fox has slashed its tires. Meanwhile, some of the most dreadful and degrading TV out there thrives on Fox, like "American Idol," "Trading Spouses," and, oh yeah, just how many seasons were there of "The Simple Life"? And even "Wedding Bells," which Fox also premiered early this spring, got six episodes into its first and only season before Fox gave it the axe. So why is a show with real potential being junked when a show where the entire premise was a "Prison Break" that’s happened and been in progress for two whole seasons still going like the Energizer Bunny?

Fillion needs to hitch a ride to a better studio or a better network that will put him at the wheel of something where they are actually excited to be in the passenger seat for the ride. Joss Whedon and Tim Minear need to find the same thing, so maybe they can all take a road trip to some beautiful place in TV or Movie Land where people actually recognize and promote talent and genius with serious loyalty to those that possess it.