Skip to main content

Prescription for (Tepid) Fiction: Sci Fi Dumps "Painkiller Jane"

Um, ouch? It looks like it's time for the scrap heap for Painkiller Jane.

Cabler Sci Fi has announced that it has canceled the action series, which will wrap its first (and only) 22-episode season, on September 21st.

The series starred Kristanna Loken as a woman with the ability to feel no pain who is conscripted into a top secret organization that tracks down criminals with superhuman abilities.

Sixteen episodes of Painkiller Jane have aired to date. While no reason was given for the cancellation, the series has been plagued by low viewership, a situation compounded by the (relatively) high numbers for the launch of Sci Fi's latest drama Flash Gordon.

Could the move mean that Sci Fi will stop foisting low-budget, low-quality dramas on an unsuspecting audience? Or just focus on "better" low-budget series? Only time will tell...

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Power of 10 (CBS); Most Outrageous Moments (NBC); America's Next Top Model (CW); According to Jim/According to Jim (ABC); So You Think You Can Dance (FOX; 8-10 pm)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS);
Last Comic Standing (NBC); America's Next Top Model (CW); Primetime (ABC)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Dateline (NBC); NASCAR in Primetime (ABC)


What I'll Be Watching

10 pm:
Top Chef on Bravo.

On tonight's episode of
Top Chef
("Restaurant Wars"), it's the moment we've all been waiting for as the chefs must battle to launch two new restaurants and develop the most innovative burger, Tre gets stuck in the weeds, and all of the chefs face guest judge Daniel Boulud.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I think that sci fi programs are really hard to do on a low budget and I think that Painkiller Jane and Flash Gordon are proof of that. They should stick to better quality programs like "Battlestar" instead of putting out mediocre shows that look like leftovers from the eighties.
Anonymous said…
Goodbye, Painkiller Jane. May you rot in hell.
Anonymous said…
Yawn. PJ won't be missed anytime soon.

Popular posts from this blog

Katie Lee Packs Her Knives: Breaking News from Bravo's "Top Chef"

The android has left the building. Or the test kitchen, anyway. Top Chef 's robotic host Katie Lee Joel, the veritable "Uptown Girl" herself (pictured at left), will NOT be sticking around for a second course of Bravo's hit culinary competition. According to a well-placed insider, Joel will "not be returning" to the show. No reason for her departure was cited. Unfortunately, the perfect replacement for Joel, Top Chef judge and professional chef Tom Colicchio, will not be taking over as the reality series' host (damn!). Instead, the show's producers are currently scouring to find a replacement for Joel. Top Chef 's second season was announced by Bravo last month, but no return date has been set for the series' ten-episode sophomore season. Stay tuned as this story develops. UPDATE (6/27): Bravo has now confirmed the above story .

BuzzFeed: Meet The TV Successor To "Serial"

HBO's stranger-than-fiction true crime documentary The Jinx   — about real estate heir Robert Durst — brings the chills and thrills missing since Serial   wrapped up its first season. Serial   obsessives: HBO's latest documentary series is exactly what you've been waiting for.   The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst , like Sarah Koenig's beloved podcast, sifts through old documents, finds new leads from fresh interviews, and seeks to determine just what happened on a fateful day in which the most foul murder was committed. And, also like  Serial  before it,  The Jinx may also hold no ultimate answer to innocence or guilt. But that seems almost beside the point; such investigations often remain murky and unclear, and guilt is not so easy a thing to be judged. Instead, this upcoming six-part tantalizing murder mystery, from director Andrew Jarecki ( Capturing the Friedmans ), is a gripping true crime story that unfolds with all of the speed of a page-turner; it

BuzzFeed: "The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now"

The CBS legal drama, now in its sixth season, continually shakes up its narrative foundations and proves itself fearless in the process. Spoilers ahead, if you’re not up to date on the show. At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, " The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now," in which I praise CBS' The Good Wife and, well, hail it as the best show currently on television. (Yes, you read that right.) There is no need to be delicate here: If you’re not watching The Good Wife, you are missing out on the best show on television. I won’t qualify that statement in the least — I’m not talking about the best show currently airing on broadcast television or outside of cable or on premium or however you want to sandbox this remarkable show. No, the legal drama is the best thing currently airing on any channel on television. That The Good Wife is this perfect in its sixth season is reason to truly celebrate. Few shows embrace complexity and risk-taking in t