Freshman ABC drama The Forgotten—about a group of civilians who band together to gather info on John and Jane Does—is in a spot of trouble. Its viewership has cut in half since its premiere, and reviews have been a mixed bag. But the network is hoping to change all that soon. Tuesday night, Elisha Cuthbert (24) joins what was previously "That one show with Christian Slater" as a new regular character, and the show will now benefit from having Lost as a lead-in. (Her first episode also features parkour, so that's something.) We briefly chatted with Slater and Cuthbert about how things are going to change.
TV.com: Why do you think the show's been struggling with ratings?
Christian Slater: [Pause] Well, the thing I've learned about this business—a lot of it has to do with lead-ins. You hope the show on before yours has at least 14-15 million viewers. Then you can ride that into your own show. Ours is a new show; it takes time to develop something like that. It's a concept a lot of people aren't aware of. I certainly wasn't aware of it when I joined—that there are 40,000 cases of John and Jane Does across the country… Yesterday, putting aside ratings and all that stuff, we got amazing news that we played a significant part in giving a real family—a real family—some sort of closure. It's almost like we have to come up with new terminology for what it is we are doing. We're a drama, but we're also crossing over to reality.
Elisha Cuthbert: We've been tinkering with some things.
CS: Dramaledy.
EC: Hybrid. [Laughs]
It's funny you bring up lead-ins, given the popularity of Hulu, DVRs, and whatnot.
EC: Also, if it's quality, it catches on. However people discover the show is up to the powers that be. We're having a blast here and can only hope that as many as possible tune in.
Elisha, how were you approached about the new character?
EC: A couple of different ways. There was a spot open and this character was being written and they had me in mind. Christian called me hoping it would all work out. I had seen the show before, liked what they were doing, and was in a state of feeling like the bar had been raised. With 24 being so successful, if I was going to tackle something else in TV, I wanted to be really passionate about it.
What do you hope is going to change about the show going forward this season?
CS: Since Elisha has come aboard, the energy and chemistry has been fantastic.
EC: Yeah it's a fun character.
CS: It feels very natural—
EC: Very blond.
CS: We're definitely focusing on our John and Jane Doe cases, but at the same time they're focusing on the humanity of the characters we are playing.
EC: When a new character comes in, it gets the writers excited too.
Christian, how has the show changed from the pilot to where it is today?
CS: It's grown and evolved. We're clearer on the kinds of stories we want to tell. I just read the last episode, and it delivers. I was blown away. Actually—I cried.
EC: Really?
CS: Yeah! I cried three times! It got me!
EC: Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know that.
CS: Yeah, it just—
EC: So I wasn't the only one. [Laughs]
It's a good thing you guys are on this show, since you love it so much.
CS: Well, exactly. What else would we do? Hard to talk about another one right now.
Is it a challenge to get excited about another procedural, given how many there are on TV nowadays?
CS: Listen, we show up to work and we're enthusiastic. We're allowed to be enthusiastic. We're thrilled to get the opportunity to work—there's a lot of people out there in this economy who are not working. To work with people I'm happy to work with, and make a difference in the lives of real people—
EC: And there's a twist to that, because these characters are real people. I don't think it fits into that [procedural] category as other shows do. They make mistakes along the way and solve cases the way an audience would. It gives the show an edge and separates it from the pack.
What keeps you both coming back to TV, specifically drama?
CS: Writing on TV is fun. Jerry Bruckheimer is a great producer—he's very zen and knows how to put these kinds of shows together.
EC: I've been doing drama TV since I was 18, this is where I'm most comfortable.
CS: I am on The Office tonight.
EC: Really? Awesome.
CS: So there's a little comedy for ya.
I agree with onepercentclub abc needs to actually advertise the good shows. I mean, look at what they are doing with "V". They had that show's ads on weeks before it "arrived" and then it only stuck around for 4 episodes! Now they are advertising it all over the place and it doesn't even start back up until March! I totally stumbled onto the forgotten and so far 2 episodes have actually brought me to tears! The emotion is with each individual case though. I agree the characters need more of an arch. Delve into the whole attraction between the youngest 2, the sculpter and the one that hates her job. Give us some episodes that touch on issues for the lead and his daughter's disappearance or even give clues! I love the Walter episode where they found the "everyman" football coach that had been in a Superbowl. That was a classic and the best one I've seen. There is just no advertisement for this show. Wish abc would spend as much time and energy and ad dollars on these potentially great shows and less on shows like "v" that will probably get cancelled regardless. (Don't get me wrong I LOVED the first "V" WAY back when and I follow this one, but come ON "V" or "the forgotten" NO CONTEST.moreless
I also love this show, although it somehow resembles Cold Case it has a totally different view point. I also agree with fact that apparently the network never had faith in it. I do hope that they do find a way to save it.
I love this show, but the network really isn't giving it a shot. They really don't let us know when it is on & there will be 1 episode & then nothing for a couple of weeks! I wish the network showed more confidence in the show!
Actually that was my one complaint about the show was the characters seemed robotic and everyone the same the only character that really made me enjoy the program more is Walter (Bob Stephenson).
I wish the producers would get this. There is more to life than Neilson Ratings. There's TiVo, the interenet (Hulu, CBS/ABC/NBC/Fox/ETC.com, Torrents, etc...) and 400 plus channels. It seems they want the "old days" ratings. Ya know, three channels and nothing else? Ain't. Gonna. Happen Boys.. get over it now. The Forgotten is a decent show. But ABC get the same sort of trigger finger that Fox gets once in a while. So. Cross yer fingers, Folks.
I think the viewers went down very simply the pilot was horrible the first episode was realy realy bad. IT has gotten much better but i just don't care about anyone on it. we got back story on some characters then nothing. the thing with cristian slater and his wife would have kept me watching but they touch it then go. every episode is way to compartmentalized it's trying to be house or law and order but the characters there can carry it this show can't we need more story ark. if i watch a show and i can go back to it ten months later and still know exactly what happened i'm not going to be interested unless it's castle or house. even cold case atleast lilly is interesting and they sometimes throw in an ark. show me the episode were they find one of there missing and i'll be right there until then leave this one to the wives who still have slater crushes (mine included).moreless
simple as this nelson rating system
The show is very good but unfortunately it seems that most people like to watch shows that can't bring you anything good, to say the least.
The Forgotten is actually good, with great actors and performances and ABC needs to promote it so it starts having a fanbase.
I didn't even know he was in a series again. He's a good actor. Maybe he should go to a real network like Fox. I don't think anyone watches ABC anymore.
Even lead ins from shows like CSI, Lost and NCIS can't save shows that are utterly horrible (I'm not saying The Forgotten is horrible, I haven't seen it before). A show has to be at least be decent to attract viewers. The exception being reality shows of course.