Constantine (Series picked up by NBC)

[Captain Craig]

So, why did they get rid of the female from the pilot

Lucy Griffiths may return as Liv if the show survives that is. Even if for an episode or mini arc to wrap up her rather sudden departure.

One element that it seemed folks could take or leave was Lucy Griffiths’ Liv, a character invented for TV that seemed designed to serve as a sort of audience surrogate. As it turned out, Constantine’s creators came to share this attitude, as they ultimately chose to write Liv out of the story after the pilot episode and replace her with new female lead Zed Martin (Angélica Celaya), a character that originated in the source material. .....

Constantine executive producers David Goyer and Daniel Cerone recognize that fact, and have not fully closed the door on bringing Liv back into the mix. Cerone,"..As we dig deeper into the season, as we start talking about possible arcs for next season, there’s an opening there. If there’s an organic reason to bring her back into the story, we’d love to."

.......  It’s important to note that Liv was by no means universally hated by viewers, and there were some people who were upset when she was abruptly chucked fromConstantine’s storyline. Even if Cerone and Goyer never intend to make her a series regular again, it might be wise to at least bring Liv back for a short multi-episode arc at some point, if for nothing else than to provide closure to her character.

TV viewers tend to hate loose ends that never get tied up, and Liv basically getting “put on a bus” at the end of Constantine’s pilot was not exactly a satisfying way to write out a character that was put front and center for almost that entire hour.

 

 

I'm still enjoying the show, just got caught up on episode #4 'Feast of Friends', which is a loose adaptation of the story from Hellblazer #1(1988) 'Hunger'. The show feels 3 unequal parts of Supernatural + Buffy w/hints of X-Files. And while in 4 episodes it hasn't risen to the status of those shows I'd like to point out that in 4 episodes neither of them did either. I hope the show is able to survive and audiences find it, come back to it enabling NBC to keep it around. I've seen where it's already a bubble show from the New TV crop of Freshman shows for Fall '14. 

[Captain Craig]

SyFy channel aired a 4 episode "mini-thon" of Constantine last week as lead up to this past Friday's new episode titled Daunse Vaudou. That episode also featured the debut of another DC Comics legendary supernatural character in Jim Corrigan aka The Specter. Either one or both probably atest to the latest episode, #5, seeing it's first ratings uptick since the debut.

 

Last week’s episode of Constantine, ‘Daunse Vaudou‘, marked a 38% increase in ratings week-to-week, and the highest of any episode so far. The show definitely seems to be on the way to finding its feet (and an audience) despite a shaky start, with the ongoing rivalry between John Constantine and Papa Midnite making for some pretty entertaining television. If the current trajectory continues, Constantine could be a genuinely great show by the end of its first season.

 

 

However, it's not all rosy news as NBC is not going to pick up the back 9 episodes. Instead allowing for the 13 ordered to air in order to make a better decision(they say). The show is a "bubble show" at the moment. 

 

Deadline reports that the production of Constantine‘s first season has been stalled at 13 episodes, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the show will be cancelled. According to Deadline‘s sources, Constantine‘s late launch meant that the network only had four episodes worth of ratings to work with when the time came to make a decision about how many episodes to order. This report was confirmed by showrunner Daniel Cerone, who urged fans to keep tuning in every week if they’d like to see a second season of Constantine. ....

 

In fact, being limited to 13 episodes instead of 22 might actually end up working out in Constantine‘s favor. It means less pressure to draw out a single story arc over almost two dozen episodes, and would offer the showrunners a chance to regroup and really get an idea of where they want the show to go in a second season. If nothing else, maybe they can come up with a way to prevent Constantine from feeling like a Supernatural knockoff.

 

 

If you're a fan, keep tuning in. If you bailed, perhaps try out the latest episode(preferably to count in the Live +7) and see what you think now.