★★★★★ 0/5

Gone: Three Rivers

Alex O'Loughlin and the new docs of Three Rivers were given just one episode by TEN. Next week, replaced by an NCIS repeat.

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trJust 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…

65 Responses

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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!

  4. 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?

  5. @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?

  6. 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!

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  11. 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)

  14. @ 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.

  15. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  21. 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!

  22. 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.

  23. 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.

  24. 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.

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