Gone, Baby, Gone: Get the Complete List of This Season's Canceled Series
Confused about what’s coming back next season and what’s off the air for good? We are too, so for everybody’s edification, we have compiled a complete list of the major broadcast networks’ canceled shows for this season, including Jennifer Westfeldt’s Notes from the Underbelly, Skeet Ulrich’s Jericho and Molly Sims’ Las Vegas.
Fair warning: Reality shows may be resurrected at any time, in the grand tradition of, well, American Gladiators. Click in to get the list. (Awww, Journeyman, we hardly knew ye…)
ABC
Big Shots
Carpoolers
Cashmere Mafia
Cavemen
Just for Laughs
Men in Trees
Miss/Guided
Notes From the Underbelly
October Road
Oprah’s Big Give
Women’s Murder Club
CBS
Cane
Jericho
Kid Nation
Moonlight
Power of 10
Secret Talents of the Stars
Shark
Viva Laughlin
Welcome to the Captain
CW
Aliens in America
Beauty and the Geek
Crowned
CW Now
Girlfriends
Life Is Wild
Online Nation
Pussycat Dolls Present
Fox
Back to You
Canterbury’s Law
K-Ville
Nashville
New Amsterdam
The Next Great American Band
The Return of Jezebel James
Unhitched
NBC
1 vs. 100
Amne$ia
Bionic Woman
Clash of the Choirs
Journeyman
Las Vegas
My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad
Phenomenon
Quarterlife
The Singing Bee
Any particular cancellation still sting? (I want Frances O’Connor and Cashmere Mafia back!) Post your pet-TV-show-extermination peeve in the comments!
Frances O’Connor: In the Limelight
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If you’ve caught any of the first few episodes of Cashmere Mafia, you probably know that the main reason to tune in each week is this actress in the above picture. I thought my reason for watching would be Lucy Liu (who I love and who is ever so gorgeous) but she’s been less-than-impressive and her storyline is bland and annoying. Instead I have fallen in love all over again with Frances O’Connor who plays the quirky, intelligent Zoe Burden on the show.
After the jump, I have some information about her life, some filmography and some excerpts from interviews.
While Frances O’Connor was born in England, she spent most of her life in Australia (living there from the age of 2). She was raised in a Roman Catholic family and attended a convent school in Perth, Australia. In this interview, O’Connor talks about the strong foundation Catholicism gave her: “I am really glad I was raised Catholic. I like the fundamental aspects of that religion. I think they give you great grounding in terms of having a moral code. But I do not subscribe to any religion specifically now.”
O’Connor attended Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts and has a B.A. in Literature from the Curtin University of Technology (also in Western Australia). She achieved screen success in Australia with her breakthrough role in the crime thriller Kiss or Kill (1997). This film earned her one of her two Australian Film Institute nominations for “Best Actress.” The other film for which O’Connor was nominated for an AFI award was Thank God He Met Lizzie, a romantic comedy.
In addition to these AFI nods, O’Connor has received a Golden Globe nomination in 2000 for Best Actress in a Series / Miniseries / TV Movie for Madame Bovary. I’ve not seen Madame Bovary yet, but I think I might resurrect my Netflix list and add it. She also received critical acclaim for her role in Iron Jawed Angels, an HBO movie about the womens’ suffrage movement that also starred Hillary Swank. The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival that year and got a standing ovation from the audience.
Also after the success of Kiss or Kill, Frances O’Connor landed the roll of Fanny in Mansfield Park in 1999. This was the first time I fell in love with her. Admittedly, I am mildly obsessed with all things Jane Austen but I was captivated by O’Connor’s portrayal of the reserved and full of conviction Fanny. I highly recommend it to not only Austen geeks but also to anyone who enjoys a good period romance. Here Frances O’Connor explains why she likes period dramas: “Well I have only done three in about nine films. But what they all share are fantastically complex and interesting characters. That is the important thing to me rather than the period the piece is set in.”
And Mansfield Park is not the only period drama O’Connor has appeared in. In 2002, she played Gwendolyn Fairfax in Oliver’s Parker’s screen adaptation of the comedy of manners The Importance of Being Ernest. Despite it’s all-star cast which included Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, and Judy Dench, the film didn’t go over well, only grossing about 8.3 million dollars. Here O’Connor talks about the reaction in America to her appearance in what seemed like so many period films: “In Australia I was seen as somebody who did only very modern, contemporary stuff. Then as soon as I went overseas I did two period pieces so it was like, “When are you going to get out of the corsets?” And I was thinking I just got into them!”
While O’Connor has appeared in some flops (Windtalkers in 2002 with Nicholas Cage and Timeline in 2003 with Paul Walker), she also co-starred in one of my favorite guilty-pleasure films, Bedazzled with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley. I know, I know. I shouldn’t love Bedazzled but I do. I love how Brendan Fraser has to play all these different characters (the drug dealer is great, that nose!). Frances O’Connor follows suit appearing with Fraser in all the fantasies that the devil constructs for him after he makes a wish (or perhaps, I should say nightmares).
You may also recognize O’Connor from 2001’s AI: Artificial Intelligence. Remember that movie with Jude Law and the little kid who sees dead people? It was Stanley Kubrick’s last project that Steven Spielberg finished after Kubrick’s death. O’Connor played Monica Swinton the mother whose child is suffering from an incurable disease and “frozen,” so she adopts David (Haley Joel Osment). The film got mixed reviews, even from the actress herself: “I think it is flawed. But at the same time I think it was a very brave experiment.”
Nowadays, you can see Frances O’Connor every week on ABC’s new show Cashmere Mafia. The show is produced by Darren Star Productions, the same company responsible for Sex and the City. Another SATC alum who joined the crew of Cashmere Mafia is Patricia Field, famed costume designer. On Cashmere Mafia, O’Connor plays Zoe Burden, a successful woman who works in Mergers and Acquisitions by day and tries to be the best mommy she can at night and on the weekends. Not only is O’Connor’s comedic timing the best on the show, but her American accent is surprisingly natural. How did she learn to “speak American”? She watched Sesame Street and learned from Grover.
You can catch Frances O’Connor in Cashmere Mafia, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Cashmere Mafia: Dangerous Liaisons
(S01E03) So I am really starting to enjoy Cashmere Mafia. And the reason? It’s that little lady in the blue shirt above. Frances O’Connor is fantastic! Can you believe she’s British? Her American accent sounds so natural. Furthermore, her comedic timing is always spot on.
Everyone else’s storylines range from mediocre to pure crap. There’s Juliet, who’s moderately interesting. There’s Caitlin who I like but they are trying to hard with her. And then there’s Mia. Oh, Mamma Mia! You’re story was so interesting that I checked my emails, Windexed my kitchen counters, and tidied up my living room during your scenes. And I didn’t miss a thing.
More about Zoe:
Zoe was great this episode. I had a feeling something was going to happen with her co-workers. In the past two episodes, Katherine and the secretary guy (didn’t catch his name) were both funny and quirky. I thought: why spend so much effort on these incidental characters if nothing will come of it?
I loved how the writers took Zoe’s insecurities from the last episode (i.e. about losing her husband to the stay-at-home uber-mom) and carried them into this one with her slight jealousy of Katherine. Zoe told her husband that she dislikes that Katherine “shakes what her momma gave her” to get ahead in business. I think the show is doing a great job with the development of this character and I can’t wait to see more interactions with Zoe and Katherine (as Katherine is totally under-qualified for her new job).
And then there’s Juliet:
Juliet’s story confuses me. I know I’m supposed to sympathize with Juliet but I just don’t. In fact, in the beginning of the episode I even felt bad for her penitent husband Davis. I think the show should have spent more time building up how in love Juliet was with her husband and how dedicated to their marriage she was. Then they can drop the infidelity bomb. I only had half the pilot episode to get to know Davis before I was told that I should hate him because he cheated on Juliet.
And I really feel bad for Bobby, the poor sap Juliet dated in business school. This guy clears his schedule and flies in from London to see Juliet. She cancels on him then goes to him after meeting with Cilla then laughs in his face while they are about to have sex.
And Caitlin:
So, from the previews for next week’s Cashmere Mafia, it looks like Caitlin is back to batting for the heterosexual team. And thank goodness for that. Now, I have nothing against the L-word, but Caitlin and Alicia have NO chemistry. It’s just not fun to watch these two women. I feel like Caitlin should call Alicia and cry on her shoulder about some guy that didn’t work out–not make out with her in the street.
I did love the blemish snafu that poor Caitlin dealt with this episode though. I know it probably seemed shallow to some viewers but I thought it was pretty original. It was refreshing to hear some dialogue about real stuff. I felt like I was listening to normal women when Mia and Caitlin walked in the park and complained about the pimple. These ladies are always talking about such big things: their big jobs, their big break-ups, their big plans for revenge sex, their big questions about their sexuality.
And Mia:
I just don’t even want to discuss Mia. I think it’s a damn shame what Cashmere Mafia is doing with her character. And what an ill-use of Lucy Liu. Mia is great in dialogue with her friends but her story is just not compelling enough. It’s very contrived in fact.
After I heard that Jack was the one who approved the cover for “Modern Man” (which pictured a woman eating a man holding on to the plate), I just knew where all her conversations would lead. They would all be about how she was hurt that Jack didn’t call her back, while she pretended that she fundamentally disagreed with the cover. And of course, it was obvious that she would still run the cover. After all, while she’s an emotional mess, she’s still a savvy businesswoman. Note the sarcasm, please. I hoped that the voiceover at the end would save her storyline this episode and it started well but wrapped up too quickly and cleanly. What do you think about her?
A few extra nuggets…
- I loved the blog shout-out! They could’ve used Page Six of the New York Post but no, Cashmere Mafia bowed the phenom that is the BLOG. “I hate the internet!” –Caitlin
- Do these ladies always order the same exact thing when they eat together? At breakfast they all had fruit salads and orange juices. And for lunch they all had salads and the same pink lemonade-looking drinks.
- Quote of the night: “I’m not your lesbian test-drive.” –Alicia to Caitlin. No one likes to be a lesbian test drive. But, while we’re on the subject, of the four “Cashmere Mobsters,” Frances O’Connor would be my lesbian test drive.
- Mia’s (Lucy Liu’s) ponytail was ridiculous.