# NBC's La Brea **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 28, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527 "2021-07-28T14:53:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/1 "2021-07-28T14:53:55Z")
Hot on the heels of cancelling Debris, NBC is advertising what looks like another upcoming science fiction McGuffin mystery type show. Over and over, network TV puts on shows like this that I think are interesting - Surface, Earth 2, FlashForward, The Crossing, The Event, Emergence, Touch, Second Chance, Reverie, etc. - only to cancel them after one season, with no resolution to whatever the mystery was. It drives me bananas when I start watching yet another of these shows on NBC, CBS, ABC, or Fox, and then they cancel it. My prediction is that La Brea, a show about a giant sinkhole in the middle of LA which is really a hole to a primeval world, will join their ranks. Potentially intriguing premise, and we will learn nothing before it is cancelled. Do they start these shows with the assumption that they will likely not last long, but they will get enough viewers for one season to make some short-term bucks off them? If the ratings turn out to be good enough, they keep the show around and only then do they worry about making the plot possibly make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/2 "2021-07-28T15:05:15Z")
I blame the presence of so many of these shows on the success of Lost. (There were other such shows before and after Lost but I think it led to the current flood.) And yes, it sucks when we never get the mystery solved. Perhaps the answer is not to promise resolution? We’re just presented with a weird premise and there’s no expectation that we’re ever going to get a satisfactory explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/3 "2021-07-28T15:33:51Z")
The Walking Dead takes that route. They don’t bother trying to solve the mystery of why zombies exist. That’s not the point of the show. Writers could also structure such shows so there isn’t an unsolved mystery in the first place. They know generally what the weird thing is that’s going on and the drama of the show comes with trying to figure out how to deal with it. To me, Lost was worse than a lot of the others, in that it got dragged out over multiple years of introducing additional weird mysterious elements, that even in the planned finale, still were never addressed. (Yes, I am in the “the Lost finale sucked” camp.) 😁 ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/4 "2021-07-28T15:39:31Z")
Yeah I saw the ads for this one and instantly though this will be another formulaic “Lost”-like series. Another indicator Hollywood has run out of original ideas. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/5 "2021-07-28T15:50:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I blame the presence of so many of these shows on the success of Lost. What I don’t get is none of these other Lost-type shows have been successful, at least on Network TV… They’re pretty much a guaranteed one or two season cancellation. And they got be pretty expensive to make. So why do they keep trying? ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/6 "2021-07-28T16:05:35Z")
The earliest example I can think of for these “mystery box” shows is The Prisoner, in which Patrick McGoohan’s unnamed character is repeatedly prevented from leaving the weird village by various science fiction devices and an unknown bureaucracy. Can anyone think of one predating The Prisoner? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/7 "2021-07-28T16:09:15Z")
> [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > To me, Lost was worse than a lot of the others, in that it got dragged out over multiple years of introducing additional weird mysterious elements, that even in the planned finale, still were never addressed. (Yes, I am in the “the Lost finale sucked” camp.) La Brea looks interesting, I will DVR it. IMHO the writers of Lost got mad when fans guessed what was going on, so changed it, which hurt the flow. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > What I don’t get is none of these other Lost-type shows have been successful, at least on Network TV… They’re pretty much a guaranteed one or two season cancellation. And they got be pretty expensive to make. So why do they keep trying? Lost captured lighting in a bottle, despite the poor ending. But there was also the Leftovers, and some others I can’t remember. Wasn’t there one about a Dome that was meant just to be a short run? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/8 "2021-07-28T16:13:30Z")
Lost was _really_ popular at the time it originally aired, including here. I remember lengthy threads after each episode aired. (“Was that a polar bear at the end?”) Of course this was in the days of shows releasing episodes only weekly and without 500 other competing shows. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/9 "2021-07-28T16:26:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Wasn’t there one about a Dome that was meant just to be a short run? [_Under the Dome_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Dome_(TV_series)) was originally intended as a limited series, but was popular enough that it wound up running three seasons (39 episodes total). I think part of the reason networks keep trying this sort of show is really down to _Lost_. It not only hit, it hit _big_, and its cultural impact was even bigger than the ratings, _and_ it was one of the last truly mass hits on broadcast TV, as the media market was just beginning to splinter. There are a lot of senior network execs who were junior execs when _Lost_ aired, and as they try to figure out how to survive, much less thrive, in the new media market, they’re grabbing what they remember from their formative years as being a potentially successful formula. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/10 "2021-07-28T16:38:46Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > There are a lot of senior network execs who were junior execs when _Lost_ aired, and as they try to figure out how to survive, much less thrive, in the new media market, they’re grabbing what they remember from their formative years as being a potentially successful formula. Agree with this. The studios are very risk-averse, so they keep trying to go back to what worked before, as it is considered safe, even if it only lasts a season or two. Ironically, something like _Lost_ was probably considered risky, but it was a risk that paid-off. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/11 "2021-07-28T16:48:48Z")
I agree that Lost hit it really big, but that was a different time, including for this board. [Here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-17-the-end/540459), for instance, is the thread about the final episode, including indices for each season’s episodes. (Look at how many posts there were for the episode threads.) Lost premiered in September 2004 and ended in May 2010, so before any streaming services were available. There were cable channels, but broadcast channels were still much more popular. Now a show like Bridgerton or Ted Lasso can get lots of references in popular culture despite being seen by many fewer people. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/12 "2021-07-28T16:57:49Z")
I’ve only seen the previews (tucked in whenever they can in their Olympic coverage), and my first thought was “they’re doing Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ‘Pellucidar’ in modern day !”. For those not familiar, Pellucidar was Burroughs’ “hollow earth” world: instead of a core, there is a “sun” suspended in the center of the earth, and Pellucidar is the “inner shell” of the surface. Having a sun suspended in the center, it is the land of eternal noon. (As I think about it, a lot of this makes a LOT more sense than the flat-earth models !). I may check the show out, but was a little put off by the title. I am guessing they are going to tie in the famous tar pits not with prehistoric life, but with creatures making their way from the “other” world down below. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/13 "2021-07-28T17:02:34Z")
The whole point is to use the MacGuffin as a sort of initiator for interpersonal conflict and drama. The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica both did it, much to their detriment. They lost something IMO, when they went from how the survivors were dealing with a mysterious, implacable and super-lethal outside enemy, to being basically what amounted to a political drama and/or soap opera in space or post-apocalypse. I’m not a fan of watching people behave badly; I can see enough of that in real life. I prefer the clever solutions and heroic actions against an external enemy. La Brea is likely to be 95% that sort of thing, and 5% actually dealing with the primeval world. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/14 "2021-07-28T17:11:02Z")
You’re probably correct to think of the scenario as the MacGuffin. I thought we the audience of Lost were promised resolution to the mysteries and that show had gone on for so long and had so much stuff going on that we were never going to get satisfaction. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/15 "2021-07-28T17:15:57Z")
I also think that most network shows like that have a very vague sort of overall story arc, and/or various escape hatches that they’ll film in. This is by design- they don’t really want to lock themselves into a five-season arc like say… Babylon 5, where it was almost on rails after a certain point. They’d rather have something much less restrictive, and allow themselves latitude for as many seasons as they can wring from it, with the option to exercise one of the escape hatches if the show’s popularity takes a downturn and there are episodes left to film in the remainder of the season. Or if they know far enough in advance, they can firm up the ending and make it a major arc through most of a season. But that’s all assuming that the show isn’t just going to get canned after the first season without warning during the hiatus. There isn’t much they can do there. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/16 "2021-07-28T17:19:19Z")
I’ll watch it. I’m still pissed about _Debris_ though. On the other hand, _Manifest_ was terrible start to finish, and they got 3 seasons out of it, so what do I know. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/17 "2021-07-28T17:25:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Lost captured lighting in a bottle, despite the poor ending. But there was also the Leftovers, and some others I can’t remember. Wasn’t there one about a Dome that was meant just to be a short run? That’s why I specified Network TV. There’s been some success on Cable/Streaming, I think mainly because: A) The seasons are shorter B) You can wait until it’s complete and binge it all ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/18 "2021-07-28T17:35:51Z")
Manifest is still going, isn’t it? I did not care for Debris: 1. the two stars had zero chemistry 2. The debris effects were basically magic 3. Both of them were trained agents, but they had no idea of how to lie. For example, when the guy saw some info that her dad was still alive, was told not to tell here, but decided to do so anyway, instead of saying “You dad is alive!” (which may or may not be true) he shoudl have said “I am not supposed to tell you this, but we saw a video clip of a man who looks a lot like your father.” Why does no one on TV know how to lie? It is either a bald faced lie or the absolute truth. Nor can anyone compromise. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/19 "2021-07-28T18:31:06Z")
Manifest was cancelled. The fans are still trying to get it picked up at Netflix. I didn’t care for it, but people seem enthusiastic. I did like Debris, but I apparently don’t rule the world. 😑 Same deal with Prodigal Son, for that matter. I really liked that show, but it’s gone. At least that way reached a somewhat coherent stopping point. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527/20 "2021-07-28T19:25:59Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Manifest was cancelled. The fans are still trying to get it picked up at Netflix. I didn’t care for it, but people seem enthusiastic. Meh. > **[‘Manifest’ Creator Jeff Rake Seeks To Give Fans Closure After Series...](https://deadline.com/2021/06/manifest-jeff-rake-give-fans-closure-series-cancellation-1234782746/)** > > NBC’s Manifest ended on an abrupt note as the series came to an end with numerous unanswered questions surrounding Flight 828. Despite the cancellation, series creator Jeff Rake has plans to … I liked part of it, but two things rankled. There is no way a _scientist_ would conclude that a 6000 yo chunk of wood from Mt Ararat was from Noah’s ark, _as that never existed._ Even the faithful usually say it is a myth based upon a huge but local flood, and maybe inspired by Gilgamesh. Next Ben loved to make conclusions based upon a tiny bit of evidence then go crazy pushing it, like the 828ers being in the same lifeboat. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Same deal with Prodigal Son, for that matter. I really liked that show, but it’s gone. My wife liked it, but I did not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-la-brea/947527.md?page=2)