‘Last Resort,’ ‘666 Park Avenue’ add scripts; ABC not canceling yet

This has turned out to be a rather good day when it comes to struggling TV shows staying put despite some low ratings. Even though neither show is anywhere near the level that ABC probably wants for the time being, the network has decided to give the go-ahead to more scripts (two each) for both “Last Resort” as well as “666 Park Avenue.”

Really, what we are looking at here is a tale of two very different shows. When it comes to “Last Resort,” this is actually the best new drama of the season on network TV: it’s well-acted, well-written, and there is a subject matter here that feels a bit like “Lost” mixed a little bit with “The Hunt for Red October.” Its biggest issue? That the military subject matter may scare away viewers, and it is in a timeslot that has killed ABC in recent years up against “The Big Bang Theory,” “The X Factor” (“American Idol” in the spring), and “The Vampire Diaries.” Hopefully, more scripts here will allow some more people to know what they have been missing here.

As for “666 Park Avenue,” we came into this with great hopes that this would be something great given our love for Terry O’Quinn and Vanessa Williams. The issue here is just that the show’s not really that good; the pacing is weird, the characters flat, and it really feels as though the show is trying to do too much at one time. There is thankfully now time to turn it around, and given the beautiful setting and the huge upside to having this sort of show on TV, we are not giving up just yet on the idea that this could become great. Unfortunately, its early episodes may have scared some folks away. That’s what happened to “Pam An” last year in this timeslot, and around episode 3 it started to become amazing.

What show are you the most excited about getting more episode?