NBC’s surprise decision to sack "Southland" has ticked off the Twitterverse.
Even though just seven episodes of the series aired, and its last original episode was all the way back in May, fan response to the cancellation has been intense — and particularly harsh toward Peacock executives.
The ire extends to Hollywood types on Twitter as well, with several writers and actors (including some from "Southland") using the mircoblogging service to vent.
How mad are folks? A search for the words "f—" and "NBC" this morning turned up a ton of tweets from fans royally riled by the network’s move.
"Southland? Cancelled? What the f—, NBC?!?!?!" wrote Cassandra Garica, aka Sassy 2615.
Added Igor Derysh, a New York -based freelance writer, "f— you NBC for cancelling ‘Southland’ after saying it’ll be back. f— you for always pissing on great TV like ‘Studio 60’ or ‘Kings’."
More than a few fans linked the "Southland" cancellation to NBC’s 10 p.m. Jay Leno strategy.
"f— you, Jay Leno. Why did you have to screw up primetime NBC???" wrote Alanna Slepitsky, an aspiring filmmaker who goes by the Twitter handle @whoffleck.
The creative community on Twitter seemed just as shattered by the move as rank and file fans.
"At some point, don’t GE shareholders have to realize (NBC U chief Jeff) Zucker’s a rudderless buffoon (and) demand NBC clean house," asked Kurt Sutter, creator of FX’s hit drama "Sons of Anarchy." "They’ve hit rock f—n bottom."
Shawn Ryan, creator of "The Shield" and currently executive producer of Fox’s "Lie to Me," began the Twitter wave of outrage by tweeting news of the show’s death at around the same time the story first broke in the mainstream media (via The Hollywood Reporter’s Nellie Andreeva).
Two hours after his just-the-facts tweet on the show’s demise, Ryan called the cancellation "an awful story for people like me."
Later, Ryan took another random shot at the Peacock. "Everything you need to know about NBC at this moment in time: They even managed to lose the ‘Seinfeld’ reunion to another network," he wrote (later giving the Peacock props for the wedding episode of "The Office").
Jon Cassar, the former director of "24," was surprised NBC wouldn’t at least air the six episodes of "Southland" already in the can.
"I can’t believe they couldn’t wait a couple of weeks, so people could at least see the work," he wrote.
The "Southland" ire, not surprisingly, extended to the show’s cast.
"People need to know when they f— up this big," tweeted Michael Cudlitz, an actor on "Southland." "Dumb f–kin people."
Even the Reporters Who Cover Television felt compelled to slap NBC around a bit on Twitter.
"NBC cancels ‘Southland’ (and its balls)," came the message from the Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blogger.
And Michael Schneider, the Variety TV editor and blogger who tweets under the handle @franklinavenue, got a ton of re-tweets for this gem:
"NBC cancels ‘Southland,’" Schneider wrote. "But in a twist, viewers had already canceled NBC."
Maureen Ryan, the Chicago Tribune’s mega-prolific blogger/Tweeter, told followers the "Southland" execution was "really shocking.
"(NBC is) definitely sending the message to creative people, ‘Run away!’ As if they weren’t already. Oy," she sighed.
Later, Ryan mused, "So in the future, will NBC will be a solid wall of ‘The Today Show’ and Jay Leno? Kill me now."
Linda Holmes, who writes the Monkey See blog for NPR, worried about what the "Southland" slaying meant to the network’s future drama development.
"NBC’s cancellation of ‘Southland,’ added to its other fall failures, suggests to me that it’s simply getting out of the drama business," she Tweeted. (Holmes expands on her thesis regarding the Peacock’s "surrender" here).
The most succinct reaction to the news came from Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello: "NBC cancels ‘Southland’. OMGWTF?!"
