Friday, September 19, 2008

Remember when 'The 4400' was USA's biggest show?

As I rewatch the first season of the sci-fi drama "The 4400," which debuted in a six-hour miniseries in the summer of 2004 on a less-crowded USA Network, I kept wondering: How did an original show like this one get forgotten so quickly thereafter?

It was only a little over a year when "The 4400" closed its book for good (or so we think). Since then, it's felt like decades since anyone from the network or the millions of viewers who tuned in week in and week out have uttered one word about it.

The original miniseries (the first season) was basic cable's highest rated shows. In fact, season one averaged 6.2 million viewers. Yes, it must be noted that viewership dwindled by its third season, when the average viewership totaled a little over 3.2 million viewers and subsequently its last season stayed in the cool 2 million range.

What happened? Was it the sci-fi effect? Was it the complicated storylines? Was it the political, social and cultural commentary on the actual world we live in? Was it the direction the show took after its first season? What made it lose its luster? Because damnit, it was such a fantastic show.

I wonder what would've happened to these characters had season four not ended the way it did. I wonder if Seattle would be taken over by Jordan Collier and his followers. I wonder what The 4400 Center would become. Would it even exist in the same capacity as it did in seasonns two and three?

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