Israel-Inspired Reality Show Cancelled

Image by Courtesy of CBS

By Curt Schleier August 1, 2012

The CBS reality show “3” did not set any records — with its ratings or the speed with which it was cancelled.

Image by Courtesy of CBS

Based on an Israeli series, “3” is about three women brought together in a search for love. It debuted July 26 in a special Thursday preview before a paltry 2.4 million viewers. It then moved to what was supposed to be its regular Sunday time slot on July 29 and did even worse, attracting just 1.8 million viewers.

It was cancelled two days later. But that second episode saved the show from the ignominy shared by five other programs — all cancelled after just one episode. These include “Public Morals” (CBS, 1996); “Lawless” (Fox, 1997); “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” (ABC, 2006); “Anchorwoman” (Fox, 2007), and “Quarter Life” (NBC, 2008).

Don’t be upset if you don’t recognize their names — that’s why they were cancelled. In “3’s” defense, none of these programs competed against the summer Olympics.

“3” was a major hit on Israeli TV, enjoying among the largest reality program ratings there. It was offered to CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler while she was on a Jewish Federation mission Israel, which apparently proves the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished.

Curt Schleier is a freelance writer and author who covers business and the arts for a variety of publications. Follow him on Twitter at @tvsoundoff.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO