Day One Cut Back

Day One, the post-apocalyptic drama from Jesse Alexander (Alias, Heroes), never impressed NBC all that much: reactions to test screenings were lukewarm, and the show was pushed back to midseason replacement status. Now the project has fallen victim to further budget-tightening at the profit-conscious network, which has been lagging the other nets in primetime ad sales revenue.

NBC has announced it's cut back Day One, chronicling life on Earth after a global catastrophe, to a four-hour miniseries. Originally, NBC had planned a 13-episode series. But after recrunching the production numbers, NBC executives decided to run it as a miniseries instead.

In retrospect this isn't surprising: the network never had long-term visions for the show. At the Television Critics Association press tour last year, NBC's president of prime time entertainment, Angela Bromstad, said, "We've always looked at Day One as a big event for us and not necessarily a show that would be an ongoing, returning show for a second season." A miniseries would be even more appropriate for such an idea.

Alexander was involved in the decision, NBC says, and NBC has said it will keep the door open to making Day One a full series particularly if it proves successful, turning the series into its own back-door pilot. (Execs dropped the name Battlestar Galactica as an example of a miniseries that made it big as a regular series later. Meaning that those saddened that Day One won't be the next big thing will get to hold out hope for a few weeks before the realization comes that it's not happening.)

The timing remains the same: Day One is still scheduled to debut following NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics. Day One will be directed by Alex Graves (Fringe, Journeyman) and stars Julie Gonzalo, Derek Mio, Addison Timlin, Adam Campbell, Catherine Dent, David Lyons (pictured), Carly Pope, Thekla Reuten, and Xander Berkeley.