With only two episodes left, no one at ABC is publicly discussing the future of "The River," the creepy drama shot in Hawaii that’s told in the style of a dark reality show.
The ratings for the Tuesday night show have been anemic through six episodes. "The River" has averaged 5.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers.
To put that in context, the smallest audience for "Hawaii Five-0" was nearly twice as large — 9.58 million viewers for its most recent original episode.
An ABC spokesperson said last week — and the week before that — the network wants to review the numbers for viewers who record the show to watch at a later date. But there was no word on how big a factor that might be.
Similar audience tallies doomed "Off the Map," a series about doctors in a remote jungle clinic that ABC shot in Hawaii in 2010 and aired as a midseason replacement in early 2011.
Both ABC series have two things in common: They were shot in Hawaii but not set in Hawaii, and their pilots were made in Puerto Rico before the network moved the productions here.
The shows may have one more thing in common: The network didn’t announce the cancellation of "Off the Map" until its annual May new-season preview, known as the "up fronts," and the fate of "The River" appears to be the same. The ABC spokesperson said nothing will be discussed before May 15.
For the city’s film commissioner, Walea Constantinau, the lack of information about "The River" isn’t all bad.
"No news is good news," she said.
But the topic of canceled TV shows was top of mind after Fox announced last week that "Terra Nova" wouldn’t get a second season. The sci-fi series shoots in Australia, but Hawaii was one of the locations under consideration in the summer of 2010.
"We pushed really hard before they went into production," Constantinau said.
The series about people sent back in time to prehistoric Earth in order to save the human race boasts ambitious and expensive special effects as well as a big set.
It also had, as Constantinau likes to say, "good provenance." Among its creators was Steven Spielberg, who, by the way, also has a behind-the-scenes role in "The River."
Hawaii had the scenery but not enough soundstage space, Constantinau said. Hawaii has only one publicly owned facility: the 16,500-square-foot state studio at Diamond Head.
"It was a series that demanded a lot of infrastructure that we just didn’t have," she said.
And still don’t. The Diamond Head studio has been used exclusively by ABC since the second season of "Lost." It used it for "Off the Map" and "The River," and is now letting Sony Pictures Television use it to create a pilot for a potential ABC series called "Last Resort."
Still, Hawaii somehow made a good impression on Aaron Kaplan, one of the many executive producers on "Terra Nova." During a recent mainland trip, Mayor Peter Carlisle visited Kaplan to gauge his interest.
"He indicated that he was extremely interested in bringing projects to Oahu," Carlisle said afterward. "He had a location tour on Oahu this past Christmas, and it convinced him that he wants to do work here on Oahu."
Could that mean "Terra Nova" would live again, brought back to life on Oahu? It wouldn’t be the first time dinosaurs have made a comeback in the islands. Remember "Jurassic Park"?
In an email, Kaplan couldn’t say. Neither could 20th Century Fox Television, maker of the series.
But the studio did confirm it was shopping for a new home for "Terra Nova."
AND that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
