Project Canceled: The River

Oh boy..."The River"...yikes...and I mean that sadly, not scared-ily (because this is a horror show). "The River" premiered on ABC back in 2012 February as a mid-season replacement (proof positive no one had any faith in this show). "The River" was created by Matthew R. Perry (not to be confused with actor Matthew Perry) and "Paranormal Activity" creator Oren Peli, I didn't even have to look at Wikipedia for that because I remember during the ad campaign for "The River" that was one of the major selling points. "The River" is categorized as a supernatural horror/action-adventure series but the conceit of the show is it is somewhat of a show within a show documentary style.

"The River" tells the story of Lincoln Cole, the son of famed TV explorer Dr. Emmet Cole who had a TV series (ala' "National Geographic" meets "Crocodile Hunter") who went missing in The Amazon basin and never returned. Six months after his disappearance, Lincoln and family get a clue that he might be alive and mount a party to search for him.

That's the plot. Despite having a powerhouse of big names behind its production Jason Blum, Oren Peli, and Steven freakin' Spielberg "The River" got the axe after only 8 episodes making the air on ABC. From what I remember after the series' debut there was no buzz about the show whatsoever, none in favor and none against, so that was one strike against it and the next strike was Leslie Hope. Much like Blair Underwood, previously mentioned in my review of "The Event", Leslie Hope is another actor who is considered TV cancer.

Very few TV shows survive in which she is given a main role, the most successful being "24" and that's partly because (spoilers). However, the curse of Leslie Hope seems to be getting weaker considering she's had several appearances on other TV shows which survived. It isn't her acting, she's a fine actress, she just seems to be a lightning rod for bad projects or things destined to fail.  That being said, I did attempt back when it came out to watch "The River" as it was available on Hulu and HOLY CRAP. The 1st episode had reached a level of boredom that I thought was unobtainable by human means.  I remember the 1st episode being boring but for the life of me I can't remember what happened which makes me question as to whether or not I really watched it or not.

I do remember the characters being on a boat, I remember Paul Blackthrone and me going "Hey, that's Stephen Saunders, AWESOME!" but I can't remember much else. The series stars Joe Anderson (who'd later become Mason Verger in the 3rd Season of "Hannibal"), TV Cancer Leslie Hope (Teri Bauer from "24"), Thomas Kertschmann (Max also from "24"), Bruce Greenwood and Katie Featherstone (from "Paranormal Activity"). So in this installment of Project Canceled, we're gonna take a look at "The River". Going into this I'm hoping I'm wrong about this series as it wasn't quite as boring as I remember it...or don't...still not sure which and hopefully see where this project went wrong. So join me as we set sail down "The River".