Despite promising hype and a great time slot, FOX’s new summer show On The Lot isn’t bringing in big ratings. In fact, the show is performing at a dismal level by FOX standards, even for summer programming. Despite a few casting problems in the show itself, On The Lot could be a huge hit, and the entertainment factor is definitely there. Will FOX make the necessary changes and save the show, or will On The Lot head straight to the cutting room floor?

On the Lot is a good idea executed poorly.

You find filmmakers starting out in the industry, put them into a competition, and the winner receives an opportunity to work at Dreamworks.

What they did right, was find a good mix of contestants from all over the world.

But to feature them in an American Idol type contest was all wrong.  Who cares about a live elimination?  And voting for your favorite?  Um, okay, but why not leave it up to the judges and pre-tape everything? 

Which leads me to…

The judges are all wrong.  I’m not sure whose bright idea it was to have people in the industry judge their peers, but to me a better idea would have been to use movie critics.  I’m not sure if the current judges don’t want to discourage someone starting out or they’re afraid of upsetting someone who may become a director, but they’re all too nice.  You need some criticism, especially when you’re at home thinking to youself, “That short was a piece of @*#!” but on TV they’re saying, “Well…IT…looked good”

There’s apparently trouble behind the scenes, as we’re already on host #2, the show’s been reduced to 1 day a week from 3 days, and 6 contestants disappeared without any explanation.

It would not surpise me if the show was pulled early.