Due to the increasingly stiff competition, NBC and its peers have mostly been focused on replicating tried and tested formulas, hence the prominence of revivals and reboots. Several years ago, however, there was more variety to network TV’s offerings, as studios played with different genres. One show continues to be a reminder of this dying trend as part of the list of NBC sci-fi shows that were canceled too soon — La Brea.
La Brea’s Ambitious Premise Could Have Revived NBC’s Sci-Fi Efforts
Created by David Appelbaum, La Brea was poised to be the next Lost — the seminal sci-fi series that revolutionized the genre. Since the Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof-created series ended in 2010, various shows have attempted to replicate it, including the 2021 NBC series. Similar to the crashed passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, the main characters of La Brea found themselves trapped in a dangerous primeval land after falling into a massive sinkhole.
For what it’s worth, Appelbaum and the rest of the creative team behind the series didn’t shy away from the Lost comparisons. Unfortunately for them, La Brea failed to hook viewers from the get-go, with season 1 ending up scoring just 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. Admittedly, it had a higher audience score at 47%. Couple that with 4.9 million average viewers every week, and it seemed like it had enough to bounce back. Unfortunately, the subsequent rating dropped significantly to 1.77 million for season 2 and slightly up pto 2.03 million for its final year.
Why NBC’s La Brea Failed
The poor critics’ score for La Brea was broken down to several primary criticisms of the show. Aside from its stereotypical elements, wonky dialogue, and downright laughable scenarios, arguably its biggest fault was its inability to go all-in on its bonkers premise. La Brea started with a big bang through the massive sinkhole in the middle of the Los Angeles community. Admittedly, it was a ludicrous inciting incident, but not entirely impossible, considering the many recorded sinkholes appearing out of nowhere in the world.
Beyond that, however, it felt like La Brea didn’t know what else to do with its narrative, which was a shame. Instead of owning up to the ridiculousness of the situation and using it to further elevate its storytelling, it never felt like it fully took advantage of the setup. Had it been bolder in its execution, then it could have been easier to buy into its absurd elements. La Brea shied away from truly committing to the bit, which made it difficult for the viewers to commit to it.
La Brea is available to stream on Tubi.
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