[Anthony Hatface]

Excellent post, though to suggest a possible interpretation, it may have been in one sense pure bad luck for the producers that they underestimated the potential of the mean and nasty crew to band together and strategically eliminate some very promising characters early in the run.

Having said that, I hope they will recover more of the original formula next year. I keep hearing how much better that was, and as a latecomer to the show I am very curious to see what it all evolved from.