Life on "Mars"

Never let it be said that viewers' internet reactions can't influence the course of their favorite TV shows.

"Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas said here he keeps an eye on viewer comments at fan-interaction sites like Television Without Pity "to see where they're standing on a mystery" like last season's convoluted bus-crash-et-al saga. He could tell two-thirds of the way through the season that its extended complications were losing viewer interest, though at that point things were already starting to wind up anyway.

So we'll finally see what Thomas learned from his mistakes when the critically beloved cult fave starts its third season Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. on the new CW network created from the merger of "Veronica's" UPN home with rival WB.

"Two concurrent mysteries stretching over 22 episodes had way too many suspects and way too many red herrings," Thomas said, "and I'm going to rein that in."

This "cleaner" fall season kicks off with a nine-episode mystery that's scheduled to air straight through, without repeats or pre-emptions. (Loose ends from last season will be tied up within its first two episodes.) He's further planning arcs of seven and six episodes that are "tighter and more focused," as Kristen Bell's shrewd teen sleuth moves on to college -- though she'll still be living at home with crack detective dad Enrico Colantoni and navigating the social divides of their new-money California enclave.

Thomas will "also give the new audience more jumping-in points," hoping to hold additional viewers from the show's more compatible new Tuesday night lead-in, ex-WB mainstay "Gilmore Girls."

"We're actually in a make-or-break time now," Thomas says, figuring if his cool show can't build an audience the first half of this third season, then it's never going to happen. That would break his heart. Thomas has invested much more of himself in the funky layers of "Veronica" than in other offbeat short-runs like "Cupid" and "Snoops," where he figured their failure he just meant he'd move on to something else that better satisfied him. "Veronica" is it, he says. "You don't know how rare it is to get the right ingredients together to do something you're proud of."

Actually, we do, Rob. "Veronica" fans can feel the love in every episode. We're just hoping the affection spreads.

Comments

[Chris Kovaca]

Veronica Mars Rocks!

[Richard Allan O'Dea]

the best drama on T.V.,Kristen Bell is a Gifted actress. You should have ran season two on WB! I love this show Richard Allan O'Dea