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Beyond the Rim 4

J

Jomar

Beyond the rim
I've just read Antony's new article and have to agree with the points he makes. SciFi genre TV is in a pretty poor shape right now. There will be almost nothing left when Farscape ends.

I don't think there is any quick solution because the networks really want a "sure thing" when they invest millions of dollars. The only area that seems to be universally acceptable is police shows and we have enough of them. I used to watch Law and Order, but it becomes tedious when they have three shows running at once. I for one, like a little variet in my tv viewing.

I keep hoping John Doe will make it, because it doesn't have many expensive special effects and there are no overpriced well-known actors in the cast.
I have been watching Enterprise, but I find it kind of slow and boring. If writing a letter would do any reall good, I would write but I don't believe it makes any difference to TPTB.

If all this sounds a little gloomy, I'd love to be cheered up. Any good news, anyone? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
So read my fanfic. That's not gonna get cancelled anytime soon.

We ran a mini-campaign over in the Jeremiah camp and had a little letter-writing and Showtime-pestering going on for a while, although there's no way to tell if it helped the show get a second season at all. I know we had quite a few people contacting their cable guys about it.

I'm only willing to invest so much into a fan campaign. At the end of the day, it *is* only a TV show, and it's not our job to make sure people like Joss and JMS do theirs. I believe that fans often take a bit too much upon their shoulders for entirely too little compensation. Yes, we scream "unfair," but the TV business ISN'T fair. It has NEVER been fair. Good shows get cancelled and stupid shows reign, because television is a medium aimed primarily at the lowest common denominator. It was that way in the Golden Age of television, and it's that way today.

So, yeah, I'll write my letters for fan campaigns. But I'll write them knowing that this business IS a business - no matter what you hear about "art" - and that no amount of fan adoration, ads in Variety, tv commercials, etc., can stand against the almighty dollar.

It may sound pessimistic, but it's right.
 
Antony, about the Birds of Prey comment, i just have something to say, Birds of Prey, is doing quite well, despite the truth that it was set up to fail by Jordan Levin, co-president of entertainment at Warner Brothers.

Take Birds of Prey or example. That was ditched after about 3 episodes. Admittedly it did lose a lot of viewers straight after its first episode. But convention appearances were starting to happen, TV Guide was going to feature the show on various covers, and the marketing machine hadn't even got going. The WB, quite simple, bailed out quickly, didn't give it a chance, and publicly accused the writing staff of being poor.
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It was actually decided after the 7th episode. The WB bailed out quickly because Jordan Levin never liked the show, and only used it as an expensive "time filler" until the show he does like "high school reunion" another piss-poor idiotic, mind-numbing reality series was ready.

Like Crusade, it is only gettign 13 episodes, though the biggest thing here is, it was doing quite well in ratings, it was tied for 4th place with buffy, which makes no sense to cancel, and has even been said so in some articles and such.

If you want any more information on this, go to http://www.birdsofpreyonline.com
 
So read my fanfic. That's not gonna get cancelled anytime soon
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Is it gonna get updated anytime soon? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I don't know. I watched a little bit of "Birds of Prey" and found it awful. The first time that girl started fighting and they added those canned cougar sound effects, I was out da door.

Most of the shows cancelled, I can't argue with and some of the ones still on, I can't agree with.

I think most of you would agree, though, that sci-fi seems to have a definite ebb and flow to it. It hits big and then it recedes. There was a similar drought in the early 70s, early 80's and early 90's. It seems like sci-fi takes a hit in the first half of every decade. Interesting, hmm?

The 90s were arguably the biggest decade ever for sci-fi television programming - with multi-Treks, the XFiles, and good old B5, so it's making this crash all the more painful.

Luckily, the sci-fi genre is still big (and big money) at the movies, so it's only a matter of time before those witless tv execs itch to ride the coat tails of the newest blockbuster.

Until then, I've still got my library card.
 
I started getting into anime because of the Farscape debacle. I felt that it was the last straw. I am so tired of the networks & how they tend to destroy the few good shows on the air. With anime, DVD sales seem to determine what is popular more than ratings, although my favorite anime series Cowboy Bebop has certainly been helped by being on Cartoon Network. If a live-action version of Cowboy Bebop were ever done as a series on US-TV, it would probably be the most exciting thing in SF in years, but the networks would probably ruin it by axing it too early. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Tammy
 
This is a great article, unfortunately its also very sad and true.

Like I said somewhere else, if you want good shows on the air, get a bunch of fans together and start your production company, another group can start a new sci-fi channel and other groups can handle what else is needed. How else can ya control it?
 
So read my fanfic. That's not gonna get cancelled anytime soon
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Is it gonna get updated anytime soon? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
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It's just the Winter hiatus! Most shows are currently on break for a few weeks with at the most an update here or there. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

And Gkarfan ... be cautious about any American version of anime or any live action version. I shudder to think of what might be done - especially if turned into a series by major network or even SciFi execs! With "Cowboy Bebop" for example, they'd probably turn Spike and Faye into wanna-be lovers. If the show was popular, they'd want to do more than one season - meaning adding on episodes that were never written by the Japanese creators ... and who knows what those would be like!
 
Hmm ... well none of the TV shows I currently watch have been replaced by anything I would watch ... so I still stand by my statement. The replacement is just not SF so no on this board (I think it's a reality series in which channe stars as a busy working lass with a social life and family and holidays and that). /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Wasn't the Sci-Fi Channel going to do a mini-series or something based on Ray Bradbury's short stories at some point? What ever happened to that?
 
Wasn't the Sci-Fi Channel going to do a mini-series or something based on Ray Bradbury's short stories at some point? What ever happened to that?
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Too science fictiony obviously.

/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
This is really just too sad.

The really sick part about it all is that their ratings might very well improve, as well as their profits. /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

We're doomed. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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