<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>If we're dependent solely on ratings, well then, we're boned. Going head-to-head with the NFL playoffs is a suicidal maneuver if you think you're going to get ratings. To make matters worse, this turned out to be one of the best games in the history of the NFL. (Football must be played outside, on grass, and, in January, in snow.)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
This reminds me of the proposed continuation of Doctor Who in 1996. Fox had said that if the Dr. Who movie did well enough, it would go series. It didn't, but as I recall, they positioned it against some mega episode of Roseanne, and of course, the ratings tanked.
Granted, Fox has a wider audience than Sci-Fi does, so the pure numbers would be different here, but Doctor Who has (I believe) a larger hardcore fanbase than B5 does (this is NOT a remark about quality of show - just long time fans) - obviously, because Doctor Who ran for 26 years in the UK. Granted, it's more of an icon in the UK than the US, but I feel the comparison is similar.
Some of these arguments (promotion, credits, etc) fit exactly the mood around the Doctor Who movie from 1996 - it was supposed to be a pilot for a new series, it had "credits" where a TV movie normally does not, and there was a ton of promotion for it. Well, OK, perhaps B5LR had more promotion than the Doctor Who movie did.
And the Doctor Who movie did not bring forth a series, unfortunately. (After 7 years off the air, I was desperate for new Dr. Who, I would have taken an americanized version! <g>)
Anyway, I suppose my point is that it's ultimately a business - and the majority of what's been posted here is wishful and hopeful thinking. It's up to Sci-Fi as to what they're gonna do. I'd be surprised if their minds are made up, although the angle of "can they keep all the actors together over this decision time" is an interesting one to ponder, too.
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Joe Siegler
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