San Francisco, 2:23 PM
Tue Dec 8
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My first response to this is the same as most people's, namely, a sinking feeling of dread.
However, I'm also aware I don't have all the information here. What are the positives for doing something like this? Because I figure there has to be and I'm honestly curious to know.
@Alasdair5000: The positives of doing something like this are probably bleak. To be blunt, excuses aside, all it really does is reduce the number of episodes produced, which means that they lose less money if they do cancel it. The most optimistic way you can look at it is hedging their bets, the most cynical being they don't expect the series to survive a week.
In all liklihood, someone (or very likely multiple people) are convinced that V is an anchor around their neck, and want to cut it loose and dump it before it hits them in the stomach. It might have sounded like an okay experiment in a non-recessionary environment, but where it stands now? Nobody wants to take chances.
@Evdor: That makes a lot of sense. A lot of very, very depressing sense (Especially in light of Day One's seeming re branding as an 'event' instead of an ongoing series) but it does make sense.
@Evdor: Yeah, I see it as the network trying to cut their losses. If it tanks, they've only wasted 4 hours of time/money on low ratings and the last 9 won't ever air. If by some miracle it catches on, they can crank out more.
Several someones have seen what's been shot and they don't like the cost-benefit ratio.
I would be a lot sadder if this was a new original series.I was laughing when they did their bigwig studio spat over putting Ken Johnson on the credits and then they have to discuss if the new V is a "Remake" which it was even if it is now changed a bit.
I was angry though over the TSCC cancel and how it was a cliffhanger ending.I did buy the 2nd season boxset to hopefully support any effort to bring it back in some form.
I also am very sick of following any network shows so i have built up a great librbary of favorite foreign and us ww2 films,docs...and also a ton of scifi boxsets.
If there is poop on network tv i won't be to bummed i will just go into my cool library since their is nothing i can do ecept i guess not buy krap hollywood products only buy certain ones.
I hope they at least plan to re-run the first four again before trotting out the back nine in the spring, assuming they live up to their word. They're not very likely to gain any viewers (or even retain those from the fall) if they don't treat it like a second premiere.
This was originally announced Friday PM on EW.com - and there was a hostile OVERLOAD of responses. Hopefully IO9 can do the same - because it may the only thing that brings ABC to it's FUCKING SENSES.
It's ironic that SciFi fans tend to be the most loyal of the television viewing audience; and yet they are the first ones to get rammed up the ass by idiotic corporate decisions. I'd like to think that a few of us have buckled up our steel chasity belts and have kicked their KY supply to the curb.
It was announced on EW that ABC intends to air 4 episodes of 'V' in November, then hold off until March. Apparently all of the idiots who were employed during Season Three of Lost - the one that plummeted in the ratings - are still enjoying their health insurance.
While I can't speak for the SF fandom en masse - I am SICK of being burned by cancellations (T:SCC) and having an unreasonable wait between new episodes. BSG was the final straw (14 months) and I won't do it anymore. If you want me - a devoted SF viewer - to watch your series, then for Christ's sake just play the entire season!
'V' has lost me, unless ABC gets it's collective shit together. How am I supposed to have faith in a series when it's obvious that the money behind it does not?
@MISS MERCY STREET: What is with ABC? As much as I personally detested Defying Gravity, I blame ABC for killing the show (no promotion, crappy time slot, not showing all the episodes) instead of giving it a fair chance of finding an audience. And this is the same network with Lost and FlashForward.
@MISS MERCY STREET:
I'm with you, Sci-fi's always the first to get shafted in favour of something else.
As far as I'm concerned V has already been cancelled and I'll watch this one-season wonder when (and if) it gets a DVD set, because then at least I'll be able to watch episodes within a reasonable timeframe of one another. between this and the shunting of shows into the friday-night death slot it's a wonder there's any American sci-fi left.
(not that it's limited to being an American thing - I'm a Brit and every year I have to see Dr Who get shunted around the schedules to accommodate some inconsequential sports match or the latest competitive dancing show. At least American TV still produces decent sci-fi, even if they don't support it)
Still, Fringe gives me some hope. Shame 11th hour didn't make it too.
@Charax: Not that I disagree with anything you said, but it might be possible that Dr. Who gets shunted around more than other shows because everyone who watches it will watch it regardless of when it's aired, and considering the sheer number of people who watch it already, they doubt they'll pick up a significant number of new viewers by airing it in a better time slot. Because, let's be honest here, who hasn't at least heard of Dr. Who?
Also, me being Canadian and not getting any say in what shows make it or not (pretty much anywhere in the world), is quite annoying. Even Canadian shows tend to need a fair bit of American viewership to continue past a few seasons.
@milesteg: I have to disagree with you. It is not "well said". It shows a total lack of understanding of how this business works. Given that i work in said industry I know the score very, very well
This is a business and like many businesses the decisions are not made by one party or in a vacuum. Networks expect, nay demand, that a show makes a profit or at least covers its budget. the money to do that comes from advertising. Yep those commercial breaks are what pay for shows. Trouble is that to get the money advertisers want something back. and that is an expectation that enough folks are watching to make the cost effective for them. Paying $100k for 30 seconds on a show that gets perhaps 1000 viewers is not worth it compared to a show that gets 1 mil viewers (by best estimate). so networks will be looking to make a show that would attach lots and lots of viewers. cause if they promise 1 mil and only get 1k, they have to refund the money, the show is not paying for itself etc.
where the trouble comes in is the Nielsen system only counts like 20k folks in the country and makes a best guess. which is very likely flawed but neither the Nielsen company or the advertisers will consider this because by typical scientific standards their sample has been deemed sound. so all counts come from that sample (live, dvr etc). and the networks, many of which want to go back to the days of not making a decision until a show has had a solid 7-8 eps of the first 13 air (cause some shows are a slow but growing starter) can't because the money out is so high and the money in is so low. some like CBS are moved by fan love and put a show back for a second change but then the ratings still suck or even drop and what else can they do but cut it yet again. because the advertisers trust the ratings and aren't embracing things like online ads and the download numbers (itunes/amazon/etc) aren't enough to support shows or even pick up the slack.
so the short point. before you scream about ass raping, censorship etc know what's really going on on the other side of the door and remember that this is a business not an art. and maybe that tv executive you hate so much is the real one getting ass raped. by the pissed off advertisers that want their money back, by the producers and studio pissed cause their show was cancelled and a few dozen really nice folks are now out of jobs, and by the fans that believe this is personal and thus they have a right to get really nasty.
@psychiccheese: unfortunately your trouble lies in the fact that something like 80% of the shows produced in Canada are actually runaway shows from the US and thus that is where the marketing comes from etc.
what's interesting is that at one point, not a lot of American tv was being licensed and folks were just stealing the feeds from the overnights to the affiliates. Those 'wild feeds' were the basis of the early limewire/torrent piracy of tv shows. in part cause they lacked all the badging the stations put on the shows and often were encoded and online hours before the show aired. so the networks allowed cheap licensing to encourage Canadian broadcasting in the hopes of cutting back on feed snatching. Which means more American shows airing, but unfortunately the fees are rarely enough to fill in the gaps in the budget for failing shows..
also sad is that the availability of American shows and the courting of runaway production has really crapped on local production so there are few truly Canadian shows and those that are are often years behind in technical quality cause the support just isn't there. the last 5 years or so have shown a turn around and I for one hope it continues. I want to see what my cousins up north can create.
@MISS MERCY STREET: Not to argue a point but, if the very people who seem excited by a show ditch it (before it even airs) because it might get cancelled or only run for one season then frankly, aren't they making the right decision? Networks only run a show for a decent amount of time these days if people watch it.
@cadrina: By the Power of GreySkull!. Just when I think that it could not get any gayer, I am proven wrong.
You know, the fact that I owned He-Man dolls and watched this cartoon show and was not turned gay pretty much shoots the whole idea that you can be "turned" gay to hell. If He-Man couldn't do it, I can't see what in the world would.
Then again, I do watch "Project Runway" with my wife, so maybe it had some kind of effect......
@Belabras ate my dingo!: Lol. Yeah - I came across my old He-Man dolls a few years back and was astonished that they did not turn me gay. The entire concept is ultra-gay. It's the Village People meets Siegfried & Roy meets Robert Mapplethorpe. Didn't somebody have a whip as a weapon?
I'm just...I'm just not really thinking this will work as a feature film, and I guess I never got into He-Man enough to care. Maybe this one should stay in development hell, or are there people really wanting to see this?
09/27/09
However, I'm also aware I don't have all the information here. What are the positives for doing something like this? Because I figure there has to be and I'm honestly curious to know.
09/27/09
In all liklihood, someone (or very likely multiple people) are convinced that V is an anchor around their neck, and want to cut it loose and dump it before it hits them in the stomach. It might have sounded like an okay experiment in a non-recessionary environment, but where it stands now? Nobody wants to take chances.
09/27/09
09/27/09
Several someones have seen what's been shot and they don't like the cost-benefit ratio.
09/27/09
I was angry though over the TSCC cancel and how it was a cliffhanger ending.I did buy the 2nd season boxset to hopefully support any effort to bring it back in some form.
I also am very sick of following any network shows so i have built up a great librbary of favorite foreign and us ww2 films,docs...and also a ton of scifi boxsets.
If there is poop on network tv i won't be to bummed i will just go into my cool library since their is nothing i can do ecept i guess not buy krap hollywood products only buy certain ones.
09/27/09
09/27/09
How many alien invasion stories are good for a 5 year run?
09/27/09
Maybe it doesn't actually suck, but it isn't good enough to justify the cost of a big cast and special effects.
09/27/09
09/27/09
It's ironic that SciFi fans tend to be the most loyal of the television viewing audience; and yet they are the first ones to get rammed up the ass by idiotic corporate decisions. I'd like to think that a few of us have buckled up our steel chasity belts and have kicked their KY supply to the curb.
It was announced on EW that ABC intends to air 4 episodes of 'V' in November, then hold off until March. Apparently all of the idiots who were employed during Season Three of Lost - the one that plummeted in the ratings - are still enjoying their health insurance.
While I can't speak for the SF fandom en masse - I am SICK of being burned by cancellations (T:SCC) and having an unreasonable wait between new episodes. BSG was the final straw (14 months) and I won't do it anymore. If you want me - a devoted SF viewer - to watch your series, then for Christ's sake just play the entire season!
'V' has lost me, unless ABC gets it's collective shit together. How am I supposed to have faith in a series when it's obvious that the money behind it does not?
09/27/09
09/27/09
I'm with you, Sci-fi's always the first to get shafted in favour of something else.
As far as I'm concerned V has already been cancelled and I'll watch this one-season wonder when (and if) it gets a DVD set, because then at least I'll be able to watch episodes within a reasonable timeframe of one another. between this and the shunting of shows into the friday-night death slot it's a wonder there's any American sci-fi left.
(not that it's limited to being an American thing - I'm a Brit and every year I have to see Dr Who get shunted around the schedules to accommodate some inconsequential sports match or the latest competitive dancing show. At least American TV still produces decent sci-fi, even if they don't support it)
Still, Fringe gives me some hope. Shame 11th hour didn't make it too.
09/27/09
I'll be there for V, but I agree with every word otherwise.
09/27/09
Also, me being Canadian and not getting any say in what shows make it or not (pretty much anywhere in the world), is quite annoying. Even Canadian shows tend to need a fair bit of American viewership to continue past a few seasons.
09/27/09
This is a business and like many businesses the decisions are not made by one party or in a vacuum. Networks expect, nay demand, that a show makes a profit or at least covers its budget. the money to do that comes from advertising. Yep those commercial breaks are what pay for shows. Trouble is that to get the money advertisers want something back. and that is an expectation that enough folks are watching to make the cost effective for them. Paying $100k for 30 seconds on a show that gets perhaps 1000 viewers is not worth it compared to a show that gets 1 mil viewers (by best estimate). so networks will be looking to make a show that would attach lots and lots of viewers. cause if they promise 1 mil and only get 1k, they have to refund the money, the show is not paying for itself etc.
where the trouble comes in is the Nielsen system only counts like 20k folks in the country and makes a best guess. which is very likely flawed but neither the Nielsen company or the advertisers will consider this because by typical scientific standards their sample has been deemed sound. so all counts come from that sample (live, dvr etc). and the networks, many of which want to go back to the days of not making a decision until a show has had a solid 7-8 eps of the first 13 air (cause some shows are a slow but growing starter) can't because the money out is so high and the money in is so low. some like CBS are moved by fan love and put a show back for a second change but then the ratings still suck or even drop and what else can they do but cut it yet again. because the advertisers trust the ratings and aren't embracing things like online ads and the download numbers (itunes/amazon/etc) aren't enough to support shows or even pick up the slack.
so the short point. before you scream about ass raping, censorship etc know what's really going on on the other side of the door and remember that this is a business not an art. and maybe that tv executive you hate so much is the real one getting ass raped. by the pissed off advertisers that want their money back, by the producers and studio pissed cause their show was cancelled and a few dozen really nice folks are now out of jobs, and by the fans that believe this is personal and thus they have a right to get really nasty.
09/27/09
what's interesting is that at one point, not a lot of American tv was being licensed and folks were just stealing the feeds from the overnights to the affiliates. Those 'wild feeds' were the basis of the early limewire/torrent piracy of tv shows. in part cause they lacked all the badging the stations put on the shows and often were encoded and online hours before the show aired. so the networks allowed cheap licensing to encourage Canadian broadcasting in the hopes of cutting back on feed snatching. Which means more American shows airing, but unfortunately the fees are rarely enough to fill in the gaps in the budget for failing shows..
also sad is that the availability of American shows and the courting of runaway production has really crapped on local production so there are few truly Canadian shows and those that are are often years behind in technical quality cause the support just isn't there. the last 5 years or so have shown a turn around and I for one hope it continues. I want to see what my cousins up north can create.
09/27/09
09/27/09
09/27/09
09/27/09
Or am I disappointed because it's not actually any good after all, and an opportunity has been wasted.
Can someone clarify? I'd like to know where to direct my rage.
09/27/09
Of course at this rate, the first 4 may never get shown. Don't think this fits for ABC Family, NBC owns SyFy and USA, where else could they dump this?
09/27/09
My thought, FX or SPIKE. Yech. At this point they should be so lucky if a cable network picked this up to show in a complete series.
09/25/09
first they meet
09/25/09
@cadrina:
09/25/09
You know, the fact that I owned He-Man dolls and watched this cartoon show and was not turned gay pretty much shoots the whole idea that you can be "turned" gay to hell. If He-Man couldn't do it, I can't see what in the world would.
Then again, I do watch "Project Runway" with my wife, so maybe it had some kind of effect......
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09
@Arryma: Indeed. Check the Village people mustache on Man-at-Arms.
09/25/09
09/25/09
09/25/09