Cancellation rant... by GweiLo

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Cancellation rant...

POSTED BY: GWEILO
UPDATED: Sunday, February 15, 2004 05:52
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VIEWED: 2744
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Sunday, February 1, 2004 5:27 PM

Damn it! I hate watching shows that have been cancelled. You start to care about the characters and end up not knowing what happened to them. It’s the ultimate cliff-hanger. (Which btw I think is a really shitty way to end a season. They leave you by the edge of your seat, desperate to know what happens next - and by the time the new season start up you don’t even remember what made you so upset in the first place… but I ramble.)

Being a huge Whedon fan and an even greater sci-fi fan I had to make an exception for Firefly.

For the first couple of episodes I was actually quite relieved. I didn’t like it.
I’m bored with westerns, wasn’t entirely convinced by the casting and thought that Whedon had gotten delusions of grandeur after the success of “Once more with feeling”. What was with that whiney riding-into-a-sleepy-tumbleweed-town-to-find-me-a-woman music? Sheesh!

Then something happened. Episode 5, stand off with bad guys scene.

Bad guy: .. and I think maybe you’re gonna give me a little one on one time with the missus.
Jayne: Oh, I think you may wanna reconsider that last part. See, I married me a powerful ugly creature.
Mal: How can you say that? How can you shame me in front of new people?
Jayne: If I could make you prettier I would.
Mal: You are not the man I met a year ago.

Damn it! There was that Whedon banter I knew and loved. I was hooked.
Now what? The show’s been cancelled and any hope of getting to know the characters better on a weekly basis is gone. The narrow mindedness of TV executives never seize to amaze and bewilder me.

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Sunday, February 1, 2004 6:54 PM

GUNRUNNER

As long as they get a paycheck I don't think they care. With all the cash they get they probably got satellite TV with all the bells and whistles with fifty billion chanels.

I wonder if they even watch their own networks anymore?

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Sunday, February 1, 2004 7:14 PM

GWEILO

I just can’t understand how they could shell out so much money on the show for casting, character development, set design, set construction, costumes, special effects etc. and then kill the show before it hardly even got off the ground. Once they had that initial cost for the production over with… how much of a difference would an additional 10 episodes have made?

Makes no kind of sense to a lay(wo)man like myself. Seems to me that if they’d stuck it out a little longer - the chance of getting a decent return on their investment would have been much larger. ~shrug~

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Sunday, February 1, 2004 9:06 PM

SEVENPERCENT

Quote:
Originally posted by GweiLo:

Makes no kind of sense to a lay(wo)man like myself. Seems to me that if they’d stuck it out a little longer - the chance of getting a decent return on their investment would have been much larger. ~shrug~

Makes no kind of sense to the rest of us, either- If FOX made sense, (beyond their ignorant cancellation of FF) there wouldn't be half the posts there are on this site- None of us can figure it out, gorram it, so therefore neither should you be able to (not that you arent intelligent, but I dont think any true FF fan understands the great corporate machine that is the FOX network) - I myself like to think that they are on acid, except that I know a few folks that do acid and even they dont make decisions as fucked up as FOX makes-
And on the bright side, GweiLo, this gets my weekly Fox rant out ahead of schedule-

------------------------------------------
He looked bigger when I couldn't see him.

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Sunday, February 1, 2004 9:26 PM

REDJACK

I think you guys might be looking at it the wrong way.

FIREFLY was as close to "real" science fiction as any network tv show has ever come, bar none. That alone should have told everyone concerned that it wasn't going to last. It was a quixotic endeavour at best even if you don't throw in the avant garde use of camera and the quirky Whedon sensibility.

Its audience was guaranteed to be limited from the beginning. Frankly I'm surprised that FOX let the show on in any incarnation and that it lasted as long as it did.

(SCIFI Channel cancelled FARSCAPE for God's sake. What was that about?)

Execs have a massively different game plan when it comes to making tv than any writer/producer.

All Joss and Co. seem to be interested in is making quality fiction.

The network that brought you JOE MILLIONAIRE and TEMPTATION ISLAND has other goals in mind.

Let's hope the movie actually happens.

The Price of Knowledge is Knowing.
Audrid Dax

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Monday, February 2, 2004 3:24 AM

STEVE580

Quote:
...and thought that Whedon had gotten delusions of grandeur after the success of “Once more with feeling”.

On a side note - that was the best hour of television ever. So if it resulted in a feeling of grandeur by Whedon, it was no delusion.

Anyways...
-Steve

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Monday, February 2, 2004 3:41 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

We are all right there w/ you Gweilo. None of us can figure out why Fox did what they did w/ the show. None of us know why they screwed w/ the pilot, or aired the episodes out of order. None of us can figure out how Fox execs figured they knew better than Joss how to handle Firefly.

SevenPercent is right in that this site would have a lot fewer posts if we could figure out what the chimps at Fox were thinking. Not a Friday night goes by that I don't sit and wonder how such a great show could have had such a short life.

For now though, we hold our breath and wait. For now we keep our fingers crossed for the movie. All of us want to get to know the characters better, and the movie will help us do that.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Monday, February 2, 2004 4:57 AM

GWEILO

Glad I could be of assistance SevenPercent. I only saw the show last week so this was my very first FF rant.

RedJack: Afraid I’m gonna have to disagree about the cancellation of Farscape. As much as I looOOooved the first couple of seasons (great looking show, wonderful characters, funny as hell, good story) I thought that the last season and a half was utter rubbish. I only pained my way though it because I loved the show so much in the beginning.
(Without having examined it further I’m guessing that the writing team changed from the beginning to the end. Either that or they simply ran out of ideas. The result inevitable was a very dull last season which made me whish for a decent end to it all.)

Browncoat1: We’re all keeping our fingers crossed for the movie. Even though I’m sure we all think that the show was feature movie quality in itself and would have rather seen the show go on as it was… it’s something to cling on to, isn’t it? One and a half hours… possibly two more hours of FF fun is better than nothing.
If nothing else it’s an opportunity for the cast to showcase themselves to a (hopefully) bigger audience. I would truly hate it to see this team of actors to slip back into obscurity. True, it won’t be the same thing to see them in other roles… but again, it’s better than nothing.

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Monday, February 2, 2004 6:42 AM

STATIC

You know. . .it really tickles me to watch "War Stories" with Nathan and Alan providing commentary, because most audio commentary is the directors, writers or producers 'interpreting their artistic vision' for the rest of us (surprisingly, Joss and Tim DON'T bore us with their own), but rather Alan and Nathan 'cutting up' and joking around. It's funny to hear them talk about the intimate scene with Inara and her very beautiful female client "This scene had to be re-shot. . .a couple of times, I recall. So did Inara's sponge bath scene." But then Nathan chimes in with, "Interestingly enough. . .JAYNE'S sponge bath scene was cut."

What really amuses me is how SEVERAL times during their commentary, one of them asks, "Why was this show cancelled again?" And later, when Nathan comments that FOX doesn't like to "Fade To Black", Alan replies, "Well. . .why would they want a black screen when they can fill that space with some reality-based game show?"

To paraphrase something someone else said in another thread. . .

Early: You ever been raped, Kaylee?
Kaylee: Funny you should ask. Ever hear of the FOX network?

==================================================
"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."

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Monday, February 2, 2004 6:50 AM

GWEILO

Aaaaargh! I have to get me that DVD compilation as soon as it's released in it's region 2 version. I LIVE for behind the scenes stuff like that! :-D

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Monday, February 2, 2004 7:24 AM

ARAWAEN

I can understand cancelling a show if you are losing money on it, may not like it (cause everything I like tends to fall into a fine minority niche).

What I cannot understand is why networks seem to spend so much time trying to win over the same audience. David Greenwalt's show Jake 2.0 is placed opposite his other show Angel. Now I only saw 2 episodes of Jake (mixed reviews too) but why would people who like Greenwalt's vision give up an established show for a possibile one? On a different night I would have watched it (as Tuesday is now the only night I watch). I would even watch Enterprise if it wasn't concurrent with Smallville.

Note: I cannot tape because I have satellite and whatever receiver is set to is it. (If anybody knows a way around this let me know).

Last night I didn't watch the Superbowl for my 33rd year in a row (though the first years I was a little young), but every other channel showed repeats or 'female' oriented programming (Two if by Sea, Knotting Hill, etc.). So apparantly the networks think that if you are a guy and don't like the Superbowl you are not worth advertising too or something.

What I am trying to get at is that the networks seem to try to compete for the same viewers and are willing to sacrifice good ratings for a show by dividing them up amongst the different networks rather than targetting the ignored groups.

Also bugs me how some shows get moved all over in an attempt to save them but others get one shot and are killed. Why not try Firefly on Tuesdays a time slot known to be successful with Whedon shows (though I guess Buffy was still on then).

Arawaen

P.S. Oh, and FOX...

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Saturday, February 14, 2004 4:58 PM

ECMORGAN69

Don't even get me started about cancelled shows.

Every time I start getting into a TV show that's new, interesting, and unique, it gets cancelled. I mean, it's amazing. I'm starting to think my wife and I are some kind of evil whammy for new shows. Examples include "Firefly", "Fastlane", "Jake 2.0", "Harsh Realm", "Strange Luck", "The Twilight Zone" (the new one), "Seven Days" (although that show lasted longer than one season), etc., etc., etc...

What really

galls me about it is that shows like "Survivor", "The Simple Life", "Fear Factor", that stoooopid modeling show with Tyra Banks on UPN, "The Real World", and any other reality show not only stay on the air but thrive. It truly is a sign of the dumbing down of the USA when ratings for these shows are so high. I'd rather watch Lifetime...

Oh yeah, to Fox and those Reality show dicks,

They can have my "Firefly" DVDs when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers....

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Saturday, February 14, 2004 5:18 PM

VETERAN

Don't squat with your spurs on.

This sort of thing always seems to happen to me. I was starting to get into "Peacemakers" on USA. It didn't last a full season either.

Maybe I should start watching reality program, it might ensure it doesn't last too much longer.

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Sunday, February 15, 2004 5:52 AM

ECMORGAN69

Quote:
Originally posted by Veteran:
This sort of thing always seems to happen to me. I was starting to get into "Peacemakers" on USA. It didn't last a full season either.

Maybe I should start watching reality program, it might ensure it doesn't last too much longer.

I said the same thing to the missus. I figure if we each watch reality shows every night for about eight to ten weeks, we could get all of them off the air

Unfortunately, we'd be drooling hockey-helmet-wearing window-lickers by the end of the eight to ten weeks from the loss of too many brain cells

They can have my "Firefly" DVDs when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers....

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