No competition for Firefly except for SCIFI Prime by Haken

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

No competition for Firefly except for SCIFI Prime

POSTED BY: HAKEN
UPDATED: Friday, August 16, 2002 09:31
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VIEWED: 4791
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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 12:19 AM

Likes to mess with stuffs.

Well, I just looked over the FALL schedule and Firefly doesn't seem to have any competition from the other networks.

This is what the others are offering during the same timeslot:

ABC: America's Funniest Home Videos
CBS: 48 Hours
NBC: Providence
UPN: Some Movie
WB: What I Like About You/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

The strongest competition will likely come from SciFi Network's SciFi Prime lineup, which consists of Dead Zone, Stargate SG-1, and Farscape. However, since SciFi broadcasts encore presentation of SG-1 and Fascape, it's really a non-issue.

Besides, there's always the good ole VCR.

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 10:41 AM

INARASNEWTOY

I'm not sure about SG1 but Farscape goes into hiatus at the end of this month so it won't be competing with Firefly.

The only time they might overlap is in January when Sci-Fi plans to show 4 episodes of Farscape, and POSSIBLY in March when they sometimes show a few episodes.

This is a VERY good thing for this Farscape fan! *whew*

Anybody know what Sci-Fi is doing with SG1?

INT

One evil at a time, that's the best i can do - Farscape

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 10:46 AM

ZICSOFT

Well, so much for the "time slot of doom" theory.

Interesting note in a local TV reviewer's column. He was listing shows that seemed to have a lot going for them but (in his opinion) were probably in trouble even before the season started. Firefly was on the list because genre fans probably wouldn't watch anything without "phasers and aliens."

The answer to that is: so what? There are genre fans (like me) who are pretty bored with P&A stories. And there are a lot more people who don't watch SF shows mainly because of the P&A associations.

I'm basically a cynical, pessimistic person, especially when it comes to things TV. But I'm getting entrenched in the theory that Firefly is destined to be a resounding success. Too many things are going right. The one thing left that can strike a fatal blow: some network suit grabs control of the show and decrees that Firefly must be retooled as a cop show. (Not as absurd as it sounds. Lots of network people honestly think that any show could be improved by turning it into a copy show. I'm not exagerating!) Baring that contingency, we looking to have more fun than we've had in a long time.

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 11:15 AM

MOJOECA

Quote:
Originally posted by Zicsoft:
The one thing left that can strike a fatal blow: some network suit grabs control of the show and decrees that Firefly must be retooled as a cop show. (Not as absurd as it sounds. Lots of network people honestly think that any show could be improved by turning it into a copy show. I'm not exagerating!)

Network execs are scary mofos. BAYWATCH was a "cop show" when it first premiered on NBC. Lifeguards solving murder cases ... dear Lord.

--- Joe

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 11:16 AM

TINYTIMM

It looks like no competition at all.

The Dead Zone on SF is a repeat. When FF is over you switch to SG-1. When SG-1 is over you switch to the news.

Farscape has jumped the shark and is now just another fetish and sadism perversion show on SciFi.

SG-1 seems to be getting the SciFi F&S treatment as well.

All that is left for me on SciFi is the occassional movies and SG-1. So much for that.

Jeff Timm
Who gave up on Farscape last year, tried again this year, and realized they don't even make the effort to hire decent sound editors.

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 11:31 AM

ZICSOFT

Quote:
Originally posted by TinyTimm:

Farscape has jumped the shark and is now just another fetish and sadism perversion show on SciFi.

Well, I have to admit that Farscape isn't as interesting as it used to be. But I'm not sure they're any weirder than they used to be. (Remember the episode where everybody swapped bodies? Bet the transgendered crowd loved that one!) And you're going to have to explain what "jumped the shark" means!

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 1:39 PM

SHUGGIE

Quote:
And you're going to have to explain what "jumped the shark" means!

Refers to an infamous episode of Happy Days where Fonzie does an Evil Knievel type motorbike jump over a tank with a live shark in it. (yes really!)

So the phrase 'jump the shark' came to mean - the point at which a show in a desperate attempt to restore flagging ratings attempts some outlandish stunt or plotline. Bobby appearing from the shower in Dallas was a jump the shark moment.

Actually now people talk about 'jumping the shark' to simply mean the point at which a show is past it's best, definitively in decline. There doesn't seem to need to be the great defining moment of degradation and self-mockery.

There's even a website www.jumptheshark.com where you can vote for the point where your favourite shows 'jumped the shark'.

Shug

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 4:15 PM

JORGASNAROVA

Well, the Sci Fi Prime shows, as they are Cable programs rather than regular Network programs, can survive with smaller ratings because Cable appeals to a smaller, paying audience.

Farscape does quite nicely with a 1.2 rating; Star Trek Voyager at the peak of its popularity on UPN averaged between 4 and 5 if memory serves.
Firefly will need to do at least that well to justify its expense.

Farscape's third season had consistently its best writing, direction, and acting to date. Whilst I would agree that season four has yet to impress, one must remember it is riding on the heels of the incredible year three. I do not think the program has "jumped the shark" as yet.

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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 5:50 PM

MOJOECA

Quote:
Originally posted by Jorgasnarova:
Star Trek Voyager at the peak of its popularity on UPN averaged between 4 and 5 if memory serves. Firefly will need to do at least that well to justify its expense.

It'll have to do better than that. DA got yanked with that average. And FIREFLY is more expensive.

Quote:
Whilst I would agree that season four has yet to impress, one must remember it is riding on the heels of the incredible year three. I do not think the program has "jumped the shark" as yet.

The arc eps are what I live for, so I'm taking the "wait and see" approach, too. I was never too impressed with the majority of 'SCAPE's stand-alones in previous years, so this current stretch is nothing new. Impatience is creeping, though. We're 8 eps in and nothing's happened.

So far, I've enjoyed "Crichton Kicks," "Promises," "John Quixote" and "I Shrink." So they're 50/50.

--- Joe

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Wednesday, August 14, 2002 7:53 AM

INARASNEWTOY

Quote:
Originally posted by TinyTimm:

Farscape has jumped the shark and is now just another fetish and sadism perversion show on SciFi.

Jumping the Shark has Jumped the Shark.

Farscape IS, WAS, and always WILL BE the best science fiction show on TV.

Long after all challengers have rotted away and their bones bleached to dust in the wasteland of TV Farscape will STILL be the greatest show on TV.

Now bring forth your reasons for stating Farscape is anything less then perfection. And i will explain why you are wrong!

And yes i am a drooling Farscape fanboy thanks for noticing!

INT

One evil at a time, that's the best i can do - Farscape

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Wednesday, August 14, 2002 8:00 AM

INARASNEWTOY

Quote:
Originally posted by mojoeca:
The arc eps are what I live for, so I'm taking the "wait and see" approach, too. I was never too impressed with the majority of 'SCAPE's stand-alones in previous years, so this current stretch is nothing new. Impatience is creeping, though. We're 8 eps in and nothing's happened.

So far, I've enjoyed "Crichton Kicks," "Promises," "John Quixote" and "I Shrink." So they're 50/50.

--- Joe

Ummmm....

Scorpy suddenly being nice, what happened to Aeryn, why does she know Tortured Space so well, why did Pilot and Moya lose their memory of what happened in the Wormhole, how will Chiana get rid of the Energy Rider visions that are stealing her sight, why is Nateri trying to turn John into a drug addict, will Mele-on chase Moya into TS and will the Scarrins chase after THEM?

And that's only a start!

I think enough is happening!

Look, i can agree that this year is VERY different then last year but then so was season two and for that matter so was season one.

I like that! I love shows that take a chance and put it all on the line. I hope Firefly does the same thing.

INT

One evil at a time, that's the best i can do - Farscape

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Wednesday, August 14, 2002 1:36 PM

JORGASNAROVA

The fact that DARK ANGEL was consistently behind schedule and over-budget for most of its life may help explain why the suits at FOX were so nervous about its less-than-stellar ratings. They were loosing their shirts, so to speak.

One thing that really annoyed me about DARK ANGEL--and left me wondering if the show was run by a bunch of wastrels--was how consistently poor most of the makeup was...here they were, spending, what, 1.9 million per episode, and most of the "animal people" makeups were just plain dreadful. Remember the episode with Alec and the panther woman in the sewers? The costume and makeup were so bad I thought it was a story point. Hey, look at the lady in the cheesy cat costume. No, it's a cat transgenic. And the Doctor Who theme, circa 1970, sounds in the background. Yeesh. And all these for 1.9 million.

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Wednesday, August 14, 2002 2:17 PM

MOJOECA

Quote:
Originally posted by InarasNewToy:
Scorpy suddenly being nice, what happened to Aeryn, why does she know Tortured Space so well, why did Pilot and Moya lose their memory of what happened in the Wormhole, how will Chiana get rid of the Energy Rider visions that are stealing her sight, why is Nateri trying to turn John into a drug addict, will Mele-on chase Moya into TS and will the Scarrins chase after THEM?

And that's only a start!

I think enough is happening!

Yeah, that's the setup. I'm waiting for the payoff. And we only have 2 more weeks before the show goes on another mega-hiatus.

--- Joe

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Thursday, August 15, 2002 4:16 AM

INARASNEWTOY

Quote:
Originally posted by mojoeca:
Yeah, that's the setup. I'm waiting for the payoff. And we only have 2 more weeks before the show goes on another mega-hiatus.

--- Joe

Have you been watching Farscape long? If you have you should know when the payoff happens it happens BIG!

If it helps David Kemper wrote about episode 11, the one just before the big break. He says that there is a BIG ending to that episode. He also wrote that scene is where the whole 4th season became locked in place.

(Think Crackers Don't Matter from season two and Eat Me from season three. The episode that sets events in motion that come crashing down on Our Team's head during the finale!)

INT

One evil at a time, that's the best i can do - Farscape

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Thursday, August 15, 2002 8:31 AM

NOVAGRASS

So, explain to me what this "mega hiatus" is. When will new episodes start back up? Will they just repeatedly show the reruns of the past eleven episodes on repeat? Or will they replace Farscape with a completely different show? I may be a bit confused.

--Dylan Palmer, aka NoVaGrAsS--

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Thursday, August 15, 2002 9:32 AM

ZICSOFT

Quote:
Originally posted by Novagrass:
So, explain to me what this "mega hiatus" is. When will new episodes start back up? Will they just repeatedly show the reruns of the past eleven episodes on repeat? Or will they replace Farscape with a completely different show? I may be a bit confused.

SciFi usually puts its top shows on hiatus or reruns in the fall -- I guess they don't want to compete head-to-head with the big guys. What makes this irritating is that they never finish the season -- they hold back a few eps so that they can "come back with a bang". Which certainly doesn't work well with Farscape, because it means breaking off in mid-arc. Very confusing.

(Don't remember what they filled the time slots with. Mostly movies I think.)

As if that weren't bad enough, they didn't restart all their shows last January, the way they have in the past. Lexx, if memory serves, came back in late Feb, and I missed a couple eps because I didn't know it was on. (Fortunately, I didn't miss any big plot resolutions -- Lexx never resolves stuff anyway.) Farscape came back in April -- eight months after they went on hiatus. Then, after they'd shown the four eps they'd held back, they went on hiatus again for another month.

I remember some of the TV reviewers thought that the season premiere was full of weird mind games, because the plot seemed so inexplicable. The real problem was that it'd been nearly a year since the first eps leading up to it had been shown!

What makes this really weird is that SciFi has a lot invested in Farscape, having paid the producers for two full seasons in advance. Yet they keep doing stupid stuff (stupid even by TV industry standards!) that's bound to chase away audience. Possibly, SciFi has been the victim of shakeups at its parent company, USA Networks, which recently sold off all its cable TV holding and renamed itself USA Interactive. Hopefully the new owners will do better.

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Friday, August 16, 2002 9:10 AM

INARASNEWTOY

Pretty much what Zic said although the April episodes were the four part season three finale then they took a break during May sweeps and came back in June for the season 4 priemere.

What stinks is this year started late so we will only be at episode 11.

The good news is that Sci-Fi is making noises that 4 episodes will be shown in January like normal, so hiatus won't be as brutal this year.

I think old episodes of Stargate SG1 are on tap for the fall plus a cheap-o reality sci-fi show (like that mess Johnathan Frakes does now) in place of the usual Sci-Fi Fridays.

INT

One evil at a time, that's the best i can do - Farscape

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Friday, August 16, 2002 9:31 AM

HAPLO721

Beyond Belief used to be good. Then they just started making it to where the fake stories were just too easy to pick out. This last one had a story where a con man gets bitten by a vampire-- a VAMPIRE, for crying out loud. They tried to make it ambiguous as to whether it was for real or if he was faking it to cop an insanity plea, but still... a VAMPIRE! Then there was one where a guy's on a business trip and his dad is biking with 2 friends. The dad decides to take the scenic route, adding hours to his trip, while the others go to a bar. The son gets a feeling that something is wrong with his dad... and tells his wife to book him a flight out to Aspen, where his dad is. Then he appears in the bar to one of the friends, tells him his dad is in trouble, and to organize a search and rescue team. The friend looks away for one second to tell the bartender to get him the phone, and when he looks back, the son is gone. Turns out later he couldn't get a flight booked. Oooh, freaky. And it might have been believable, except that the son could have just CALLED!

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