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In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Calum Tsang wrote:
> Dramatic or critical potential (which Firefly had lots of) has nothing to do
> with axeing the show or not.
>
> Science fiction is a dangerous gamble for any large network, especially in
> the last ten years. They primarily attract nerd/cult followings or people
> who might tune in if anything else wasn't on.
Not really. That's just the most visible/vocal audience. Males 18-25 are
the general audience, regardless of social status. Or at least that's how it
was in the Glory Days of the early 90's. In the mid-90's local
syndication-stations started to screw B5 by moving it without warning and
putting it in lousy timeslots (the local station eventually dumped it at 1am
Monday morning), and Paramount screwed Star Trek by, well, releasing Voyager.
> The former is not enough to build a business case for, the latter is
> transient especially when counter programmed against by another network.
> Coupled with a high cost per episode it makes complete sense to ditch if you
> haven't garnered sufficient numbers for a show.
Hence the reason Firefly ended up on Friday nights. Guaranteed low ratings
if you're just looking for an excuse.
> In fact, I'd wager there are more failed sci fi shows than successful ones.
> Star Trek is probably the only one in my mind.
B5 was successful in its day, and Stargate SG-1 is crushing Enterprise, and
neither of them had to resort to women in catsuits to get ratings. Earth: Final
Conflict had a decent run, and if they hadn't gone all weird in the last season
or two they could have gone even longer. Andromeda and Mutant X are still
around on Fox, though they tend to fall solidly under the "even bad sci-fi"
clause.
> The other shows languish in cable or syndication.
Shows don't "languish" in syndication. There's more money in syndication
if your show is good enough, which is why ST:TNG and ST:DS9 went straight to
syndication. ST:Voy did as well, but it didn't do well enough to stay, so
Paramount had to put it on UPN.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Drew Carey
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| (...) Dramatic or critical potential (which Firefly had lots of) has nothing to do with axeing the show or not. Science fiction is a dangerous gamble for any large network, especially in the last ten years. They primarily attract nerd/cult (...) (21 years ago, 22-Aug-03, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)
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