Todd Terwilliger
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2001
- Messages
- 1,745
My question is: post-Farscape, what is the SciFi Channel today?
Farscape is a flagship show for The Jim Henson Company. We are proud of its achievements over the past four years, which have included international critical recognition, three Saturn Awards, and a recent Emmy nomination. As always, your show of support is a true inspiration for our company and has been integral to our success.
Although SCI FI Channel has chosen not to pick up a fifth season, The Jim Henson Company is in active development on a new Farscape film, an anime project and is currently discussing syndication of this highly acclaimed series. We are eager to move forward with the Farscape creative team in developing new projects that will resonate with our overwhelmingly loyal fan base.
A million households tuning in on a basic cable channel at 10 o'clock on a Friday night is downright impressive.Especially if Tony Shaloub isn't involved.
So that may have been an issue here. They needed Farscape to help build their audience, but now that this seems to be coming together for them, the logical (for a network) thing would be to start paring away what they don't own, and which is costly, to replace it with their own stuff.That would make sense...if they actually were able to develop and promote their own shows. What do they have? SG-1 isn't owned by them. Taken is a miniseries. John Edwards is going into syndication. That leaves "The Dead Zone" (Which I think they messed up promoting by having it at 8:00 Fridays. It would work better with a proper lead-in.) and "The Outer Limits". Not exactly much to hang your hat on.
Funny, if they stuck with "The Invisible Man" and/or "The Chronicle", that might not have been a bad move. Too bad there is no real reason for me to watch anymore...
Jason
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to reach a broader audience, Farscape has been unable to grow beyond its core fan base.What gall. I never saw any evidence of them trying to broaden the Farscape audience; quite the reverse. For six months out of the year, I'd tell people how great Farscape was, and they were completely unable to see it, because Sci Fi was not even airing reruns, let alone new shows. How exactly does this broaden the audience? Farscape was always the red headed stepchild of the Sci Fi channel, and Sci Fi made no effort to conceal this. I'll bet most of the vast potential audience for Farscape probably think the show was cancelled a year or two ago, since it has been virtually invisible. Cancelling it now, when it is too late to rewrite season four, simply confirms Sci Fi's contempt for its fans.
Too bad there is no real reason for me to watch anymore...The fact is that, aside from its Friday night line-up, which it is in the process of blowing up, Sci-Fi is little more than TNN.
If a network owns the show they air, they can reap long-term profits from
syndication of the programBut what's this I'm hearing about SCI-FI owning all the rights to air the first 88 episodes? Doesn't that prevent it from being syndicated elsewhere? And they still get the advertising dollars from airing them again. Seeing as how they never ran reruns with any regularity anyway I don't see why they'd want to hold onto those rights, unless they're just moronic or vindicitive or both. I really liked the show, but honestly never got to watch it much mainly because I NEVER knew when the show came on.
So I'd also have to agree that I think they have a HUGE amount of gall to try and play this off like the show wasn't pulling in numbers that they were desperately trying to get. They NEVER did anything proper enough with this show to try and expand the audience. This network is just a slodge podge of crap aside from one or two shows (one now, if that). Look for them to start putting " TNN moron bars" on every show pretty soon, wouldn't surprise me in the least.
SCI FI NEGOTIATING?!?!
This just in from our mole at the Sci-Fi channel, thanks to BG2 for getting this to us.
My mole told me this.Scifi is negotiating. Construction workers on the set were told to stop dismantling the sets for nowA possible glimmer of hope here? Who knows? I'm certainly continuing to send 3 faxes and one letter to Sci-Fi each day all this week (and possibly next week).
If you love the show, keep e-mailing/faxing/calling/mailing Sci-Fi!