Have you ever been so upset by?.... (1 Viewer)

[Michael Merrell]

True, and it was cost/revenue that killed Farscape, as well.

The difference is that Farscape was aired on a regular basis, and I believe that the SciFi channel genuinely wanted it to succeed. Firefly, on the other hand was either grossly mismanaged by Fox, or deliberately sabatoged. The pilot, the hook, was aired LAST, and they led off, instead, with a slower, character development episode. Hell, I wasn't too impressed with that episode when I saw it, and I wanted to like the show. Then Fox went on to pre-empt the show often enough that you weren't quite sure if it was going to be on or not.

Unfortunately, like someone else pointed out, Friday nights are a death slot, even when managed well. Even had Fox done things right, I don't know if they would have drawn enough viewers to make it to a second season.

Can you tell my wife and I have just started watching the Firefly DVDs?

We would have liked to see Dark Angel keep going, even though it seemed to have jumped the shark with the introduction of the mutant justice league. Cheese limit was exceeded.

--Mike

 

[Jason Seaver]

Except, of course, when it's not. ABC and WB have both had success there with comedies, Joan Of Arcadia is one of this season's breakout hits, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit became a hit there after foundering on Monday nights. The X-Files was fairly successful there and there must be some reason Sci-Fi and Showtime both use that night for their original sci-fi programming.

 

[todd s]

John Doe did well on Friday nights. I believe it won it's timeslot with the 18-30 age group. It just came down to that it was cheaper to produce the comedies that replaced it. Even if those comedies failed, which they did, it all comes down to $$$$

 

[Michael Merrell]

I'm sure that when looking at the cost:revenue ratio, an expensive show like Firefly had to be a much bigger success than a new sitcom or reality show in order to be a financial success. How expensive was the X-Files in the early seasons?

--Mike

 

[Jason Seaver]

The X-Files was always expensive - it's hard to remember how bad TV looked even ten years ago, and The X-Files stood out for its high, movie-like production values - but what it had going for it was rising ratings: It was holding viewers and attracting new ones every week, so the network could look at it as a good investment. Firefly, sadly, was shedding them, if not at quite such an alarming rate as, say, Harsh Realm.

 

[TheLongshot]

Except that Sci-Fi tried to counter program the networks. The bulk of the season would be shown over the summer, then we'd have to wait months until Dec/Jan to see the rest of the season. That's a lot tougher than waiting the month or so that the networks take in the winter. Late in the run(after they accuired SG-1), they wouldn't even give us reruns during the off times.

As much as Jeff Kleist wanted to rip the World Series for causing Firefly's demise, it only was preempted once, which was probably far fewer than a good piece of Fox's lineup.

Jason

 

[Evan Lee]

The show most deserving of a better ending was IMHO was Space: Above and Beyond. FOX humped the bunk letting that show go out the way it did. Fastlane would be my second choice. That show was always entertaining. Birds of Prey could have used a bit more time as it was starting to get interesting.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I think the problem regarding the Serenity/Train Job thing is that Fox simply misunderstood what they were getting. They seem to have wanted a upbeat, slightly camp show (like everyone always assumed of Buffy) and Joss Whedon instead delivered a somewhat straight space opera with an asshole captain heading up a conflicted cast, so when it came time to air something, they picked the episode that was heavy on comic relief and with Mal in particular acting like quite the goofball. Unfortunately, the consensus seems to be that Train Job is quite possibly the very worst episode of all the ones produced (personally, it's my second least favorite, after Heart of Gold, which never aired) and didn't get the series started with the best first impression.

Of course, I'm not sure that Firefly would have ever really picked up in ratings even if Serenity had aired first. It's a Joss Whedon show, and I don't think Joss makes shows that are "new viewer friendly". He makes shows that build one episode on top of the last and which make their biggest impact based on familiarity with the characters and settings.

 

[todd s]

Just bringing back one of my old threads. I was watching some of the shows that I loved and was bummed. So I figured I would allow some new (And old) members to vent if they feel the same.

 

[kraZi]

ya

 

[mylan]

One show we really enjoyed was "Now And Again" with Eric Close and Dennis Haysbert. It had a far fetched premise but, for a year, was highly entertaining.

 

[Marty M]

I still miss American Dreams and Freaks and Geeks. Freaks and Geeks definitely deserved more episodes than NBC gave them.

 

[Roger_S]

I actually enjoyed Lois & Clark in the 4th season when they were married. It was nice to see a super-hero who was married for a change. The thing that bugged me was that, after the 3rd season, Lois & Clark was given a 2-year renewal. But the ratings were so bad in the 4th season that they weasled out of a guaranteed 5th season. I might not mind so much if it had been just a 1-year renewal and then it ended but I felt betrayed a bit by ABC. The worst part is they had a bit of a cliffhanger which was obviously never brought to a conclusion.

 

[Brian Little]

I would most certainly say when Fox axed "Millennium." Even with how aweful the third season was it was my favorite show at the time (and still is today). Sadly that crossover on "The X-Files" made the whole third season look great in comparison... alarmingly true.

I've been watching the "Firefly" boxset starting this week and near the end of disc 3 right now. I'm really LOVING this show. I'm especially loving the Kaylee character. Reminds me oddly of how geeky Willow (on Buffy) was during the earlier seasons at times. I can't wait to watch the rest of the episodes along with the movie. Great stuff.

 

[Rakesh.S]

Todd i think we have gone back and forth on veritas and miracles...those cancellations were a downer for me.

I've been burned on --

Fox:
Tru Calling (had an awesome arc in season 2 and they killed it)

Point Pleasant (i enjoyed the show, although it wasn't really clear as to where it was headed)

Firefly (i didn't watch a whole lot of tv back when it aired, so I wound up watching it on DVD and i'm almost glad i missed the tv run, the way fox botched it).

Reunion (would it have killed them to do 7 more episodes and wrap the thing up for a dvd release or just air them...geez)

most recently..Vanished (fox told the producers to wrap it up after 13 eps and they left a ton of unanswered questions..annoying to say the least)

ABC:

Veritas (very disappointed after watching the unaired eps..ton of potential, good cast, good chemistry)

Miracles (awesome cast...skeet ulrich pre-Jericho in a great performance, great story arc, very dark show)

and most recently, Day Break (supposed to "conclude" after 13 eps, but from what i've heard, we only get to see hopper fix his situation and won't be told why he keeps repeating the day...no sign of the unaired episodes on the abc.com website as we were promised LAST thursday. They supposedly haven't cleared music rights for the latest episode, which is unacceptable. It's basically an F u to the viewer)

I won't be watching any new shows during fall '07, until I know for sure that it will get a full season and the ratings look good enough for a second. Enough is enough.

 

[Chris]

Ones that hit me:

Firefly - I admit, this is a cheat since I didn't see it until it hit DVD. But damn did this show need a few more seasons.

Profit - one of the coolest, darkest shows ever to air. I loved it. Still love it. The DVD box with a few unaired eps is really good. This was a show that I don't think could have lasted more then a season or two, but I loved it while it was on.

Arrested Development - I am sad to see this go :frowning: It begged to be picked up somewhere else, but apparently HBO would rather run the "blah" garbage it threw out this last summer (Dane Cook Tourgasm?) Then take a chance of some really brilliant TV. This show was top-flight TV from episode 1 on.

The Tick - both live action and cartoon. I felt they killed the cartoon too soon, and the live action version never got a real chance - though, to be honest, this is a show that needed to be a primetime cartoon.

Futurama - This is a great show. I think a lot of people missed out by not giving this gem a shot. Glad to see some new episodes are still in the offing.

Quantum Leap - Damn, I loved this show. Still miss it and hope for at least some sign of a comeback.

 

[JonZ]

Deadwood - I love the characters and the show should have gone another 3 or 4 seasons. This one really breaks my heart.

Millennium

Futurama

 

[GuruAskew]

Showtime offered to order more episodes under the condition that series creator Mitchell Hurwitz would be involved and he didn't want to continue the show.

 

[todd s]

I think what bums me more. Is that each year that goes by...the less chance the show would come back. Not that they ever would...but, I always hope.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Arrested had a pretty great finale. Few shows have a real conclusion like that one did.

I still miss "Joan of Arcadia", "Everwood", and "Firefly"