Farscape Canceled (1 Viewer)

[John C]

And, more bad news!! I guarantee everyone reading this that if sci-fi channel cancels Farscape it will eventually lead to the station either going out of business or being bought out by someone else when it isn't making money anymore.

 

[PhilipG]

I think the only thing that will make a difference now with SCI-FI is if a lot of American fans cancel their subscriptions and say why.

Let's just hope there's a better studio out there with money to spare...

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I think the only thing that will make a difference now with SCI-FI is if a lot of American fans cancel their subscriptions and say why.

Unfortunately, 90% of us can't cancel Sci-Fi without canceling dozens of other channels, some of which we might need.

 

[Daniel Kikin]

Based on what Ben Browder said in his interview with CNN Headline News yesterday, it might be a good idea to focus on getting the show on another network like UPN or Showtime since it sounds like Season 5 is not going to happen with SciFi.

 

[TheLongshot]

To be honest, at this point I don't want Farscape on Sci-Fi anymore. For me, it was the last straw. It just tells me that they are wasting my time and don't want to cater to me at all. Sad, since I'm such a big Sci-Fi fan, but they don't seem to have the ability to create anything decent on their own, and canning the only good stuff they have.

Jason

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Here is a must-read article that does NOT mention Farscape:
Are networks hurting themselves by canceling shows without closure?

 

[TheLongshot]

Chat transcript with David Kemper here:
http://www.farscapeworld.com/news/1032468972.shtml
Basically saying it is over for now, but to encourage people to watch the last 11 episodes in January and try to pump up the ratings.
It is about all we can do.
Jason

 

[PhilipG]

And all because of three Nielson boxes...
Surely the mission now is to find a handful of people with these boxes and persuade them to watch Farscape!

 

[Jacob Perry]

I liked Kempers line about "you wouldn't read a book with the last 100 pages ripped out."

God we are getting hosed. 0 closure.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Are networks hurting themselves by canceling shows without closure?

...

God we are getting hosed. 0 closure.

I suppose. Still, how is it a network's fault that producers apparently can't see the "final" in "finale"? Even if you do have an iron-clad order for more episodes, it still strikes me that leaving the end unresolved is playing with fire - the sets could be destroyed, a cast member could be injured or otherwise unavailable, new edicts could be passed down from the studio or network...

I've never liked cliffhangers, and I was as PO'ed as anyone when "Alien Nation" ended on one, but it strikes me that the fault for this lack of closure lies with the writers who won't treat the start and end of the season as the logical places to start and end a story, respectively.

 

[Tom Rhea]

Even if you do have an iron-clad order for more episodes, it still strikes me that leaving the end unresolved is playing with fire

Which is the way Farscape has been doing it since season 1. They filmed the last episode of Season 1 BEFORE any episode had ever aired on Sci Fi. It ends with Crichton and D'Argo floating in space (and D'Argo ain't got no suit on).

One of the things I love about Farscape is the fact that it takes chances. Given the popularity of the show, statements made by Sci Fi just a couple of months ago, and that contract I actually don't see how the risk was that great at all.

Everybody watch it whenever they can, especially the last 11 new episodes starting in January.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Still, how is it a network's fault that producers apparently can't see the "final" in "finale"? Even if you do have an iron-clad order for more episodes, it still strikes me that leaving the end unresolved is playing with fire

The closure fans are upset we might not get isn't the conclusion of the cliffhanger at the end of this season. Although frustrating, that's not what we will be the most upsetting. Fans have followed a DEVELOPING STORY (a serial) for 4 years, and they want closure of the SERIES (not just one season finale's cliffhanger).

David Kemper has always said he thought of FARSCAPE as kind of a novel. Each year is like a chapter in the novel. There is one overall story that has a beginning, a middle and a foreseen end that will be told over the course of X number of years. He's not just trying to tell random stories that never really take the characters anywhere (figuratively), he's making an epic tale. What, creators with excellent ideas like this should just give up on the concept of telling a great serialized story over a period of seasons? No one should ever try to make an epic show like Babylon 5 or FARSCAPE again?? No one should try to tell serials because it's too risky? Just do one stand-alone story after another that is ultimately forgettable? No thanks!

If Sci-Fi had told Kemper that the show wasn't going to come back before they finished season 4, they could have written an end FOR THE SERIES (not just avoided a cliffhanger). They were told (and fully expected) they would have a season 5, so Kemper wrote season 4 and planned for season 5 accordingly. How is this his fault? Playing with fire? Please!


On a different note:

How does one become a Nielson person/household? Is this randomly offered to people, or can you ask/apply to have your voice count?

People have been saying that the save FARSCAPE campaign should try to get the ratings up for the second half of season 4 by getting more people to watch. However, if the more people watching don't have Nielson boxes, what good will that do?! What would be helpful is to have fans themselves become Nielson members and have their viewing habits count. I assume it's either not possible to choose to become a Nielson member or difficult. But I don't really know to much about how it works. Can anyone who really knows explain?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I for one do not believe in the Neilson ratings. I don't believe they are statistically accurate, at least for small networks. The sample is SO small, and certain demographics of people are simply not interested in logging everything (which is manual except for the few Neilson households that also have a Tivo) that they watch.
'Regular' Neilson ratings are calculated electronically for 5,000 households (but you still have to do things manually like tell the box how many people are in the room at all times).
'Sweeps' ratings are calculated by 20,000 people writing in a diary.
Lots of people don't want to deal with fiddling with boxes and writing diaries.
Especially lots of people with high incomes and busy lifestyles...sounds a lot like the Farscape demographic.

 

[Jason Seaver]

What, creators with excellent ideas like this should just give up on the concept of telling a great serialized story over a period of seasons? No one should ever try to make an epic show like Babylon 5 or FARSCAPE again??

No - but they should recognize that there's a very good chance that they won't get to see it through to the end. That's the nature of the beast. Choosing television as your medium means not only that creation becomes a very collaborative process, but that your continued funding is determined by things over which you have no control.

And to be totally honest, if I were working in television, "don't write beyond your current order" would be one of my primary rules. Even if you've got an epic idea, structure the telling to take into consideration the risks inherent in the business.

 

[DwightK]

I got to be a Nielson dude towards the end of July, have a DirecTivo, and everything had to be entered manually. Course I coulda entered everything on the day I got the diary thing in the mail as everything I watched was Tivo'd. Tour de France everyday, Stargate SG1, Farscape, and Rally/Formula1 depending on the weekend.
The entire Nielson diary thing is written for a family that has a VCR but only uses it rarely. It is not even remotely set up for those who tivo everything and watch at their own convenience. It has not been updated in a while. They also want you to write down every single channel you get...thats rediculous.
I did get a phone call and was able to explain my issues (stated above) and the dude was very understanding. Got 5 bucks in the mail too I have no clue how the Nielson set top box thing works. Seems kinda invasive to me.

 

[TheLongshot]

And to be totally honest, if I were working in television, "don't write beyond your current order" would be one of my primary rules. Even if you've got an epic idea, structure the telling to take into consideration the risks inherent in the business.

The problem is, the creative team behind Farscape thought they would have another year, considering the show was the most successful show on Sci-Fi and had a loyal and devoted following. To be honest, this caught everyone by surprise, the creative staff as much as us.

The thing that is most irksome about this isn't just that Sci-Fi canceled the show, but it was the timing of it all. Right before they were shooting the last episode. No chance to wrap things up. JMS at least knew that Babylon 5 might not get a 5th season, so he wrapped things up enough so that if there wasn't a season 5, fans would be satisfied with what they had.

The problem you run into wrapping up loose ends at the ends of seasons, it could leave you in a tough situation of coming up with something new for the next season. Brisco County Jr might have faced that problem if it had made it to a second season, since the main plot thread was finished. The X-Files had that problem a couple of times. Babylon 5 had that problem in the first half of Season 5.

Michael's article is correct, we do want to see our shows finished off, and we want them done in the amount of time it takes. Not too soon, not too late. The problem is finding the right balance to get to the point, but not too fast so that you run out of ideas to keep the series going when it needs to. I actually think 5 seasons is a good length for a serial series. Any shorter, and it feels too soon, any longer, and it starts to drag and get old.

Jason

 

[PhilipG]

And to be totally honest, if I were working in television, "don't write beyond your current order" would be one of my primary rules. Even if you've got an epic idea, structure the telling to take into consideration the risks inherent in the business.

This just isn't possible with a show like Farscape. Whatever episode you choose to cut off on, it's ending on a cliffhanger, the basic fundamental cliffhanger of the series: John Crichton is lost in space. Not to mention the love arc between John and Aeryn.
How can you blame the writers, at least with how season four will end? For most of the season they've had the virtual promise of two new seasons. Then it was cancelled after production of season four was all but done. Was it hubris for the Farscape crew to think the show would go on? I think not. We cannot, and should not blame the writers. SFC is solely to blame.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Was it hubris for the Farscape crew to think the show would go on? I think not. We cannot, and should not blame the writers. SFC is solely to blame.

Hey, we can blame whomever we want.
"Farscape", I give you, had a better expectation of another season than most television shows - it's certainly not like "Now & Again" or "Alien Nation", which had cliffhangers at the end of their first season despite not exactly proving themselves in the ratings. That's real hubris.
But, still - what if Ben Browder gets hit by a bus? Or, to be less morbid, what if EM.TV(?), the German company that owns Henson Productions, goes bankrupt? Or, what if your US distributor finds its ratings remain flat while production costs go up and chooses to exercise and escape clause built into the contract that you all knew about?
Hey, I'd love it if writers could just write and not worry about all the little external things that could torpedo their show in spite of their best efforts (I'd love it even more if database developers who work for a dot-com didn't have to worry about sales by hour...). But that doesn't happen, and while I think Sci-Fi has never figured out how to have "Farscape" reach its potential, they aren't the only guys to blame for me "not having closure" - the guys who write the show and deliberately make each stopping point a tease for what comes next share some of the burden, too.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Just FYI, ADV is shopping around Farscape: The Animated Series. 26 25min episodes to foreign markets. No idea which Japanese studio is animating it, but I'll bet dollars to donuts everyone will be back to do their voices. Ms. Black has already done some anime roles for them

Thanks to animeondvd.com

 

[Sean Bryan]

"Farscape", I give you, had a better expectation of another season than most television shows...

Yeah, like the announcement from Sci-Fi that they ORDERED season 4 and season 5 (44 episodes) late last year (or was it early this year?) It was a pretty big announcement. I know for a fact of fans who became interested in the show and began watching the "back-episodes" (up through season 3) with plans on watching the new ones after they heard this announcement from Sci-Fi and knew they would be investing their time in a show that was guaranteed to have at least 2 more new seasons (5 seasons).

You're saying they shouldn't write beyond the ordered episodes. Ok, I can agree with that in a certain sense. But the reality is that they had the order for season 5! As I said, David Kemper knows how the story will end. He could have wrapped it up in four seasons, he could have wrapped it up in 6 seasons. He knew the end; exactly how they got there would depend on how much time he was given to tell the story. Depending on how many seasons he was given, he would condense or expand things. Maybe David Kemper was too trusting to think that Sci-Fi would show him and the fans some respect and give him advanced notice if they chose to "opt out" of the ordered 5th season. As i said, it WAS ordered. Opt out clause being in there or not, the expectation that Sci-Fi advertised to the fans (and contracted with the producers) was that there would be a 5th season.

If they "opted out" when DK had 4-6 episodes left to write in the 4th season, then they would have given him the opportunity he needed to wrap things up. They chose to put the rug out at the last minute, and that is what we a really pissed about.