With Farscape cancelled, I wonder if the remaining episodes will be released to DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Kleist]

AH! Now it all makes sense

The German company that bought Henson is having severe financial problems, so much that they are considering offloading Henson (Columbia and Disney are frontrunners) and that would explain much

 

[Chad Ferguson]

So people like Columbia and Disney could pick up the company and perhaps even the show? This is sad sad news. What's next? Sopranos?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Chad, I'd say that it's possible that they could consider a Farscape TV movie quite lucrative

However, they Farscape crew IS saying that SciFi declined on it, which says to me that they may have inflated the per-ep price past what SF was willing to pay. Who knows

All my Henson contacts are currently making the new Muppet Christmas special, so I won't have an answer for awhile

 

[Michael St. Clair]

It should occur to the people with their hands 'in the pie' that the Farscape cable/syndication package (and internation rights to boot) has more value if current and potential fans know that the series has a payoff at the end.
It will be pure insanity of AT LEAST a TV movie is not made to wrap up the series.
I have heard that the germans tried to sell the show outright to Sci-Fi to do with as they please, but that the price was too high.
As it stands right now, Sci-Fi/USA already owns exclusive US broadcast rights to the 88 episodes that are in the can for at least the next few years. For somebody OTHER than Sci-Fi to help fund another season or a TV movie may not be likely because whoever funds it would want some piece of the 88 episodes also.

 

[Andy_Bu]

Besides, the Trek campaign didn't "save TV science fiction" All it saved was Star Trek - and then only for an extra half season. Trek has been a barrier to other SF shows, not a help.

I respectively disagree.

With out the wonderful people who helped the campain in the 70's, Star Trek would have never made it into syndication.

If Star Trek never made it into syndication, there would have been no successful sci fi franchise for networks to point to and say "we should try that".

Too many people confuse the affects of Star Wars in the movies, with its affects on TV. Star Wars affects on TV began and ended with Battlestar Galactica.

Had Star Trek not been pushed into syndication by the cult following, there is no way to predict what sci fi would be like on tv, but I dare say Babylon 5, and Farscape would never had made it to the small screen.

Star Trek cut the path for sci fi on tv. With out its ability to prove that sci fi could be profitable on TV, the likelyhood of networks taking a chance on a niche that never showed any profit would have been slim to none IMO.

Andy

 

[Ric Easton]

Actually Andy

The original Star Trek ran in the 60's (1966-1969) So that's when the fans saved it. I would agree (at least in spirit) to everything else you said and the meaning behind it.

I still think it's possible for fans to save a show. Didn't the Fans of Roswell do this after its first season?

Oh and Joseph,

While I'm correcting folks, Star Trek had 3 full seasons. And I think the fans letter writing campaigns were after both seasons one and two.


Um... but don't quote me!

Ric

 

[John Harrison]

Sci-Fi had nothing to do with this. The German holding company that owns Jim Henson Television decided not to finance any more episodes. How many of you can write in German? Why should they care what happens to televised SF in the U.S.?

Not according to this link
UPDATE!!!
Things continue to change rapidly in this campaign. We have new, extremely important information this afternoon.
According to Barbarella, the operator of Sci-Fi #Farscape, SCI-FI is the reason behind this. They wanted to lower the price for season 5 but EM.TV refused. SCI-FI then decided to DROP FARSCAPE. Okay, 'Scapers we need to let SCI-FI know just how much they stand to loose if they refuse to bring Farscape back. This is a money issue so hit them where this will hurt the most. Call SCI-FI, send telegrams, send emails, write letters. Remember the last day of filming for season 4 is Tuesday and the sets are scheduled to be struck on FRIDAY. Don't let them take a chainsaw to Moya! In the Networks Information page you'll find a link to more information on Sci-Fi there you will see THEIR OWN press releases where they talk about how important Farscape is to them. You'll also find demographic information for Farscape viewers. In your correspondence with them, give them your demographics. Exp - Female, age 27, single, etc.
KEY SCI-FI CONTACT
Michael Jackson
Chairman of the Universal Television Group
The SciFi Channel
1230 Avenue of the Americas, F115
New York, NY 10020-1513
Phone # 212-413-5000
extensions = the first five letters/numbers of the last name.
Tom Vitale
Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, Scheduling, and Program Planning at SciFi.
If you call the main number and use the option to key in the first five letters of his last name for his extension.
212-413-5000
Also * then 0 gives you a list of office extensions.
TVonTV@

 

[Andy_Bu]

.

 

[Ric Easton]

It ain't over til it's over!

 

[Bill_Moore]

This news has had me bummed all weekend. I'm sending letters, but I don't think the campaign will ultimately be successful. Doesn't mean I won't try though. It would be nice if there could be at least one, perhaps two TV movies that could wrap things up.

 

[Daniel Kikin]

I posted this quote from Friday's chat in the TV section but I'll put it here too since it's regarding the DVDs:

(DK) I will tell you something interesting--
(FrooniumRicky) Buy the dvds.
(DK) The last half of season 4
(Barbarella) I think most in here have the DVD's
(DK) has tons of material that we have
(Ben Browder) RICKY!
(DK) shot that won't make it on the air.
(FrooniumRicky) BEN!
(DK) Way to many scenes.
(DK) Gonna be a DVD fest, folks.

I'm still really bummed about the cancellation though. I'd rather see the material in Season 5 and then in the DVDs, the way they're supposed to be.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I stand corrected with regard to the German holding company.

However, I must respectfully point out that Andy does not have his facts straight WRT to Star Trek


Quote:



Without the wonderful people who helped the campain in the 70's, Star Trek would have never made it into syndication.






Trek went into syndication immediately after the network dropped it, because Paramount sold it into syndication. The fans had nothing to do with it. You are confusing cause and effect here. It was as a result of the show's going into syndication that it found the audience that it hadn't found on network television. Most of those "wonderful people" had never seen Trek until it showed up on syndication. I was one of those "wonderful people" myself (although, as it happens, I did watch the series when it was on NBC.) I was there and I know what I'm talking about.

There were virutually no spaced-based SF shows on American television between 1969 and 1977, the very years Trek was breaking records in syndication and turning into a gold-mine for Paramount. No non-Trek show between 1969 and 1987 ever made it beyond its third season. The networks were not falling all over each other to replicate Trek. As far as they were concerned Trek was a unique genre unto itself. It wasn't "SF", it was Trek - and they rejected numerous space shows on the grounds that there wasn't a big enough audience to sustain two of them on the air at the same time.

The fact that all of the Trek shows invariably went over budget didn't help matters. Paramount was willing to spend a huge amount per episode over the network or syndication license fee because they were confident of making their money back. The other studios weren't. One of the reasons that it took JMS almost ten years to get Babylon 5 on the air was precisely the legacy of Star Trek. And he was told that repeatedly by studio and network executives. Even Paramount did not believe a space-based show that didn't bear the magic Trek name could survive, so they turned Babylon 5 down when it was offered to them.

"Star Trek paved the way for adult SF on television" is one of the great myths of the 20th century, up there with Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster. And about as hard to stamp out.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Andy_Bu]

"Star Trek paved the way for adult SF on television" is one of the great myths of the 20th century, up there with Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster. And about as hard to stamp out.

An opinion you hold but others obviously disagree with.

I do appreciate your opinion though and I take what you write pretty seriously as you usually have facts to back up your opinions, although this time the facts are simply not there, because there is no way to get inside the minds of the network suits.

This all being said, I am still glad people may try to save Farscape.

There might be a .001% chance that any sort of campain can help, but that is still better than what no campain will do.

Andy

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Quote:



although this time the facts are simply not there, because there is no way to get inside the minds of the network suits.






Except by referring to things they actually said, which I did in my post. JMS is not the only TV producer to refer to the "Trek factor" as a hinderance to getting any other kind of space show off the ground with the studios and the networks. And the number and duration of SF series during the time period under discussion is certainly a matter of record.

One of the things that made Trek such a success in syndication is precisely that it appealed strongly to non-SF fans. Many Trek fans are Trek fans - period. They have little or no interest in other SF. (Which is why they are prone to think that much of what they see in other SF TV shows or movies is copied from Trek. They've simply never read Heinlien or Asimov and Clarke, or seen much in the way of classic SF film, and therefore have no idea how long some of these ideas have been in circulation. One guy even tried to prove that the concept of the "soul", as used in a B5 episode, was just the Vulcan "katra" under another name. )

I was a longtime SF fan when Trek arrived on the scene, and I attended the early Trek conventions held in Manhattan. I was repeatedly struck by how utterly ignorant of SF many of the fans were. Little has changed in the past 30 or so years.

On the plus side this broad appeal made Trek very successful once it was in syndication, and one of the few shows that actually managed to sell on home video in the American market, defying the common industry wisdom that "TV shows don't sell." (Which was, for the most part, true before the advent of DVD.) But at the same time it didn't do much to broaden the appeal of SF in general, and the true SF fan-base remained (and remains) a small niche. Star Wars (which is more fantasy or adventure in SF drag than true SF) had a similar appeal, and a similar effect on studio thinking. Its success was attributed (probably correctly) to its non-SF elements.

One of the reasons that The Sci-Fi Channel is trying to establish that SF isn't only "aliens and ray guns" is that it needs to reach a broader audience in order to attract advertisers - who are interested in age/sex/income demographics that "pure" SF tends not to attract in large numbers.

(Trek scored on this front, too. Ironically it was cancelled at a time when Neilsen was transitioning from reporting simply households watching a show to individuals watching a show, and providing demographic data more quickly. When NBC got the demographics reports months after the show was cancelled they saw that the "marginal" ratings the show attracted were in exactly the demos they most wanted. Had the faster demo reporting system been in place a few months earlier, or had the network gone for another 13 episode order, the series would not have been cancelled according to an NBC executive who was there at the time.

Regards,

Joe

 

[TheLongshot]

Trek went into syndication immediately after the network dropped it, because Paramount sold it into syndication. The fans had nothing to do with it.

Ah, but would have it been sold into syndication with only 55 episodes instead of the 79 that were made? I'd say probably not. There is usually a minimum count needed for a syndication sale.

Jason

 

[Aaron Thomas]

Eisner, Diller and others at Paramount didn't even think about a Star Trek franchise as a possibility until after Star Wars came out.

While I remember this most vividly from Kim Masters' "Keys to the Kingdom", I know that this has been part of the official line of Paramount for quite some time now, from all the interviews I've read over the years.

While you can argue that interviews on and off the record are no way to get inside the minds of the suits, I can hardly imagine that they would lie to make themselves look bad, i.e. "We didn't even remember about Star Trek for six months after Star Wars."

Aaron Thomas
wonders how much longer until Sci-Fi brings back "The Powers of Matthew Starr"

 

[John C]

Hey everyone. Just talked to a Universal rep of Michael Jackson's and told him I thought they were making a terrible mistake with the cancellation of Farscape. Of course, he said he had received many other calls to the same effect. He also gave me the sci-fi channel viewer response number to call in and tell them how I felt. It is 212-413-5679 for anyone interested in calling.
I do think it is a mistake financially, for sci-fi to cancel Farscape. They may be saving a few bucks right now in less production costs but are their other original programs getting the reviews or buzz this show has, I think not. I am among many who won't even watch the station and urge my cable provider to dump it for another station which will hurt sci-fi much more in the $$$$. What's next, a Battlestar Galactica remake?! Oh waitt.....

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Good work John!

I will call.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Just talked to a Universal rep of Michael Jackson's

Isn't he on Sony?

 

[George Cifrancis]

Here is Sci-Fi's official post about the cancellation...
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-s...9/09/13.00.sfc
George