(OT) Farscape Cancelled? /ponder scifi

Farscape's 5th season has been cancelled, I can't really claim to understand WTF Sci-Fi is thinking since it's the only good show they have (Well, Dead Zone is good.. but thats not theirs ;p)

Go here if you want to read about it/find who to spam.

Sorry if this is a little OT for here

Okay, it's official, Kem has NO life whatsoever (as if we didn't know this already).

From what I understand, Farscape's ratings were lower than those of Stargate SG1's RERUNS. Why should the SF Channel bankroll something which isn't pulling people in like it used to? The whole evil Crichton thing, which hardcore viewers found so fascinating, probably drove away casual viewers who would have started watching. I think that was probably their biggest mistake.

I regularly watch SG1 reruns. They're still cool.

It wll be a real shame if Farscape ends after 4 seasons.
I think it's one of the most original things on TV for ages.
The writers should at least be given the chance to bring things to a proper conclusion - as happens with the Star Trek series for example. No doubt season 4 ended with a cliffhanger (in UK, haven't seen it yet - don't have scifi channel) which will not get resolved without a season 5.

And if being a fan of this show means I have no life, then so be it. But don't we all sit at home playing a certain computer game for hours on end???

Verno

Farscape's writers have already said if there is no 5th season the fans are going to be screwed, because they planned on having a 5th season when they wrote the final 12 of 4th, so fans will just be left with a cliffhanger/lots of unanswered questions.

Sci Fi is also planning on canning SG1 as well.

/sigh that show is/was cool, now they are killing it off, one member at a time..

bastards!

Not exactly true. Michael Shanks wanted to leave before he became typecast into one role, Amanda Tappings wants to do movies and Richard Dean Anderson wants to direct.

Would be a damn site worse if they carried on the show without them 3 of them. They gave it a last series because it warranted completion whereas they felt Farscape didn't due to flagging ratings.

Farscape was the main reason I watched Sci-Fi in the first place (and Dead Zone re-runs of course).

With Farscape gone, I guess I turn the channel, or turn on the radio.

SG-1 is a good series, but I just can't really "get into it" like a lot of folks. I watch it if it's on, but I don't really crave it like I do Farscape/Dead Zone.

Oh well... another good series dropped just means less for the sci-fi crowd.

Bul

Well, if it's getting cancelled, then nobody was watching it. All the sci-fi channel plays is wacky canadian sci-fi shows, so if it couldn't survive there it must have really been sucking in the ratings. Whenever a show is cancelled there are always people who say it was the only thing they watched and that they won't tune into that network anymore, but overall, I get the feeling the networks make the right decision most of the time.

Personally, I like the show, but I can't name one of my fellow sci-fi geek friends who agrees with me.

I love Stargate SG1

/cry

Falan,

Shows get cancelled for various reasons, probably too many to list. If you have evidence that they are cancelling it because "no one was watching it", then can you post it?

Ratings do not ALWAYS determine whether a show stays on the air. There are budgetary reasons, contractual reasons, time-slot/competitive reasons, disagreements with the writers/staff, and the list goes on.

If it WAS merely a "ratings" question, I would think they'd move it from the Friday slot into a less "prestigious" time-slot.
Sci-Fi KNOWS that Farscape has a "built-in" fanatical fan-base. It's pretty large, as they discovered a couple of seasons ago when this same thing almost happened. If a show has a guaranteed fan-base, why drop it all-together, rather than move it to a different day/time? I really think there's more to the story than is being told.

As for losing viewers: it's a simple law of economics that they will lose viewers. It may only be several hundred, it may be several thousand. What they have to weigh is, will whatever replaces Farscape bring in more viewers than they lose? I would be very interested to see what they do.

I already know they're doing the X-Files reruns, as well as the Dead Zone. But I doubt re-runs are going to cut it. If Fox thought X-files reruns or if USA thought Dead Zone reruns were so hot, they'd be doing them without selling-out to Sci-Fi in the first place.

We'll see how things have turned out for them around the New Year. It is my hope (and my guess) that another network will pick-up Farscape, unless there are some strings attached to the shut-down.


Bul

The big thing is how much does it cost them for an ORIGINAL episode of Farscape vs a RERUN of something else.

If they think they can get by with a similar audience at 1/3 the programming cost, /boot Farscape.

Which is a shame. Sci Fi should recogzine that part of its existance should be being a medium where these quirky shows get a chance to live. Reruns of crap network failures and the same reruns of Star Trek and B5 won't keep veiwers indefinitely.

Shows like Farscape, Lexx and even the Invisible Man (take the good and the bad) are the kind of things that they need to run to give people fresh programming. Yes I-Man sucked, but it was something you hadn't seen 3 times already. Lexx was a margin show, but hell, I thought it was funny and made sure I got to see it one way or another. Farscape was the best of the lot, they should have rode it out.

Oh well, everyone always looks at the bottom line for this quarter, which said use cheaper programming. Of course it would be cheaper if they didn't advertise. And much cheaper if they didn't run a website. Oh and even cheaper if they didn't bother with all that expensive broadcasting equipment.
/sigh

Mugsie