Export thread

There is seriously something wrong at the SyFy channel.
"Eureka" canceled, sixth season plans dropped

The fourth season hasn't even finished airing yet (after both seasons 3 and 4 got chopped in half and stretched out over four years) and season 5 is being filmed. Why would they cancel season six without even giving season five a chance?

This is one of the best shows on television, with an amazing cast. It does not deserve to be canceled.

Was it any good? Never appealed.....

Everything I ever heard was that it was half-hour long commercials for non-related products like deodorant.

Shegokigo said:

Was it any good? Never appealed.....

Everything I ever heard was that it was half-hour long commercials for non-related products like deodorant.

Click to expand...

I love the show. The writing is smart, the characters are likeable and the plots are intriguing. Heck, they've managed to do two major time-travel story-arcs where the alternate time-lines created had lasting effects on the characters. Which is another part I like, the characters actually grow and change. They've developed over time, by the actual events they've gone through on the show, not just retcon.

The product placement thing was for one season, and did a better job of it than others shows that tried the same thing (Bones, Numb3rs, Royal Pains, etc.) On Eureka the product placement was actually part of the plot. It didn't work especially well, but it was still only a small part of the season.

But now we get more wrestling.

GOD DAMN IT.

The death of the non-home renovation specialty channel is at hand as all the specialty channels do their fucking best to abandon anything they had that drew them viewers in the first place. Apparently the only way to draw viewers is to run sitcoms in syndication that play on every single other fucking network out there. Keep it strong Showtime, FX, HBO and AMC (and maybe Starz I guess), you guys are all that's left.

Frankie Williamson said:

The death of the non-home renovation specialty channel is at hand as all the specialty channels do their fucking best to abandon anything they had that drew them viewers in the first place. Apparently the only way to draw viewers is to run sitcoms in syndication that play on every single other fucking network out there. Keep it strong Showtime, FX, HBO and AMC (and maybe Starz I guess), you guys are all that's left.

Click to expand...

You got it right, except for the part where you begin playing nothing but reality shows. What's happening is that these channels aren't making the profits they want, and they can't figure out why. Could it be a lack of good programming, and maybe a much-needed spark of creativity? Oh no no no, of course not! It means we need to hire a CEO from one of the broadcast networks (who gave up on the idea of quality a long time ago), who immediately declare that channel's specialty dead. Then the new CEO orders a shift to reality shows, because they're so cheap no one cares if people watch because they won't lose money. Thus the channel stops resembling anything like it once was and slowly dies.

The History channel is already there. SyFy is well on its way. The Cartoon Network is next (they just hired a CEO last year who, honest to god, told reporters that the problem with the Cartoon Network is that it shows too many cartoons).

TLC was one of the biggest crimes. I remember when THE LEARNING CHANNEL debuted and there were soooo many awesome shows. I can't count how many episodes of The Operation I sat through.

Ah yes, how could I forget about the one that started it all? One of the first specialty channels, and one of the first to turn into mindless drivel.

MTV couldn't be bothered to celebrate, or even publicize, their 30th anniversary last week.

Goddamn it I love Eureka! I hate that channel

Tress said:

The Cartoon Network is next (they just hired a CEO last year who, honest to god, told reporters that the problem with the Cartoon Network is that it shows too many cartoons).

Click to expand...

This is making me more sad then the Eureka announcement.

Let's be honest, creating and maintaining a Reality TV show costs peanuts compared to some excellent shows that have been canceled in the past or shows that didn’t last longer due to paying accomplished actors and creating fantastic sets (example Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones or Rome).

Quick dime, no vision "executives" see Reality TV as the easy way to make money and I don't fault them at all. Reality TV caters to the masses of the mundane and the people who are in the show compete for peanuts. The final prize is basically a salary for an accomplished actor for a season.

For example, how many seasons did shit shows like The Bachelor last? Heck, there are new spinoffs to that shit such as The Bachelorette and now the new Bachelor Pad. Its things like this people that make me hate society. Speaking of hate, is there a worse show on TV than Big Brother that promotes the worst traits a human being can have and be applauded for short of rape, violence and murder?

These shows irritate me to no end, especially when I have a reasonably intelligent partner in life, completely educated who is making six figures and is one of the most level-headed responsible person I have ever met that will run to the TV whenever one of these absolutely terrible shows is on?

Overall, I see why networks wants to produce cheaper shit, why go through all the bells and whistles to make a good show when everyone else produces reality crap that people will watch anyways and save costs?
Heck, the rating for these shows along with the 15 minutes of fame the nobodies get appeals greatly to the masses of the mundane.

We can complain about MTV all we want for not playing music or even showing anything music related but have the rating dropped? Nope, quite the contrary.

That’s how it is.

I'd throw in my 2 cents about TechTV here, but I'm to busy listening to TWiT (watching more and more) and watching Revision3.
Added at: 10:46
Also fuck G4, that channel was barely watchable when it was actually about games.

Goddammit

5 season's isn't horrible for a show, especially not a sci-fi show. Heck seven is considered good, more than that is generally excellent.

Sci-Fi shows that have had 5 seasons or more: Doctor Who, Star Treks (except TOS and ENT), Red Dwarf, Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, X-Files (I guess). I'm missing some I can't remember.

That's pretty good company to be in. I've never watched Eureka but it has some hardcore fans and it sucks to have a show end.

Stargate Atlantis.

Sci-fi Shows that didn't make 5 seasons:
Farscape
Firefly
Stargate Universe
Star Trek (TOS and Enterprise)
The Outer Limits (original series)
more that I can't be bothered to think of.

So take Comfort Eureka fans.
Added at: 15:39
2 more: both battlestar galacticas

Sliders and Quantum Leap, also 5 seasons

Whoa, shit, after reading what SeeeFeee did, fuck them. They renewed the show last week, then reneged on it. While saying that they're certain that season 5 is awesome, everyone who works on the show is awesome and they think ratings will be better than ever. Salt rubbing cocks.

Part of it I think is the syndication rights. Basically, once a show's had 5 seasons, it has enough episodes to be good for syndication - other networks play old episodes as filler. The problem is, this doesn't make money for the network, it makes money for the producers and creators of a show. So it's in the network's best interest to axe the show and invest in a new one, instead of investing a show that they know will start making money for other networks. I know that was a major part of the Farscape decision, at least in the opinion of the creators.

Jay makes me glad I don't have TV.

Covar said:

I'd throw in my 2 cents about TechTV here, but I'm to busy listening to TWiT (watching more and more) and watching Revision3.
Added at: 10:46
Also fuck G4, that channel was barely watchable when it was actually about games.

Click to expand...

I like Attack of the Show

I remember the days of G4 when they had shows like Players and Arena and showed reruns of Starcade.

Man, I miss those days.

The only thing I watch on SyFy ( yeah their end began when SciFi became SyFy but I digress) is Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Alphas (sometimes), the occasional few and far between real scifi movies they play. I know its been years, but I still say come the FUCK ON WRESTLING SERIOUSLY!! Yeah syfy is run by dicks.

The paranoid bear in me seems to think that the trend of networks with "smart" programing (Sci-Fi, TLC, History, ETC) being "dumbed down" the last few years is part of a conspiracy to dumb down the country so that we better accept and fail to question the direction our society is headed. *puts on tinfoil hat*.

Telephius said:

I like Attack of the Show

Click to expand...

<-- vastly superior in every way (except for after the G4 merger when they basically made it attack of the show while driving off what was left of the cast and crew before changing the name).

Covar said:

<-- vastly superior in every way (except for after the G4 merger when they basically made it attack of the show while driving off what was left of the cast and crew before changing the name).

Click to expand...

Man, I miss Leo Laporte. He was awesome.

TWiT.tv my friend.

Covar said:

<-- vastly superior in every way (except for after the G4 merger when they basically made it attack of the show while driving off what was left of the cast and crew before changing the name).

Click to expand...

Yeah I would agreem I only got TechTv/G4 a little bit before they did the change over so I barely rememeber the show but I did like its originaly format a bit more. Granted now I watch attack the Show as my Media Madness forum tv equivalent hehe.

I'll say one thing...

I am pissed that my 2 favorite shows on History and Discovery are Pawn Stars and Sons of Guns. They are just plain interesting. Especially when you look at how smart they guys are, that most people would consider to be freaking idiots by their "covers."

Don't forget American Restoration! Pawn Stars rules though.

Don't forget American Restoration! Pawn Stars rules though.

Click to expand...

Yes I enjoy Pawn Stars as well, but I seriously want to smack Cory upside the head most of the time with a 2x4. Although he's gotten a smidge better lately.

To keep it on topic, SyFy sucks, the people in charge of programming need to fed to angry rabid weasels and pelted with little pickles.

I enjoy Pawn Stars, even the parts that are obviously, painfully scripted. It's like it adds charm.

Hardcore Pawn, on the other hand, just makes me feel dirty. The guy on there is like a slimy, con-artist Groucho Marx.

I liked this show. Every time I'd sit down to watch the start of a new season, it felt like coming home. You'd see all the familiar sights and characters. It was like watching a new Harry Potter movie.

That said, as great as the characters were and how fun the writing was, the show really was blatantly shark-jumping a lot. The last episode I'd watched included a plot where they basically took the "everything is lifting into the sky!" that's scene during the title sequence. Or the Christmas episode.

Of course, like the advertisement episodes, they made the shark-jumping ones still just as fun.

God, I'll miss this show.

The reason they are nixing Eureka basically comes down to the contracts for the actors: Around the 5th season, most contracts end and the actors get to renegotiate, usually for more money if the show is doing very well (which it is). SyFy operates it's shows on a shoestring budget and isn't willing to pay the actors any more then they are getting, mainly because the shareholders and executives are idiots. This is one of the reasons they only wanted to do a half season to finish out the series; they liked the series, the actors and the ratings, but couldn't justify the increased cost per an episode to the money people.

This is a common trend in TV. It's why most shows don't break the 5 season barrier. You really need to be a big name show and be bringing in mad money to get past 5 seasons. Unfortunately, this is CABLE and cable doesn't bring in the money.

That being said, I suspect that you'll see Neil Grayston (Fargo) bring his character over to Warehouse 13 since the two shows share a universe and he's done two cross-overs already. He'll likely become a regular once Eureka is over. But that doesn't matter... come 2014-15, Warehouse 13 will suffer the same fate as Eureka.

Am I going to miss Eureka? Yes. It's one of the few shows on TV that reminds me of the Roddenberry-era of Star Trek*. Not the science stuff... but the sense of hope and optimism in the future that the shows demonstrated. They (and by extension it's writers) believed in humanity and it's accomplishments, both good and bad, and that we, as a society and species, could one day become better than we are. Most shows about Science Fiction only dwell on the dark of it, about the problems that it can lead to... but Eureka was the first show in at least a decade that pointed out that sure, they are going to be problems along the way, but that one day we might make a world we could actually be proud of and that it's going to happen on the frontier of Science.

It's become especially poignant this season: The year that NASA decommissions it's last shuttle is the season that Eureka launches it's own mission into space. In a time that has decided that going into space is too expensive, too dangerous, and ultimately not worthwhile as a government goal, Eureka tells us that there are untold wonders beyond our planet and that it's more than worth it to look for them. That's something that speaks to me and I'm going to miss the show all the more because of it.

*And I'm saying this even though I vastly prefer Deep Space Nine.

I tried to get into this show. It just never worked for me. It's not a bad show, per se. I don't know what it is. I think I associate cheapness with shows that have constantly playing canned background music like some Bellasario series. Seems like a stupid thing to get hung up on, but it's not just the music that has a strong Bellasario vibe. It's also the intentionally corny acting and the ho-hum photography full of pans and zooms. People around the we want to compare it to Northern Exposure or Twin Peaks. To me, that's like comparing a Twinkie to a fine Creme Brulee. Both are tasty desserts, but they're not exactly in the same category. Carter is likable, but there are just too many annoying characters.

But that's okay, because you don't like anything.

Fade likes alot of things, just usually the things he dislikes are things the majority of people DO like so he comes off as hating everything. Though SOMETIMES he can be purposelly opposite sided.....

Also, I don't mind saying what I don't like about the things I do. Like this. Also, I don't often talk about what I like, because frankly it's not as much fun. I wish everyone wouldn't take it personally. You're free to love Eureka so much that you engage in sexual escapades with the dvd, and I won't think a thing less of you. Just my opinion since it was up for discussion.

That's fair enough, but have you looked at how many of your posts start with "Actually, I don't like..."

fade said:

...that you engage in sexual escapades with the dvd.

Click to expand...

Damnit, man, you said you'd never tell anyone!