"Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

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"Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Guardsman Bass »

InsideTV wrote:
Guess we’ll likely never find out what the Badlands were all about.

Fox has cancelled prehistoric dino drama Terra Nova after one season, ending months of will-they-or-won’t-they speculation. Studio 20th Century Fox TV, however, says they fight Terra Nova‘s extinction event by shopping the series to other networks.

The decision was handed down despite a few factors that were in the show’s favor: A creatively strong two-hour finale, which won over many of the show’s grumbling detractors; Fox cancelling Monday night veteran House; and another Monday sci-fi drama, Alcatraz, under-performing in recent weeks. From what we hear, Fox higher-ups weren’t too fond of the show.

Terra Nova will likely end up the highest-rated cancelled show of the season. It averaged 10.1 million viewers and a 3.6 adult demo rating once you add in a week of DVR playback.
I suppose they could try and sell it to another network (or cable channel) on the basis of the fixed expenses already being paid, but it's still pretty expensive. 20th century Fox would be very lucky to find someone willing to take it off their hands, particularly without enough episodes to do syndication.

I wonder what Fox is actually going to do after this year. Alcatraz hasn't been doing so great, House will be gone, Terra Nova is cancelled, and American Idol ratings aren't what they once were.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Thanas »

Fox cancelling a scifi show.


Shocking.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Wing Commander MAD »

Can't say I'm surprised. Honestly, at this rate I doubt we'll get much in the way of new shows that aren't either reality tv or modern day drama/sitcoms on any of the networks.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Crazedwraith »

Thanas wrote:Fox cancelling a scifi show.


Shocking.
What I don't get is why they kept comissioning them in the first place.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Skywalker_T-65 »

^To make money? I mean it wouldn't surprise me if they just milk them for a season knowing they will drop them. Then again, I am a big pessimist when it comes to the film/TV side of things. At least Sci-fi is still going (oh excuse me...SyFy :roll: )
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Gunhead »

Was this the one with the dinosaurs and that guy from Avatar? Meh. Why don't they do real scifi? With rocket ships and lasers. More pew pew is always good.

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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Thanas »

Crazedwraith wrote:
Thanas wrote:Fox cancelling a scifi show.


Shocking.
What I don't get is why they kept comissioning them in the first place.
Probably just so they can go "see? we are not neglecting any market segment" to the sponsors. Or that they are hoping for the next Galactica, which was a major success with critics and awards. I bet if just one of the shows they commission gets a Peabody award they will consider it worthwhile. As none of the shows did, they get axed...immediately.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Guardsman Bass »

I can understand why they did "Terra Nova". They were hoping to get a family-friendly smash hit that would appeal to a whole range of potential viewers. Presumably someone at Fox still cares about trying to do "big shows" that aren't just sitcoms or reality television.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Darth Fanboy »

I am not against the idea of a show for multiple demographics, but those teenagers fucking ruined the show for me by the end of episode 2.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Guardsman Bass »

For me, it was mainly the dullness of the first couple of episodes that turned me off. There were also some of the less pleasant Star Trek elements that showed up courtesy of Braga, such as Episode Two's techno-babble.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Gunhead »

This show lost me when I saw the first commercial of it. It gave me a serious "Warning: Crappy teen drama!!" alert. I tried giving it a chance but there just wasn't anything I could give a shit about in it. I also don't like "multiple demographic" approach to shows. It's usually just a keyword for "everything must be PG13 so no one can be offended".

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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Meest »

So 10 million on Monday isn't good enough. It scares me that those ratings aren't enough for a scripted show I don't want all programming to be reality show crap. Though I stopped watching the show in some way hope it did well so scripted shows seem viable, especially sci-fi ones.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

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10 million? that is actually very good viewership. In fact, it is triple that what the shows Fox cancelled over the past three years had. It also is just 2-3 mil less than what House had in his first season iirc.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Sea Skimmer »

I've seen it suggested that Fox doesn't like how much of its production resources are required to make relatively little airtime worth of show. Basically not purely a money vs. viewer issue. The high viewership might give it an actual chance at being picked up by another network. Personally, I don't much care, the show was not serious enough to be serious and lacked enough dinosaur riding to be really fun.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Darth Fanboy »

The Terra Nova wiki entry says it averaged barely 7.5 million, (I can look up figures better later) and that its share in the "key demographic" was below 3. Although I dont buy as much into the old notion of the key demographic, its very difficult to spend that much on a show for that kind of return.

Putting it on Monday up against Monday night football on the East Coast couldnt have helped either. Even in a down year and on cable MNF is still going to immediately command enough of a percentage of an audience that I dont see why a network would put an expensive project with no established base in that spot.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Minischoles »

7.5 million, lacking in key demographics and the production was outrageously expensive. It was always heading towards cancellation.

I'm not too sad, it wasn't exactly the best of shows - the children were incredibly poorly written (the cloyingly cute little kid, the obnoxious teenager) and felt like they were lifted from a set character biography, the villains instead of being complex characters were basically idiots, with one of the most retarded plots ever conceived. The episodes themselves were almost all either average or bad.

Good concept, but poor execution.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

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Gunhead wrote: Why don't they do real scifi? With rocket ships and lasers. More pew pew is always good.

-Gunhead
This. Fuck shit like nBSG or whatever the hell this was (fucking dinosaurs? really?) or even SG-1 and Babylon 5. I'm tired of "Humanity overmatched, needs help from XYZ"

This is why I think Star Trek and Star Wars worked so well and so long. And why Enterprise failed. People are bored with humanity finding it's way or having to struggle, gawd dammnit.
We want humanity as Bad Ass Space Mother Fuckers. Evil Aliens to wage war against. Good Aliens to make alliances with. Awesome spaceships and cool laser guns. Space travel in days not years. Space fighters and space broadsides!
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Block »

Havok wrote:
Gunhead wrote: Why don't they do real scifi? With rocket ships and lasers. More pew pew is always good.

-Gunhead
This. Fuck shit like nBSG or whatever the hell this was (fucking dinosaurs? really?) or even SG-1 and Babylon 5. I'm tired of "Humanity overmatched, needs help from XYZ"

This is why I think Star Trek and Star Wars worked so well and so long. And why Enterprise failed. People are bored with humanity finding it's way or having to struggle, gawd dammnit.
We want humanity as Bad Ass Space Mother Fuckers. Evil Aliens to wage war against. Good Aliens to make alliances with. Awesome spaceships and cool laser guns. Space travel in days not years. Space fighters and space broadsides!
So like Space Above and Beyond with more explosions and dead aliens?
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Havok »

Way more scope.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Crazedwraith »

Havok wrote:
Gunhead wrote: Why don't they do real scifi? With rocket ships and lasers. More pew pew is always good.

-Gunhead
This. Fuck shit like nBSG or whatever the hell this was (fucking dinosaurs? really?) or even SG-1 and Babylon 5. I'm tired of "Humanity overmatched, needs help from XYZ"

This is why I think Star Trek and Star Wars worked so well and so long. And why Enterprise failed. People are bored with humanity finding it's way or having to struggle, gawd dammnit.
We want humanity as Bad Ass Space Mother Fuckers. Evil Aliens to wage war against. Good Aliens to make alliances with. Awesome spaceships and cool laser guns. Space travel in days not years. Space fighters and space broadsides!
Really? You just want Humanity fuck yeah! Here to save the motherfucking day, yeah?

And here I thought most people were sick of awesome super special humanity kicking alien ass when they're the new kids on the block and the aliens have been in space of a century.

Though if they want to ditch 'character driven' arc based shows in favour of whacky episodic fun like TNG/early SG1/Early Farscape that'd be A OK as far as I'm concerned. And can we do away with the word 'filler' please?
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Havok »

Yeah, that's what I want, which is why I fucking said "why Star Wars and Star Trek worked so well" because they show where humanity has been on the scene for hundreds if not thousands of years. :roll:
I don't fucking want humanity to be the new kid on the block. Try reading and not thinking out your own post before you comprehend mine.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Grumman »

Havok wrote:This. Fuck shit like nBSG or whatever the hell this was (fucking dinosaurs? really?) or even SG-1 and Babylon 5. I'm tired of "Humanity overmatched, needs help from XYZ"

This is why I think Star Trek and Star Wars worked so well and so long. And why Enterprise failed. People are bored with humanity finding it's way or having to struggle, gawd dammnit.
I think that's a bit much. I haven't seen B5 but SG-1 was largely a good show even if it wasn't a rayguns and spaceships sort of sci-fi.

Personally, what I want most from sci-fi is this: likeable competence. I want it to be about characters I can root for, and I want the characters to not be a pack of morons. Shows like nBSG and SG:U screw up the former, and Enterprise screws up the latter.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Gunhead »

Just how scifi was Terra Nova anyway? I mean wasn't this just really a drama set someplace else? Would it have been fundamentally different if they'd place them on an island that you can't leave inhabited by dinosaurs, i.e stick them in Jurassic Park with a one way ticket? Instead of timeparallel..dimension..doohickey?

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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

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Havok wrote: This is why I think Star Trek and Star Wars worked so well and so long. And why Enterprise failed. People are bored with humanity finding it's way or having to struggle, gawd dammnit.
We want humanity as Bad Ass Space Mother Fuckers. Evil Aliens to wage war against. Good Aliens to make alliances with. Awesome spaceships and cool laser guns. Space travel in days not years. Space fighters and space broadsides!
I know you're just taking the piss because what you're describing, while plentiful in novels, barely exists in TV shows and movies.
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Re: "Terra Nova" cancelled by Fox

Post by Batman »

Err-Trek before ENT, Star Wars, and B5 did exactly that. Wars is arguably iffy since it doesn't have humanity in the standard 'humans from Earth' sense but it nevertheless has humans as a major player, as do classic/TNG Trek and B5 (and, if we go back that far, oBSG). In those franchises, while mankind is definitely not top dog, it's definitely a faction that needs to be reckoned with. Heck SG turned Earth into a major player despite the fact that as military power goes, it remained a nonentity throughout the entirety of the franchise.
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