This is especially troubling to Heroes and BSG fans.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Y'know, that actually explains why there's rumblings about Sci-Fi breaking up the last season of BSG into two parts, and airing the second half of season 4 in 2009. *sigh*
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
It also seems that Heroes is not doing so good, so that maybe that season 2 finale might become a series finale. *aargh*
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Series finale!?! WTF!?! What is WRONG with you people in the US - watch this bloody show!! If Earth: Final Conflict can get 5 seasons then this show should. Sheesh!
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Like it or not, there is a good reason for the strike. Basically they're trying to stop the studio's from eliminating the residuals (which are like royalties, from what I gather) and for some writers the only thing keeping them afloat between scripts. Don't take my word for it though, JMS had a rant about it on his message board.
Instead of whining that we're going to miss our favourite shows, lets show a little solidarity for the people who create the shows in the first place not to loose their lively hood.
Sure, it's nice to be entertained, but not at the cost of another person's primary source of income.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Bah! If they wanted to make a living they shouldn't have been writers! jk, jk...
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Curious. I had heard nothing about the elimination of residuals. Everything I've heard has been about the writers wanting a portion of the revenue from digital downloads of their episodes/movies, which caused the studios to balk, claiming that they don't even have projections yet for what they're going to be getting from that medium to be able to calculate how much the writers should get. And point out that SAG/AFTRA haven't threatened to strike for actors' residuals.
As for ratings... Unfortunately, one cannot apply to be a Nielson Family. It is offered randomly, and evidently not enough Nielson Families are watching Heroes, despite the fact that everyone I know does. It is, I think, the strongest show NBC has right now, and the only one of their shows that I watch.
--Jonah
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I was a Nielson house for a week in the offseason...
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
My family once got the booklet to be a Nielson household, but we just kind of looked at each other and then threw it away.
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
quote:Originally posted by AndrewR: Series finale!?! WTF!?! What is WRONG with you people in the US - watch this bloody show!! If Earth: Final Conflict can get 5 seasons then this show should. Sheesh!
Have you seen this season? I was blown away by the first season, but the first six episodes this year have really disappointed me. In a way, I'm hoping the writers strike will disrupt it(but not completely scrub out the rest of season 2) for long enough for the producers to see all the criticism and pull it together.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I don't agree, I think the second season is shaping up much like the 1st, with bug all happening for a long stretch (yet still somehow managing to be engaging) with the odd mini-mystery & plot twist added here and there. If anything the second season is moving faster than the first did to me.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"Nielsen".
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: I don't agree, I think the second season is shaping up much like the 1st.
That's the problem entirely. Rather than building on the success and momentum of the first season and raising the stakes, they've reverted back to the slow pace of the beginning of the series. They're even reusing plot elements. Season 1: Hiro accidentally transports himself into the future and witnesses the devastation of NY, setting up the Heroes mission. Season 2: Peter accidentally transports himself into the future and witness the devastation of NY, setting up the Heroes mission. Not to mention that Sylar seems to be back to square one, possibly about to build up a new collection of powers.
Meanwhile, we see new characters asking old questions. "I feel like I'm meant for something more in life!", "Why do I have these powers?". We've seen this before.
Thankfully, Tim Kring claims the next few episodes are the best they've ever written. Fingers crossed he's right. Hopefully we'll find out why the gang apparently dispersed after the fight with Sylar, rather than introducing themselves to eachother and sharing info.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Well that's a matter of opinion. If they came screaming out of the starting gate and blew the proverbial wad in the first few episodes then that would make it very difficult to sustain throughout the year and it leaves them in a difficult position to top themselves for the end of the season. Having said that I don't see how else they cuold have proceeded. For starters we need to see how the dust is settling after the "bomb" story was wrapped up, establish that three characters that we thought were dead (probably, anyway) are alive and well, mostly and establish some new characters and their abilities. That's how it works in storytelling I'm afraid, both in comics (in which the series is modelled) and in literature. If every episode had a dramatic revelation then it'd turn into a soap opera, likewise if it was all action then it'd just be come a mindless show about superheroes beating on each other.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
The sad part is that I know a couple of girls that would go absolutely bananas for those towels.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
*sigh* I just hope Heroes and Atlantis aren't ruined by this for good. I've just started watching Firefly which proves that the best sf ever can get canceled easily by the winds of stupidity.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Atlantis won't get affected by the strike... Filmed in Canada, Canadian crew, Canadian writers. Besides, the entirety of the season has been shot, everything's in post-production now. Depending on how long the strike lasts, season five might get postponed for solidarity reasons...
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Eh. Well then...Did I *dream* them saying it was the last episode of 2007? I could have sworn, in the 'scenes of the next episode' bit at the end, they said "In the last episode of Atlantis in 2007..."
(I knew it was filmed in Canada; but I thought it was owned by SciFi Channel, which I assumed meant it used American writers. Wrong?)
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Atlantis has always had its seasons split into two chunks. SG-1 too, though maybe not always? And Galactica. In theory at least (or so I thought I'd been told) it's to skirt the edges of broadcast television seasons, freeing up more potential viewers.
But even if they didn't do that, and even if there wasn't a strike, most shows be just about to go on hiatus for the holidays anyway. There isn't much 2007 left.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Well, I never really watched TV until the past few months. I watched Atlantis pretty much all at once; I started watching the first season while season 3 was airing. I always just watched stuff online that I'd heard was good, starting from the beginning, because I don't want to jump in late. So, I never noticed that shows went on hiatus over the holidays, or that Atlantis split up the season into two pieces.