AmazingColossalPumaMan

Didn't see a thread on it yet, so here it is:

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=13209

The evil she-demon strikes again. Man, I just can't believe this. So much for that renewal for season 4 and 5 (apparently that just meant they can cut a season in half and make it count as two).

Now I just have to figure out how to remove that piece of crap "Sci-Fi" Channel from my box. Man, I'm just so...

das Monkey

I told you ****ers. I'm so angry I cannot think straight. Perhaps next time people will believe my rantings of gloom and doom. Bonnie Hammer is every bit as evil as I've claimed, if not more. There is no excuse for this nonsense. She cans their second highest rated show, then reschedules the **** out of their highest rated show for an excuse to cancel it as well.

If there was a reason to watch this shit**** network, it's gone now (don't start on SG-1).

das

Tuan Jim

A bit more info: http://www.farscapeworld.com/news/1031347352.shtml

WTF is Scifi thinking -- I mean, seriously do they even *look* at the nielsens???

I also kinda thought that there would be enough support with this elsewhere -- UK, Australia (where it's made), to keep them from dumping the show entirely. I mean does Scifi seriously bankroll the whole thing??? None of my dvds say Scifi channel on them -- it's all Hallmark, Henson Studios, etc. (or is there a connection somewhere).

Anyone know an actual address we can use to flood them with actual paper -- vs. online?

Tuan Jim

edit -- FWIW http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/SAVE_FARSCAPE/

Pac-Rat

Sad news, but I'm surprised it's lasted this long.
It's been rumored for a while now that SCIFI would be getting a face lift and become "The Adventure Channel", and this is just another jump in that direction. That's why I was always happy just to see something that remotely resembled science fiction.

Aaron Amos

This so sad. Does this affect future DVD releases BTW?

Thrush

Its looks as if they are eliminating all original programming to make way for 24hrs of Straight to video B movies. It makes absolutely no sense. Its like if some one took over ESPN and said "you know, where going to move away from the whole sports thing and go in a different direction".

tasha88

Wow. The scifi channel was pretty worthless before, but now there won't be anything on it. It doesn't even seem like scifi to me most of the time (I don't know, but are shows about handy kitchen gadgets and what 800 number you need to dial to buy them scifi?)

This seriously sucks though. Farscape this year, Buffy next year. I hope Firefly is good and doesn't get canned cause there might not be anything else to watch.

tasha

RandyM

I wonder if quality TV can consistently survive anymore. Shows that I like (Buffy, Futurama) and others that I never got into but people I respect really liked (Farscape, Once And Again, Freaks And Geeks) seem to be dropping like flies. I know Buffy isn't being cancelled, but if it's numbers had been higher, there would be more money to throw around and possibly kept it going.

Maybe it's always like this, people complaining about favorite shows being cancelled, but it just feels like the lowest common denominator shows like quick, cheap reality programs are forcing out good ones. Sure some of them are entertaining, but most of them are almost made to be disposable, something to watch and then forget about.

The advantage great episodic television has over movies is it can take hours to develop a charachter and gradually show changes and growth that no 2 hour movie can. It seems like only HBO is willing to develop like that anymore since they don't have to chase ratings points.

Neush

Here's contact info that you can use to call and snail mail them directly. Usually works better than a million angry geeks emailing the hell out of them. As per Slashdot: Sci-Fi Channel Contact Info

BTW, I just started watching this season and have really enjoyed it. I was hoping to catch up via reruns, which I'm guessing isn't going to happen now.

das Monkey

In addition to that other petition, there's also this one:

http://www.petitiononline.com/scaper1/petition.html

Probably won't have any effect, but it can't hurt to sign it.

According to David Kemper, telegrams and phonecalls are what works best. The sets will be destroyed at the end of next week, so anything that's going to happen needs to happen FAST.

das

benedict

.... is the channel privately-owned or does it have shareholders?

If some wordsmith could put togther the exact facts and figures for this (and other needlesly canned shows) then perhaps they could mail/fax them to the major shareholders (possibly Wall Street firms) and show them where the company is going wrong.

Unlikely to have a great effect but possibly worth a try?

Tsar Chasm

Or if a music video channel stopped showing music videos...

clemente

Phuck!!!!!!

Damn sci-fi! Damn them all to hell.
I can't comprehend the stupidity behind this decision so I apologize for the lack of well reasoned sentences, but why? So that you can make the channel lose the only thing that doesn't suck!!

I'd understand if the show had lost its creative way or its rating dropped, but that hasn't happened. Phuck Sci-Fi, if I really wanted to watch bad B-movies, I'd catch them when they came out on video.

Sessa17

I agree w/ everyone here. Except for the Simpsons this is literally the ONLY TV show that I still watch & I truly, truly will miss this cast. I really hope Claudiw Black shows up again in a project us Americans can see her in.

Derrich

What in the HELL?!
Ignore the fact that Farscape was a great show.
Ignore that is was the only original programming left on the channel.
Ignore that it was popular enough to spawn it's own cons.
Ignore that it was the last real 'sci fi' show on the network.
Bottom line is: It was their highest rated show!
What idiot cancels the top rated show on a network? It makes zero sense. None.
This proves that Bonnie Hammer is a moron that has no business running a lemonade stand, much less a TV network.

clemente

I don't know if its merely Hollywood posturing, but David Kemper said Bonnie Hammer wasn't to blame.

I like to think that he doesn't want to burn any bridges, because who else would make such a dumb decision?

das Monkey

• Quoth clemente •<HR SIZE=1>I don't know if its merely Hollywood posturing, but David Kemper said Bonnie Hammer wasn't to blame.

I like to think that he doesn't want to burn any bridges, because who else would make such a dumb decision? <HR SIZE=1>

I read that in the chat transcript as well. My response: http://www.dasmonkey.net/

I interpret the situation in one of three ways:

1) Bonnie Hammer is directly responsible, and DK was just posturing as you suggested

2) Bonnie Hammer doesn't know what the **** is going on and is at fault

3) Bonnie Hammer cannot control what is going on and is at fault

Lest we forget, she's in charge over there.

das

palebluedot

JawsAddict

Well, I signed the online petition. I'm saddened and disgusted by this.

clemente

Although there have been shows that I have loved that have been cancelled (Sports Night, Once and Again, H:Lots, EZ Streets...etc, etc, etc) I've never been compelled to actually write a letter or two or a few to send to the networks in hoped that they would right there bonehead moves.

I am this time though. I don't feel that Farscape had in any way become a lesser quality show than it once was. What it had become was a show that was beginning to build a new arc, after the completion of what I believe to be one of the most successful/entertaining and not to mention sustained story arc in television. Season 1-3 weave together so cohesively in a manner that makes for the most rewarding 66 hour story arc, and almost unbelievable that they didn't just falter half way through.

As fans, we're all getting short changed, we now get half an arc, not the two season arc that had been planned. You know, when you get a two season commitment and you're the networks top rated show, you have little reason to worry.

I have no doubt DK and the FS crew have devised an incredibely evil season ending cliffhanger that we will unfortunately never see the resolution of. Seemingly the decision had already been made, why not notify the creative personnel two days before filming ends, when there is not even the possibility of closure.

I recall reading somewhere when the Farscape being cancelled rumor first appeared on AICN, someone had contact with the Sci-Fi people and they wouldn't comment on the statud of Farscape, only to say that a statement would be made in "a few weeks." Strange.

And das, I'm not absolving Bonnie "I'm as dumb as a" Hammer of anything. Its her mishandling of the network that did make this an eventuality. When she set out to make Sci-Fi a network that has no real Sci-Fi programming the ball was set in motion.

das Monkey

• Quoth clemente •<HR SIZE=1>And das, I'm not absolving Bonnie "I'm as dumb as a" Hammer of anything.<HR SIZE=1>

Good. You're a valuable poster, and I'd hate for you to suffer an ... um ... "accident."

das

joshualane

I just thought I would post to clarify a few things that people seem to be harping about.

Firstly, Farscape is no longer Sci-Fi's highest rated show, SG-1 consistently gets higher ratings than Farscape every friday night when new episodes air. Farscape is also a VERY expensive show, costing about $1.5+ million an episode to produce. It's cancellation may have just been a numbers game, ie, they weren't making enough money back on advertising to warrant more episodes. Even if the show is revolutionary and spectacular, if they aren't making enough to cover production costs, it's not worth it to keep making new episodes.

Personally, I think it sucks that the show got cancelled, so I'll be sending my emails/letters ASAP and hopefully a movie may still get made.

das Monkey

• Quoth joshualane •<HR SIZE=1>Firstly, Farscape is no longer Sci-Fi's highest rated show, SG-1 consistently gets higher ratings than Farscape every friday night when new episodes air.<HR SIZE=1>

Keep in mind that Farscape was most certainly their highest rated show until the absurd hiatus last season, supporting the theory I posted at the time that Hammer was intentionally trying to sabotage the ratings for an excuse to cancel the show (much the way ABC sabotaged Once & Again due to personal grudges behind the scenes).

I had access to those final four episodes a full six months before Sci-Fi got around to airing them, so I assume they had them for longer than that. Some cable programming takes large mid-season breaks to avoid conflicting with more mainstream programming, but the hiatus forced by Sci-Fi was so ridiculous that even I forgot about the show for a while.

As for production costs, it's actually about $1.4 million per episode (which is cheaper than Hammer's beloved The Dead Zone), but Sci-Fi's licensing fee is only about $700,000 per episode (again, cheaper than the $950,000 they shell out for The Dead Zone). They recoup the rest of the cost from international syndication (how do you think we saw Season 3 while Hammer was refusing to air it in the States).

Just think, it's been less than a year since the two-headed she-beast proclaimed it their "signature series." Makes me laugh when I recall the chat after she was promoted where she said, "Farscape is my favorite show, with The Invisible Man coming in a close second." I'd hate to see what she did to shows she doesn't like.

das

WarriorPrincess

I'm so angry right now that I can't even type. What idiot hired her in the first place? First Invisible Man, now Farscape. I watch friggin USA to see the Dead Zone. And Showtime to see Stargate. Now there is NO reason at all for me to watch the Sci Fi channel. This has got to be one of the most stupid decisions in the history of television. Right up there with cancelling Star Trek TOS.

And I agree with everything das said - this is clearly the result of extreme incompetence or a specific plan. Either way, Sci Fi has lost a huge fanbase, and won't get us back unless they do the right thing and renew Farscape. Like they said they did a year ago when they convinced us to hang in there and keep watching, making us think we'd actually get a "complete" series.

ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!! I need to calm down or I'll never get to sleep tonight.

DJ_Spyder

I have to agree the direction in which the Sci-Fi channel is going is most distressing with the cancellation on Farscape as well as the Invisible Man, Lexx, First Wave etc. The TV executives who run this network are going out of there way to alienate their fan base it just doesn't make sense. I somehow doubt a petition will help since Bonnie Hammer and company have already made up their minds.