DJariya

http://tvline.com/2014/01/28/haven-r...r-26-episodes/




13 will air this Fall and 13 will air Spring 2015


Holy shit that's fucking awesome. Well deserved renewal. One of SyFy's best shows right now.

DJariya

SyFy is apparently using a loophole in cast contracts for this.

They are essentially ordering seasons 5 and 6, but calling it "Season 5" as they are able to keep all the actors under their same deals. Talent contracts are usually up for re-negotiation after 5 seasons.

Most likely the final 13 episodes will be the final season.

Noonan

Great news. The show can be over the top ridiculous at times but I love. I can't believe it lasted this long.

birdseye

Great news. If the second half of the season is indeed the end, at least the writers will be able to plan for it over the course of 26 episodes.

Coladar1

Interesting, although hardly surprising it'd be SyFy pulling this type of cruddy, cheap tactic... but I digress.

Is anyone familiar with the ins and outs of this type of thing? Why don't other studios/networks pull similar stunts to avoid contract negotiations? Is this a Haven special, where the cast's representation were utter idiots and allowed their clients to sign ridiculous, atypical contracts?

Otherwise, why don't more shows do exactly this? Say they're ordering season ***, at double the normal episode order and then splitting it up? Or at the very least, maybe tacking on an extra four or so episodes each season, allowing them to basically get a bonus free season after four or five years?

What my inquiry boils down to: does the typical contract specify an episode number and Haven just an oddball? If not, why on earth hasn't this been employed more frequently, especially for a show that's legitimately popular and wildly successful, something Haven arguably is not. I could understand the tactic not working on a standard network 22-episode season show... but for all these cable 13 ep season shows, a 'normal' show basically has twice the number of episodes each season, meaning these cable shows could be getting two seasons (22-26 episodes) for every one contractual season.

PhantomStranger

I bet the actors aren't too happy about this, the five-season clauses in most talent contracts were the unofficial causes of why their series never ran past five years. Actors gets very expensive after that point.

It's Christmas in January for Haven's fans. If any show needed another 26 episodes, it was Haven.

Pizza

I don't agree with the tactic, but I wouldn't be surprised if the actors were happy to get more work even at old pay.

Abob Teff

Didn't AMC do this?







Maybe they did ...

Xiroteus

Basically season five and six. Still twice as much as we normally would get within a year so cool!

TheKing

There are a lot of actors in these cable shows that only agree to do them because of the shorter schedule. Jessica Lange on American Horror Story and Kevin Bacon on The Following come to mind. So this type of plan doesn't work with every show.

There's also the idea that the writers and producers make these 13 episode arcs and then want a sreak so they can start working on the next one instead of just jumping into it right away.

Finally, there's the network themselves. Say they renew a show for 26 episodes here, but the first 13 suck and the show completely tanks in the ratings? It's not as big a deal in the cable world as cable almost never pulls shows early, but this could be a HUGE issue in Network TV. Remember The Drew Carey Show? The show got renewed for 2 more seasons, but during the first one the ratings tanked and the show was burned off during the summer. Then they still had another season they had to film and air.

DJariya

1st promo for the supersized 5th season

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CR0QwGGZdY0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

stvn1974

I love this show and can't wait until my season 4 blu-ray set arrives on Friday. Emily Rose looks a lot better with her new longer hair. Hopefully they can give us a good series finale if they decide to end it after these 26 episodes.

Tom Banjo

Interesting that the show is moving to Thursdays after 4 years of being on Fridays. Usually the other way around.

LaxBandit

Well come October 2, they get their lead-in back as WWE's Smackdown moves from Friday nights to Thursday nights - 8:00 pm ET-10:00 pm ET.

PhantomStranger

I can't wait for another season of Haven.