Another One Becomes Extinct

The other day it was announced that Steven Spielberg's science fiction television show "Terra Nova" was being cancelled by Fox after one year. For those of you who didn't watch it (and, given the fact it was cancelled, I would guess that would be most of you, including myself) the premise was that in the future humanity had so screwed up the planet with over-population a group of people were sent all the way back to prehistoric times to start humanity over. You might think that if people were capable of time travel they would also figure out an easier way to improve air quality, or at least wait until after the asteroid which would eventually wipe out the dinosaurs had hit and the subsequent ice age had passed, but it is entirely possible that issue was address and I simply wasn't paying attention. It had the villain from "Avatar" basically playing the same role, but he was the only guy I recognized on the cast. I guess when you are spending all your money on CGI'd dinosaurs the money starts to get a little thin by the time casting rolls around. It was half "Jurassic Park" and half "Avatar" and if nothing else it just proved once again why "The Flintstones" was full of unrealistic promises.

Given that the show was very expensive to produce and the ratings were very low, it is not surprising that the show was cancelled. Hell, there isn't even an angry message board full of internet nerds trying to save it, which probably tells you all you need to know. I guess you could argue that the show isn't totally dead yet, as the show's producers are attempting to find a new network for the show to be shown on, but I wouldn't hold my breath. (In my opinion there is a natural fit should they want to continue. I mean, let's not over-think this: "Terra Nova" should be on the SyFy channel, where it belongs. However, given the campy level of special effects usually seen on their original programming I doubt they could afford the costs, so that should just about be the end of that.) Now, I certainly don't care that it was cancelled, because I didn't watch it before and I'm not going to start now, no matter what channel it is on. Still, I thought it was interesting that the show received such a short run because it had the backing of a guy like Spielberg, so you would have expected it to have a longer leash. I guess that speaks to the larger issue of putting a niche show on mainstream TV.

No one needs to look any further than Comic Con to see that there are plenty of science-fictions lovers out there. But, sci-fi is one of those things where you are either all the way in or all the way out - no one dips a toe in the nerd pool. (You may try and hide it but at the end of the day your inner dork is coming out, one way or another.) So, a show about time travel with humans and dinosaurs trying to coexist has lost a big chunk of the audience before they ever start. Anyone can be talked into checking out a detective drama because we all like to solve mysteries from the comfort of our own couches, but not nearly as many people are interested in a show which wants us to believe there are aliens walking among us. Not to mention, while a lot of sci-fi geeks think nothing of plopping down $300 bucks on a rare comic or a piece of movie memorabilia they aren't as likely to spend it on a car or jewelry which, just in case you haven't watched a commercial in a while, are among the big-ticket items advertisers love to try and sell you during prime time. I'm not saying that sci-fi fans are any more or less fanatical about the thing they love when compared to any other fan group, because there are conventions for all sorts of hobbies where people freely put down money on things 'outsiders' may think are silly. I'm just saying you don't see a show about it in the middle of your weekday, national TV line-up.

You have to give Fox credit - they keep trying with the science-fiction shows and they do it more than any other major network. Personally, I'm left to wonder why. Seriously, do these shows with confusing premises about ghosts, aliens, dinosaurs, alternate universes, killer robots or some kind of 'big brother' messing with people's lives ever last? Sure, they make for cool and successful movies, but it is one thing to create something which is only has to keep you entertained for two hours, it is entirely another to try and create something which needs to last for 20 episodes every year. By the time season two rolls around the plot starts to wear pretty thing. (This is where I remind a lot of people that the original "Star Trek", which is now celebrated as classic television, only lasted three seasons and never did all that well in the ratings.) I know that "Saturday Night Live" is on another channel, but someone over at NBC needs to explain to the people who green-light the shows at Fox what the people over at SNL have finally started to learn: you shouldn't attempt to make every sketch into a movie and not every movie idea can be converted into a television show. And for the love of God don't try to make a sketch into a TV show, because that is how we end up with crap like "Shit My Dads Says".