Nonsense. The people who loved it always loved it, and they loved it to the very end. 99% of the threads may have talked about the show's failings. But 99% of the POSTS didn't. I know, because I was one of the people on here defending the show. The show may have had some weak points, but I don't know of a single show that doesn't. Not one. They ALL have their weak points. Shows are really a matter of personal taste, not whether it has failings, because they all do. The big party poopers with nothing better to do with their time but complain about a show when they could simply have changed the channel, are sadly mainly the people who chose to come on here and start threads. That doesn't mean that people who liked the show were outnumbered by any stretch of the imagination. In fact although the majority of the threads may have been complaining, most of the posts inside them were people defending the show against one or two, nothing-better-to-do-than-spoil-things-for-others naysayers.
The show may not have been sheer perfection (no show is) but I loved it. It was family friendly, had interesting characters, interesting plots, nice special effects, and gorgeous scenery. I, like many many others, watched it to the very last episode and never missed a minute.
So in conclusion, there's no need to sarcastically remind those who are "boo-hooing" why it was canceled. Because they are not the same people who were complaining on this board to begin with. Those people, such as yourself, are STILL happy it was canceled. But apparently even that isn't good enough for you. You have to come on here and rub Terra Nova lovers' noses in it.
You wanted it canceled, now it's canceled. Mission accomplished. I suggest you move on with your life.
If you have one, that is.
reply
share
doktorf
12 years ago
I'm inclined to agree with the OP that the show was average writing wise, but I don't think that is the reason it was canceled. It had declining ratings and it cost a lot to produce, as simple as that.
I just watched the whole series. I was very impressed by it visually, I liked the acting performances from pretty much everyone. The writing annoyed me again and again. People seemed to have obscure motivations or sometimes none at all for doing things. I kept on telling myself that this or that will eventually be explained and most of them were not. I myself am a writer. I don't make the kind of dough that the people who wrote this show do, but I'm not afraid to say that I could write circles around them.
I understand that this wasn't intended to be a super "thinky" show. It doesn't have to be hyper intellectual to satisfy me, it just has to connect the dots. If a character is supposed to be smart, they should *act* smart.
I will grant that it could have improved in later seasons. Imagine if we only had the first twelve episodes of Star Trek, the Next Generation to judge the series by! Things do tend to find their groove, but that never happened here.
reply
share
LAHLAHPO
12 years ago
I do agree that the show should have been given more time. I don't agree that the writing was average. For a book, yes. But this was not a book, it was a TV show. I watched this show to be entertained, and I was immensely. And I honestly don't believe that the ratings were as low as they made them out to be. They just weren't quite as high as they would have liked and were looking for a reason.
The problem with people coming on to message boards like this and criticizing every possible aspect of a show is that sometimes the networks' big wigs are reading this. And sometimes they're foolish enough to actually take the words seriously. So instead of those of us who really enjoyed the show getting to continue watching it, It got canceled because it didn't hold up to the standards of people who wanted to completely dissect every second of it and every frame. You're a writer. You said so yourself. That simple fact means that your opinion about a simple TV show cannot be taken seriously. Because any TV show that you watch would be held to standards that are too high.
I'm not sure what situations you're referring to when you said that characters did things seemingly without motivation, but I can't recall a single thing happening and never finding out why some point.
And frankly I have to say, I'm actually a little bitter. People like the op and possibly yourself are the reason the show got canceled. At least in my opinion it is. And it's not enough that it's been canceled. They want to come on here and continue to rub people's noses in it.
The bottom line is this, I feel it was a great show. I enjoyed it tremendously. I watched the marathon and loved it just as much as when it aired on Fox. People can pick it apart and call it out on it's supposed mistakes all they like. But Terranova fans don't feel the same way. Where you see a show that wasnt good, we see something different. No amount of words are ever gonna change that.
reply
share
doktorf
12 years ago
I don't see anything wrong with holding television to high standards. TV should be as good as it possibly can be and occasionally a show will come along that will rise to very high standards of writing and plotting. In the SF genre I already mentioned STNG which was lucky enough to survive its shaky first season. Firefly, which had spectacularly tight and inventive scripting did not. It suffered the fate that a lot of shows that start out on the Fox network do and no one else picked it up in time to continue it. I don't know that a show can sink or swim on the basis of writing. Honestly I think as many good shows suffer early cancellation as bad ones and that the quality of the product is not a factor that looms large in the eyes of Television execs. Quality is a bonus that has nothing to really do with the bottom line.
Terra Nova wasn't that bad a show, but I don't know that it wouldn't have been canceled even if it had been a whole lot better and the sort of things that keep a show on the air wouldn't have been affected even if it had been a whole lot worse, but still had them.
I don't know for sure of course, but my gut says you are wrong about studio execs reading these boards. Creative producers, show runners, writers probably do to some degree. Those people care about what fans think, but studio execs likely don't give a rat's ass. They are doing by the numbers.
reply
share
LAHLAHPO
12 years ago
Yeah that's probably true. I mean about the network execs going straight by the numbers. When you put it like that I guess it does sound a little silly that a bunch of suits sitting around are gonna consider the comments of a few fans.
But I did want to say that my brother is a writer. And my grown nephew is also a writer. They're both very involved in their craft. And the problem with writers like them and yourself holding a show to high standards is that your standards are too high. The regular average viewer simply does not think the way a writer thinks.
Believe me I know. I've had dizzying hours-long conversations with both but my brother and my nephew many times over the years. And I can tell you for a fact, that the average viewer thinks absolutely nothing like a writer. As long as things make sense for us, are interesting, and have all the other needed components to enjoy a show, we are happy. But not the viewer who is also a writer :-). No, for them it's an hour of analyzation LOL. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just that the viewer who is also a writer needs to remember that most people do not see a TV program the way they do. And they may be enjoying it thoroughly when you're not.
I guess it was wrong of me to try to blame unhappy viewers for the cancellation of the show. Although, I still don't see why they don't just change the channel.
But after giving thought to your statement about the network execs and learning more about the situation itself, I realize now that the Terra nova numbers really weren't all that bad. The problem I think was that the network bigwigs were hoping for HUGE ratings in proportion to the huge spending that was being done on the show. When that didn't happen right away they axed it whether viewers protested or not. I think theyre really the ones to blame here. Because shows with worse ratings have stayed on the air, they just did the math and didnt like what they saw. And I really do hold it against them. Yes I understand this is a business about money. But that money doesn't come in if viewers feel disloyal to your network. Giving at least SOME consideration to viewer opinion is financially savvy. Unfortunately, I don't think they are going to realize this until it's too late.
But anyway, Ive enjoyed talking to you. You're very much like my nephew and brother. And you've been very respectful & sweet :-)
reply
share
zombiehax
11 years ago
bump
Fact: 31.5% of IMDb users wanted Avatar to win Best Picture.
Fact: 31.5% of IMDb users are idiots.
reply
share