MovieChat Forums > Almost Human (2013) Discussion > You can't save every show.

You can't save every show.

posted 11 years ago by MoneyMagnet
3 replies | jump to latest

I've been watching sci-fi on TV for a long time. Maybe before a lot of y'all were even born. I have seen sci-fi come and go. I have seen a lot of GOOD sci-fi come and go. I have been involved in show-saving campaigns, now and again, since back before there was an Internet - back when it was all done via the U.S. mail. And I have also learned when a show isn't gonna get saved no matter what fans do.

And the fact is: Probably 90-95% of "save our show" campaigns don't work.

It's important for fans to understand their true role in what few successful show-saving campaigns there are.

The #1 rule of whether a show can be saved is: Someone powerful at the network has to LIKE the show. A lot.

And you can send in all the gummy bears, angry letters, and inspiring tweets that you want, but unless you have that condition #1 fulfilled, fan efforts to save a show is just impotent wheel-spinning and energy wasted.

But if conditions are right - see point #1 about the network actually liking their own show, and many other conditions beyond our control besides - that is when a fan effort is an integral part of it.

Your job as fans is to make network heads feel good about a decision they already really, really want to make. That is ALL you can do, and that is a very important thing TO do.

NOBODY at a network EVER says "We're gonna save this show because fans did a tweetout." Yet, the tweetouts were very important encouragements to the network and the producers who had to strike a deal. But they were not a CAUSE of anything.

There are a lot of Almost Human fans who were Fringe fans and partook in some for the fan efforts for Fringe. It's disappointing to see the angry, legend-in-their-own-minds behavior re Almost Human that SOME of them seem to have (ie, nasty comments and so forth) because it's clear that these fans never really grasped what happened with Fringe, and why that show was brought to a successful and satisfying conclusion, and why the fan effort was so inspiring and actually helpful.

It was inspiring because it was a well-judged effort for a show that actually stood a chance of being saved. It was a supportive effort for a fight that the show's creators and the network suits were already prepared to engage in. The fans worked WITH the creators and network suits. They acted like grownups. They tried to understand the TV industry and what the network needed to make it work. There was none of this foot-stomping tantrum, "WE R THE FANZ, U MUST OBEY US" crap. What happened? I don't know, maybe fans really aren't that smart. Maybe the way they acted with Fringe was a fluke. Maybe the smarter, more mature, cannier fans are no longer involved.

I thought Almost Human had a bunch of passionate fans and that's great, but being a passionate fan and being disappointed is part of the game.

I didn't think Almost Human stood a great chance of being renewed (and in the end it came down to deals that didn't go through). It was clear, from the start, that Fox didn't really feel great about the show. It also wasn't hitting on all cylinders. It wasn't getting critics' attention (still crucial for save-our-show efforts).

I would hope that fans would dump the anger and channel it into constructive things if they REALLY have a passion for Almost Human. Look at what the Firefly fans did with their passion. You don't have to love Fox either, but it's astonishing that some of the same fans who were singing Fox's praises 2 years ago about Fringe now are wishing harm on Kevin Reilly. REALLY?

You win some, you lose some. Be constructive.

[–] Ashok18 11 years ago

Well stated, Money. One of the most intelligent posts I've seen on this board.

[–] Celtic-Tyger 11 years ago

The two cases where fans did save some shows. But then even those shows, didn't last after being renewed.

The oldest one of course was the original Star Trek, fan campaign. Which many people believe was lead by Bjo Trimble, but it was more than likely Gene Roddenberry behind that one. There was a lot of compromising, and we got another season of Star Trek. But by comparison, it was lacking compared to the others. It was also a shortened one.

Which reminds me of Jericho. Fans emails nuts to the network, in part due to a quote in series. That campaign worked, we got Jericho back. The writing was vastly different. The pace of the show changed, and it's cancelled as well.

Firefly and Almost Human, were never given a chance by Fox. Yet it's hard to blame them. The V reboot was cancelled as well. Because production costs increased.

In my personal opinion, the reason for V and Almost Human being cancelled, has been the changes within the Downtown Vancouver core. It moved from being almost solely businesses. To a mix of business, entertainment and converting office space to residential.

When I worked down there on weekends, it was eerie. Back then it was quiet, and sectioning off roads and sidewalks for movie/TV production was easy. Add in the infrastructure for the Olympics. It's become more costly over all, to set up a location for shooting.

In the current climate, Dark Angel wouldn't have gotten past season one.

...My mind has an endless capacity for useless information.

[–] MoneyMagnet 11 years ago

The oldest one of course was the original Star Trek, fan campaign. Which many people believe was lead by Bjo Trimble, but it was more than likely Gene Roddenberry behind that one. There was a lot of compromising, and we got another season of Star Trek. But by comparison, it was lacking compared to the others. It was also a shortened one.

The truth about Star Trek is, NBC had no real intention of cancelling the show after Season 2. I know that clashes with the legend, but while Trek may have been somewhat on the bubble, it was definitely not on the chopping block. But a campaign got started anyway, and it probably only encouraged NBC to do what they were probably already inclined to do anyway (but with the changes they made in Season 3).

If anyone gets the ME TV network, they actually show Star Trek episodes each week (Saturday nights) in the order that they aired in the Sixties, and it's an eye opener. They are currently in the middle of Season 3 and wow, it is tough to get through each week. When they jumble up the episodes in strip syndication, in no particular order, it's hard to remember how much Season 3 actually sucked.

By the time Season 3 was over, NBC didn't want the show any more and nobody talks about the "Save Star Trek" effort that year that *failed*.

But that sort of proves my point, that fan campaigns can really only be an adjunct activity to bolster what the network really wants to do. (Or, what someone at the network wants to do; remember, a variety of human beings run the networks and they probably have their own internal passions and debates.) And that's fine.

In the case of Almost Human, it kept throwing up red flag after red flag for me before it even got on the air. (I wanted to like it and support it, though)...

The pilot as aired was radically changed from the pilot as written. Not unusual, but -- a slight "uh-oh."

The original composer (Chris Tilton) suddenly was no longer on the project. Often the composer is the first thing to be changed when a studio isn't comfortable with a project. Not unusual, but... "hmmmm."

The co-showrunner (Naren Shankar) left. "Hmmm... uh-oh"

Fox abruptly moved back the premiere date after a huge ad push that had a different date. "UH-OH."

Fox decided to air episodes out of order. "UH-OH."

By the winter TV critics meeting, Fox was no longer even talking about Almost Human.

I was somewhat surprised it didn't get another 13, but not horribly shocked. Fox just didn't seem to really be enthused about the show. And it's next to impossible to "make" a network like something they've already written off.