Somewhat indirectly related, Mutant X and Andromeda have just been canceled
as the production company Fireworks closes due to rising debt and reduced US demand for "such shows".
More airtime for cheap, annoying reality shows I guess.

[ edited by TaraLivesOn on 2004-04-28 11:47 ]

TaraLivesOn | April 28, 13:43 CET

I think it might be good for Sci-Fi shows to go away for a while. Let reality shows burn themselves out. I admit, I watched my fair share of them, but now I find myself bored to tears with them.

In a few years I think Sci-Fi shows will be back and better than ever. And hopefully one of them will be led by a certain fellow.

prufrock | April 28, 15:07 CET

I'm not that suprised about Mutant X and Andromeda. I used to be an avid Andromeda watcher, but this last season didn't hold my attention while I had other things to do so I stopped watching, and Mutant X has been dead for a while as far as I'm concerned. Still, it is sad about Fireworks. Their shows could be really great a lot of the time, whereas most companies can only hope for great some of the time.

redtenko | April 28, 18:28 CET

I started losing "faith" in tv when Farscape was cancelled. My faith continues to dwindle as more and more of the good shows (like Angel and Wonderfalls) get the ax and even more "reality" shows crop up.

Tracy | April 28, 18:35 CET

I hate that term "reality tv". There's nothing realistic about any of it. Even the more "normal" RT programs, like "Queer Eye", while good, I have yet to have 5 gay guys come over and redecorate my house and buy me a new wardrobe. It would be SO COOL if that really did happen in real life though. If anyone was in need of a re-do, it's me :-)

WilliamTheBloody | April 28, 18:38 CET

Oh, I agree....not that you need a re-do...sorry :) I agree that reality tv is anything but realistic. I hate it.

Tracy | April 28, 19:45 CET

The backlash has already begun here in the UK.

A recent survey has shown that the viewing public are sick of reality television. They have no problem with the originals such as Big Brother and Pop Idol but are becoming extremely annoyed with the constant offshoots and copies that are getting cheaper and more badly thought out by the day.

We just had a reality show here in the UK that followed taxi drivers on the late night club runs. Basically what you get is to watch really drunk people in the back of a taxi on a Friday night! Thrilling!!!

Nice to know that the backlash has already begun though because i honestly don't fancy a few years of nothing but reruns and dvd's of my current shows whilst the tv network execs get the message, everything in moderation. I've no problem with reality shows existing for those who want them but not at the expense of everything else.

The Arcane | April 28, 19:48 CET

That's a re-do of a cable show called "Taxi Cab Confessions". They even made fun of that one on the Simpsons.

WilliamTheBloody | April 28, 19:56 CET

A sizeable chunk of these shows' viewing audiences are going to go into a sort of hibernation or withdrawal from TV in general, I think. The networks regard sci-fi as 'niche' programming, but with the popularity of video games and blockbuster genre movies nearing an all-time high there are a lot more people who watch shows like Angel, Farscape, etc. than I believe the Nielsens accurately indicate.

Those disaffected viewers will be wandering away to other activities that don't include broadcast TV programming. And being better entertained elsewhere, they may well never return.

The networks wonder why their audience is going away, yet they don't do anything to change the patterns that are making loyal viewers stop watching them. Isn't that funny?

Wiseblood | April 28, 22:25 CET

I was away on vacation for three weeks visiting family in Montana. We just got back a few days ago. We did not watch tv at all and frankly, I did not miss it except for Angel and a couple other shows. I returned to find Wonderfalls cancelled...which totally stinks. Right now I feel out of the loop in terms of the shows I missed. I have no clue what is going on. But with the lack of quality programming on tv right now, it certainly won't be hard to stop watching altogether.

Tracy | April 28, 22:28 CET

After Angel is gone, all that I'll watch is The Sopranos. That's it, 1 hour a week. I was a TV freak growing up. I can sing you the theme songs to Silver Spoons, Growing Pains, Facts of Life, Family Ties...Did I just give way my age? Anyway, network TV sucks so bad right now, I don't think I'll ever come back.

Rebecca | April 28, 23:22 CET

I think we're being led to believe the networks are losing revenue because of lower audiences. Reality tv is cheaper to produce, and even when lukewarm it offers similar or better ratings than what you and I prefer. This is what we're being led to believe.

Only a few decades ago, there were what we now call 'quiz shows' all over the dial. This is what reality tv basically is today. There used to be a show called "Stop the Clock" which would ask contestants to do outrageous stunts in a short period of time for prizes and to compete with other contestants. Today we have Fear Factor. Though the bar has been raised, it's roughly the same thing. Let's Make A Deal used to make people dress in silly costumes and make fools of themselves for the camera. Today the silliness goes far beyond that of mere costumes. What they call reality tv today, is just a bunch of glorified game shows. Game shows are fun, but they've never really been competition for scripted programs in a very long time, until the past half decade or so. Survivor changed all of that.

Reality tv only requires producers. It does not require writers. It does not require actors. It does not even REQUIRE set designers, although there is a noticeable difference in visuals for the challenges and endgames between Survivor and a blatant clone. There is less certainty with a scripted performance, because so many factors (some outside the actual production like social trends, viewing habit trends and even corporate or government politics) influence whether or not a certain show becomes popular at the time it's aired. However, much of the success of a reality based tv series depends on the advertising. If they can make it sound enough like the cover of the National Enquirer, people WILL tune in. If you swill it, they will come.

Why is that? Because reality television appeals to the voyeur in all of us. The busybody neighbor that has an insatiable curiosity about what's going on behind closed doors across the street. When complete strangers succeed, we cheer on the sidelines, and when they fail we snicker and make snide comments and deep down we feel but for the grace of God go I.

Scripted television, when done properly, is art that appeals to the best of human nature. It makes us laugh and cry and think. Reality television can do that too, but more often than not it appeals to the more feral and base aspects of human nature. The seven deadlies, as it were. It's also easier for us to identify with the players, because they're more like us. They're not superstars on Survivor or Extreme Makeover. They're people like you and me in extreme circumstances within which we can imagine ourselves. I can't relate to someone like Tom Cruise or Jodi Foster - they don't even seem human to most of us because they're in this entirely different world where certain things matter and other things don't - quite Bizarro World compared to you and me. However I can relate with Boston Rob or Adam the Bachelor or some American Idol wannabe. I even auditioned for Big Brother Three. Didn't get in obviously, but I could have. You could have.

It's more attainable, these reality tv fantasies, so it caters to an almost insatiable unconscious desire in so many people for fame and glory and notoriety without any real effort. To be a flash in the pan. To really honestly get that fifteen minutes of fame Andy Warhol promised everybody, and to make those fifteen minutes count. That's a part of the American Dream.. And it's also a hollow thing but it's there.

Maybe not everyone reading these words can relate, but I bet a lot of you can. That's what producers of reality tv are trying to find in every viewer: vanity. greed. lust. envy. gluttony... The Seven Deadlies make the rockin tv dial go around. You can see that on Angel, but it's much more provacative and in your face on Survivor, which is why Survivor survives and Angel is flying away.

We don't have to like it. We do need to understand it. That will make it easier to combat it. Every time you watch a reality show, you're contributing to the forces that are taking jobs away from actors and writers and creative artists, and giving them to producers and people who go for pomp and circumstance over substance. And hey. There's nothing wrong with that. Necessarily. I do it too. Just know what you're doing, and how that affects things on a scale much greater than you can see right in front of you.

ZachsMind | April 29, 18:34 CET