Star Trek Discovery

[Audubon Zed]

 

[JoeB131]

Babylon 5 wasn't cancelled. It was planned from the beginning for 5 seasons, which it got. It also had a bunch of spin-off content. Farscape was cancelled after 4 seasons, but that was in large part a budget issue: ScyFy didn't want to pay as much as the show cost. Of course, the content they tried to replace Farscape with failed completely and they eventually paid to have a final TV movie made. Firefly suffered from horrible advertising and mismanagement by Fox, broadcasting the episodes out of order. If the Firefly situation had happened today, I think one of the streaming services would have picked it up and we'd have gotten more seasons.

I didn't say that B5 was cancelled. And while it was planned for 5 season, they were originally going to cut it off at four, quickly wrap things up, and then they got a fifth season on TNT they probably shouldn't have bothered with. TNT then produced the spinoff Crusade and cancelled it before a single episode aired.

But you are right, Firefly and Farscape were great series completely mismanaged by Network Suits.

 

[Pilot1]

The unique trait of the original Star Trek series was its social examination of society, and issues of the time using the constant analogies. Also the technology which was kind a blueprint for computer nerds, and others to actually develop some of it. From desktop computers, to floppy disks, and other groundbreaking technology. It was truly remarkable.

 

[Montrovant]

Babylon 5 wasn't cancelled. It was planned from the beginning for 5 seasons, which it got. It also had a bunch of spin-off content. Farscape was cancelled after 4 seasons, but that was in large part a budget issue: ScyFy didn't want to pay as much as the show cost. Of course, the content they tried to replace Farscape with failed completely and they eventually paid to have a final TV movie made. Firefly suffered from horrible advertising and mismanagement by Fox, broadcasting the episodes out of order. If the Firefly situation had happened today, I think one of the streaming services would have picked it up and we'd have gotten more seasons.

I didn't say that B5 was cancelled. And while it was planned for 5 season, they were originally going to cut it off at four, quickly wrap things up, and then they got a fifth season on TNT they probably shouldn't have bothered with. TNT then produced the spinoff Crusade and cancelled it before a single episode aired.

But you are right, Firefly and Farscape were great series completely mismanaged by Network Suits.

As far as I know Crusade was broadcast on TNT, although apparently it was out of order, and only 13 of a planned 22 episodes. It sounds similar to the way Firefly was mismanaged, actually. There were also 2 or 3 B5 TV movies. My point was that your comment about a really good sci-fi show disappearing didn't seem to apply. None of the 3 shows you mentioned just disappeared. B5 had a good run for a sci-fi TV show, had a spin-off series at least partially aired, and had multiple TV movies made. Not bad for a show that apparently aired on a failed TV network (Prime Time Entertainment). Farscape had 4 seasons, then was brought back for a story completing mini-series 2 or 3 years later. Firefly didn't even last a season, but gained a huge following for a show that had one incomplete and aired out-of-order first season, and ended up getting a theatrical movie release with Serenity.

I still see occasional calls for Firefly to get a new season. I still see people talk about how groundbreaking Babylon 5 was for a sci-fi show, or just as a TV show in general. Of the 3 shows, Farscape is the one I'd say is closest to having just disappeared, as it never seemed to have the same sort of popularity/following of the other shows, and I don't see it discussed very often.

 

[JoeB131]

Babylon 5 wasn't cancelled. It was planned from the beginning for 5 seasons, which it got. It also had a bunch of spin-off content. Farscape was cancelled after 4 seasons, but that was in large part a budget issue: ScyFy didn't want to pay as much as the show cost. Of course, the content they tried to replace Farscape with failed completely and they eventually paid to have a final TV movie made. Firefly suffered from horrible advertising and mismanagement by Fox, broadcasting the episodes out of order. If the Firefly situation had happened today, I think one of the streaming services would have picked it up and we'd have gotten more seasons.

I didn't say that B5 was cancelled. And while it was planned for 5 season, they were originally going to cut it off at four, quickly wrap things up, and then they got a fifth season on TNT they probably shouldn't have bothered with. TNT then produced the spinoff Crusade and cancelled it before a single episode aired.

But you are right, Firefly and Farscape were great series completely mismanaged by Network Suits.

As far as I know Crusade was broadcast on TNT, although apparently it was out of order, and only 13 of a planned 22 episodes. It sounds similar to the way Firefly was mismanaged, actually. There were also 2 or 3 B5 TV movies. My point was that your comment about a really good sci-fi show disappearing didn't seem to apply. None of the 3 shows you mentioned just disappeared. B5 had a good run for a sci-fi TV show, had a spin-off series at least partially aired, and had multiple TV movies made. Not bad for a show that apparently aired on a failed TV network (Prime Time Entertainment). Farscape had 4 seasons, then was brought back for a story completing mini-series 2 or 3 years later. Firefly didn't even last a season, but gained a huge following for a show that had one incomplete and aired out-of-order first season, and ended up getting a theatrical movie release with Serenity.

I still see occasional calls for Firefly to get a new season. I still see people talk about how groundbreaking Babylon 5 was for a sci-fi show, or just as a TV show in general. Of the 3 shows, Farscape is the one I'd say is closest to having just disappeared, as it never seemed to have the same sort of popularity/following of the other shows, and I don't see it discussed very often.

I think the point I was making, and I'm sorry it got lost in the weeds, was that the unique situation of Star Trek developing a cult following that lead to SIX follow up series (if you count the animated series) and 13 movies was because of the unique situation of how it was rediscovered in syndication.

This is something that simply can't happen today.

 

[Montrovant]

Babylon 5 wasn't cancelled. It was planned from the beginning for 5 seasons, which it got. It also had a bunch of spin-off content. Farscape was cancelled after 4 seasons, but that was in large part a budget issue: ScyFy didn't want to pay as much as the show cost. Of course, the content they tried to replace Farscape with failed completely and they eventually paid to have a final TV movie made. Firefly suffered from horrible advertising and mismanagement by Fox, broadcasting the episodes out of order. If the Firefly situation had happened today, I think one of the streaming services would have picked it up and we'd have gotten more seasons.

I didn't say that B5 was cancelled. And while it was planned for 5 season, they were originally going to cut it off at four, quickly wrap things up, and then they got a fifth season on TNT they probably shouldn't have bothered with. TNT then produced the spinoff Crusade and cancelled it before a single episode aired.

But you are right, Firefly and Farscape were great series completely mismanaged by Network Suits.

As far as I know Crusade was broadcast on TNT, although apparently it was out of order, and only 13 of a planned 22 episodes. It sounds similar to the way Firefly was mismanaged, actually. There were also 2 or 3 B5 TV movies. My point was that your comment about a really good sci-fi show disappearing didn't seem to apply. None of the 3 shows you mentioned just disappeared. B5 had a good run for a sci-fi TV show, had a spin-off series at least partially aired, and had multiple TV movies made. Not bad for a show that apparently aired on a failed TV network (Prime Time Entertainment). Farscape had 4 seasons, then was brought back for a story completing mini-series 2 or 3 years later. Firefly didn't even last a season, but gained a huge following for a show that had one incomplete and aired out-of-order first season, and ended up getting a theatrical movie release with Serenity.

I still see occasional calls for Firefly to get a new season. I still see people talk about how groundbreaking Babylon 5 was for a sci-fi show, or just as a TV show in general. Of the 3 shows, Farscape is the one I'd say is closest to having just disappeared, as it never seemed to have the same sort of popularity/following of the other shows, and I don't see it discussed very often.

I think the point I was making, and I'm sorry it got lost in the weeds, was that the unique situation of Star Trek developing a cult following that lead to SIX follow up series (if you count the animated series) and 13 movies was because of the unique situation of how it was rediscovered in syndication.

This is something that simply can't happen today.

That's true enough. There's just so much content now that shows gaining popularity in syndication is almost impossible. Every other network and streaming service is creating their own series, so getting viewers to watch something previously broadcast elsewhere is a losing proposition. It's sure to create situations where good shows get lost in the clutter.