What Do the Networks Need to Do....?

[annericelover]

I had a thought, with shows from the past and present being given the axe so soon before they are given the chance to show their potential(mainly due to studios not wanting to shell out the money for a show they are not sure of)I figured why not ask the fans, the ones who actually sit down, watch these shows and than are given the FU when a series is canceled with a cliffhanger.

Several shows within the past few years(Tru Calling, Bionic Woman, My Own Worse Enemy, Knight Rider 2008)have been given the axe before an audience has really been able to embrace them. Some shows(Las Vegas, Flash Gordan) succeed to some extent or another, but are canceled anyway. This is causing TV to suck big time and reality shows to dominate the TV Stations.

I don't believe that doing every single thing we want is the answer, but maybe if the writers and execs at the studios listen to our ideas, maybe a series could last longer than a few episodes.

[Guest DCAUFan1051]

wouldn't this be the same as your thread on the shows that got the biggest FU?

[annericelover]

wouldn't this be the same as your thread on the shows that got the biggest FU?

Not really, besides I don't remember making a thread about shows that got the biggest FU

[Venneh]

It's a ways back.

And it's not the networks that are the problem, really. It's the audience.

If people keep on watching lowest common denominator shows, those are the shows that the networks are going to produce.

[Nicolette Opal]

It's a ways back.

And it's not the networks that are the problem, really. It's the audience.

If people keep on watching lowest common denominator shows, those are the shows that the networks are going to produce.

Ahh, a girl after my own heart :happy:

Fans of any show need to rally around it when it debuts, not when it's on the chopping block or already in the shitter. That's just counter-productive, in most cases.

[Guest DCAUFan1051]

wouldn't this be the same as your thread on the shows that got the biggest FU?

Not really, besides I don't remember making a thread about shows that got the biggest FU

here's the thread I was referring Shows That Had Messed Up Cancellations

[Venneh]

It's a ways back.

And it's not the networks that are the problem, really. It's the audience.

If people keep on watching lowest common denominator shows, those are the shows that the networks are going to produce.

Ahh, a girl after my own heart :happy:

Fans of any show need to rally around it when it debuts, not when it's on the chopping block or already in the shitter. That's just counter-productive, in most cases.

The problem is, a show doesn't always turn out good right away, and people might not watch it on TV.

Take Dollhouse. It took six episodes to get good, and at this point, I'm still watching it on Hulu, because while it's good, I don't want to have to go out of my way to try and find a TV out here to watch it on. (We only have cable TV in the lounges, and some of the TV lounges they've converted into rooms because they don't have enough room to house people.)

[Molly]

They need to throw piles and piles of fucking money at Christopher McCulloch.

[annericelover]

Actually all the shows I mentioned I did watch from the beginning. Tru Calling was the only show I missed out on because it wasn't advertised enough. My Own Worse Enemy, Knight Rider 2008, Dollhouse, Bionic Woman & a few others I saw in the beginning and tried my best to get the word out on what I thought.

Harper's Island is a show that debuted last night and while only one episode isn't enough to say its a great show, it may have potential. It comes on CBS on Thursdays at 10pm. Here is the wiki link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Island

[JackFetch]

There are a lot of reasons why this happens, but it all comes down to money. It costs millions to make a show these days, and if the audience isn't there right away then why keep making it? That's why there are so many reality shows. They are cheap to make.

The studios have been relying on the same business model since the television was invented. You make a show, and sell the commercial time to make up the cost. That doesn't work as well as it used to so now they try product placement. That doesn't work either as you can see with Knight Rider.

Until someone finds another way of making money without relying on advertisers it's just going to get worse. How many internet only shows have you seen with the same kind of quality as regular TV? There has to be a revenue model there right? Maybe they need to get into the cable business and sell subscriptions to a whole bunch of digital programing not available anywhere else except their online service. It can't be crap though, it needs to be stuff of the same quality as what I get on my tv now, with actual stars that I've heard of.

[KnightWing]

Until someone finds another way of making money without relying on advertisers it's just going to get worse. How many internet only shows have you seen with the same kind of quality as regular TV? There has to be a revenue model there right? Maybe they need to get into the cable business and sell subscriptions to a whole bunch of digital programing not available anywhere else except their online service. It can't be crap though, it needs to be stuff of the same quality as what I get on my tv now, with actual stars that I've heard of.

That is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I mean, even with all the popularity and support that Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog got (including soundtrack and DVD sales), they just barely broke even, and a lot of the cast worked on it for free. In order for online distribution to work, it has to have an already-installed support base that's bigger than anything Joss Whedon has. George Lucas aside, I don't think anyone else has that kind of power.

TV airing is still the way to go at this point, since it can generate huge profits. At the very least, we're still getting a lot of these shows online as well as on TV, right? So we're getting the best of both worlds at this point.

[JackFetch]

Until someone finds another way of making money without relying on advertisers it's just going to get worse. How many internet only shows have you seen with the same kind of quality as regular TV? There has to be a revenue model there right? Maybe they need to get into the cable business and sell subscriptions to a whole bunch of digital programing not available anywhere else except their online service. It can't be crap though, it needs to be stuff of the same quality as what I get on my tv now, with actual stars that I've heard of.

That is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I mean, even with all the popularity and support that Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog got (including soundtrack and DVD sales), they just barely broke even, and a lot of the cast worked on it for free. In order for online distribution to work, it has to have an already-installed support base that's bigger than anything Joss Whedon has. George Lucas aside, I don't think anyone else has that kind of power.

TV airing is still the way to go at this point, since it can generate huge profits. At the very least, we're still getting a lot of these shows online as well as on TV, right? So we're getting the best of both worlds at this point.

It's not that expensive. Dr. Horrible didn't have anyone behind it except Wheden and it did make enough money to pay everyone just on dvd sales. It only cost $200,000 to make. That's very cheap compared to a network show. The networks already have everything they would need anyways, so that would cut down costs. They already have an online distribution network since almost every network streams their shows in high def for free now. They already have cameras, equipment, and sound stages. They have been making internet only shows for awhile, they just don't treat it like they do tv shows.

TV is going to end up like newspapers if they continue to use the same way of making money. I'm not saying my idea is what they should do, but at least it's an idea that's different.

[NightAngle04]

There are just so many different ways that a person can watch a television show nowadays. Ratings for shows will get worse and worse.