If Terra Nova isn't a big hit it won't stick around. It's not Primeval, it needs a lot of viewers.

I seriously doubt they'd fail to air all the episodes they have, though. I can't picture it doing THAT bad.



The Jedi Master

I just watched one from 2009, produced by Ron Moore (new BSG, Voyager, DS9...)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuality_(TV_series)

Called Virtuality, the story of the first human interstellar spaceship. It was to go to a nearby star just to explore, but rapid rising sea levels threaten human survival, so they are going to nearby star to see if its habitable. Mission is 10 years, story starts off just before abort point/slingshot maneuver, followed by an advanced propulsion system that seems to consist of consecutive thermonuke explosions.
The crew spends much of its free time in their own virtual spaces, in part to keep from going mad.

Problem: it was never picked up. Only the pilot was filmed. It had many similarities to Defying Gravity, yet had a diferent flavor. I still prefer Defying and am pissed they didnt get the chance to finish it, but Virtuality is worth a look (I torendz it).

At least the Virtuality pilot was aired. Ron's pilot for Precinct 17 was not picked up by NBC and of course Caprica only lasted 20 episodes. RDM hasn't had much luck since BSG ended.

Well, as I understand it, TV industry has become a downright brutal industry, so I'm not that surprised. And with scifi chanel being that Scyfy or whatever, suggests a particularly hostile market for this kind of content.

Look at the industry history of Babylon 5 for instance...during its ENTIRE run, it was in danger of cancellation.

an I the only one who enjoyed Terminator SCC?

No, I came to really like that show. Wish it hadn't gotten cancelled, things were really picking up for it.

Terminator shared the same tendency as so many other cancelled series. It got good just as they cancelled it. Whether it's the fault of the writers, the actors, or (since they have ultimate responsbility) the exec producers, the shows all seemed to hit their stride AFTER viewers gave up on it and the fix was just too late. I won't say too little, because in the case of some, like Enterprise, it was a major improvement.

The first seasons of many of these 2-season shows that failed were universally a lot poorer than their second season, and universally the 1st half of the 2nd season wasn't as good as the last. Dollhouse, the end of the 2nd season blew away the first 1.5 (aside from the very end with the 10 yr jump, put in I think because Joss knew the show was ending and he wouldn't get a "Serenity" style film to wrap). V, the end of the 2nd season was quite good. Terminator, things were going great at the end of S2.

Single season shows likewise hit their strides mid-season or later, but also too late. Firefly, the first time I saw it, live in 2002, didn't grab me until about ep 6 or 7 (I skipped a couple of the previous ones because it hadn't grabbed me). I think Fox should've aired that 2 hr pilot before the series, Train Job was a good ep but a lousy pilot. Caprica's first 10 eps did nothing for me. It was like the stuff that could've been flashbacks in BSG...good but didn't stand on its own enough. The last 10 eps were better, but really it was the last 5 that stepped up, the ones that didn't air until AFTER it was cancelled.

Let's face it, The X-Files would've lasted MAYBE 2 years if it had first aired after 2005.




The Jedi Master

We scifi fans are very lucky and should be grateful that Babylon 5 aired when it did. Had it been a show that debuted post-2000 it would have been cancelled fairly quickly.

Or Budweiser

Syfy isn't far behind