OT: Totally P!ssed off at UPN

Captain Kwok · #1 February 7th, 2005, 08:48 PM

Some simple facts:

$1.6 million per episode
Currently 3 million viewership, down from 10-12 million first season
Bad timeslot, against shows of same genre etc, dividing "tune-in" audience
Poor advertising
Divisions in the fan base

Even a really good 4th season couldn't save this ship.

Atrocities · #2 February 7th, 2005, 09:14 PM

Kwok is of coure 100% correct in his post.

It all boils down to cold hard cash.

geoschmo · #3 February 7th, 2005, 09:36 PM

This is the curse of TV sci-fi from the old days of Trek TOS and the original Battlesta Galactica. The need for fancy sets, makeup and special effects makes them way more expensive then the typical hour drama. The audience that is interested in sci-fi in any form is a fraction of the overall TV viewing audience. Revenue is based on ratings, but even decent ratings that would mean renewal for a sitcom or a character driven drama aren't good enough for a show with a scifi budget. Higher costs and lower potential for profits, it's really a wonder that any sci-fi show makes it.

This is one of the reasons Stargate has lasted as long as it has. Mostly planetary settings and almost all the aliens are humans too. Atlantis is a big depature from that formula, but Stargate has been around long enough now to have established a solid fan base. Even so I suspect the new series is not nearly as profitable as the original.

I am hopeful that as the computer technology advances and comes down in price, we can break out of this cycle and some sci-fi series that don't get spectacular ratings right off the bat can last long enough to develop an audience. I'd like to see some variety too. How about a sci-fi comedy series? I think there's an audience for it, if you could keep the costs down.

Suicide Junkie · #4 February 7th, 2005, 10:16 PM

So, if we make a show based on SE5 combat replays and voiceovers, we should be rolling in profitability...

geoschmo · #5 February 7th, 2005, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Suicide Junkie said:
So, if we make a show based on SE5 combat replays and voiceovers, we should be rolling in profitability...

Well, that would cetainly keep costs down. But to be profitable you still have to have some revenues.

Although, it might be fun to make a quicktime sci-fi movie like that. We could interlace scenes of starfury with overhead views from the Se4 combat replay. And for dialog you could make up some chesey animation using the race pics. I'll start on the storyboards for "Rise of the Rhemoraz Society".

Azselendor · #6 February 8th, 2005, 01:53 AM

And Reality shows will never end....

Suicide Junkie · #7 February 8th, 2005, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Klvino [ORB] said:
And Reality shows will never end....

This week! Atrocities, Geo, Fyron and SJ compete to make the biggest and best combat sequence using nothing but PPBs and Meson Blasters! The winner gains a crucial immunity as we get down to the wire, and will be critical for deciding who gets voted off the PBW server during saturday's 2-hour special!

Atrocities · #8 February 8th, 2005, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Suicide Junkie said:
So, if we make a show based on SE5 combat replays and voiceovers, we should be rolling in profitability...

The idea that we could export the combat in an AVI format so we could edit it would be a must have option for SEV. Included are multiple angles and such.

We could make our own mini-series. The Combat Wars!

Starhawk · #9 February 10th, 2005, 08:27 PM

A message from UPN to me after I wrote them:

Hello,

Thank you for writing to UPN. The STAR TREK legacy has spanned nearly four decades and has spawned five television series. Ten years ago, STAR TREK: VOYAGER was instrumental in helping launch UPN.

The latest incarnation, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, has reached the culmination of its journey. This painstaking decision came after it was recognized that despite having many loyal fans like you, the audience for the show was declining steadily. Therefore, ENTERPRISE is set to decommission and will be given a grand send-off on Friday, May 13th at 8 PM ET/PT on UPN.

This does not mean that STAR TREK is gone forever. Paramount, the studio that produced all five television series and ten feature films, is looking forward to the next chapter of the STAR TREK saga.

We know that this information may not make you feel any better but we want you to know how much we appreciate your input and we sincerely hope that you will continue to share your thoughts with us in the future.

Cordially,
UPN

Atrocities · #10 February 10th, 2005, 09:28 PM

Oh for the love of God. I would say they just treid to blow smoke up your arse Starhawk. Simply put UPN could not rise up the class of viewer that Enterprise brought in, and more and more educated views were turned off my the second grade programing that they were running. You never give up your flag ship series unless your so frickin broke, like UPN.

This is like firing a journeyman worker and replacing him with six mexicans. (No offense)