More Cancellation News, Comments...

[eregyrn]

The Solutions Blog is one of the places I go to look for updates, and they are doing a good job of rounding up coverage of all this:

http://stargate-sg1-solutions.com/blog/


New up there today are links to E! Online's article ("In a statement long on plaudits (i.e., “worldwide phenomenon”) and short on specifics, Sci Fi said it was canceling SG-1 because, well, it just was.")... Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune ("A shabby axing for an interstellar show.")... a very brief statement by MS...

And, of most substance, a link to TV Guide Insider, with the first statements from Brad Wright: "While executive producer Brad Wright tells TV Guide his "dream is to take SG-1 back to the feature it began as," we are now hearing that MGM may produce a series of TV-movies based on the mother-ship series." (n.b. I would feel better if the article confirmed from whom it was hearing the latter -- from BW? From Pryor at MGM, whom it then quotes? Or...?)

"Pondering the idea of at least one movie, Wright says that the show's finale — the last 10 episodes should begin unspooling around March — "should be a very satisfying end to the season, but not necessarily an end to SG-1 by any means."

Hmm.

ETA: From the Province, more words from RCC:

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/etoday/story.html?id=97d6273d-25d3-40f0-8e9f-9c023d0681d9&k=3150

"Cooper says a good guess would be an SG-1 miniseries, made-for-TV movie or even a feature. Good news for the 200-or-so crew that work on the show."


ETA2: Be sure to go look at fantasygoat's post today.

Comments

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Curious. I'm still hoping for the best. I just hate having anxiety over not knowing.

I could totally buy a few tv series movies with the original cast and then some. If large chunks of the cast are missing, that would be a bummer.

[paian]

Hmm indeed! Even though most of what we're getting to work with is snippets and rumors, I'm glad that there's been a fairly steady feed of additional input over these past couple of days. Studios like buzz, so buzz can bode well ... and it's nice to get fed, not to be stuck with nothing to chew on but the cancellation-news cud. Hope this continues, and leads into a real press-release statement from MGM by early next week.

[raven-lore.livejournal.com]

Writing a satisfying season/series finale keeping at the same time enough open doors for some sort of future incarnation won't be easy. Still, I've faith in them and, at least, they still have time to work on it. It would have been much worst if they had already filmed the whole season.

[rydra_wong]

FWIW, I can highly recommend a TV movie/mini as a way to get some closure and go out with a bang, while enjoying a sense of having achieved some sort of moral victory over Teh Ev0l that is Skiffy.

And past history does suggest that it's something that Skiffy are far more willing to shell out for than another season.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Indeed, all the stuff I'm seeing is pointing in that direction. (Link to new comments from RCC added above.)

I didn't even think it was a bad solution for FS. Only that, of course, the string of events that led to FS's cancellation, the cliff-hanger the tv series the show was ended on, and the uncomfortable lag between that end and confirmation of a mini-series conclusion -- those were the sucky things. And it just seemed like, in retrospect -- there was no need to treat it so shittily.

Even with what's on the table right now for SG-1, which has been... poorly handled, I still think it has fared better than FS did. *knock on wood*, though, because lord knows Skiffy could still screw up the handling of airing the second half. (A 6-month hiatus is bad enough, but better than FS's deal; yet I hesitate to try to imagine how Skiffy could "improve on" their clumsiness.)

It sounds like Skiffy is already saying in some of the articles above that they're all over the idea of airing SG-1 movies. Qu'el surprise.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Added another link above to further stuff from RCC, who's bolstering the movie/mini theory.

I think that the movie/mini approach could have pro's or cons.

Pro: concentrate budget and energy on a single product. Get a longer span of time in which to tell a cohesive story. Requires less of a committment from the cast. (I.e. cast members who may be unwilling or unable to sign up for an entire season may be able to do a movie/mini.) Also presumably cheaper than paying cast for an entire season.

Con: cast and crew both have to find other work in interim. Time for movie/mini rolls around, and some cast members may be committed elsewhere, and schedules don't mesh.

But at the moment, I'm looking on the bright side. Really.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

See above: just added another link to new comments by RCC. Pushing the news forward incrementally.

It's true, it seems as if there's a good bit of buzz about the cancellation. And I am pleased to see that just about every damned article that mentions it does not fail to mention the absolutely abysmal timing of the axe-drop, and to say WTF SciFi?

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Actually, I really don't think it ought to be difficult. I would point to "Moebius" as an example. Like many people, I thought that was a largely satisfying ending for classic SG-1. The Team on the dock, I mean. It felt good, it felt like an endpoint, but it was really pretty much completely open... as 2 more years' worth of show attest.

(It's not that Moebius is my *ideal* ending, mind you. It's not. So for this "real" ending, if that's how they decide to treat it, I'd sort of like something less mind-twisty and with a grander feel to it, I guess. Hard to explain. But anyway.)

And agreed, that they've been given warning, which is a really good thing. That is the only bright side to the timing of the announcement.

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

A movie rather than a mini-series would be my preference as a satisfying cheeseboard course to the whole thing. I wouldn't want to see it dragged out ad nauseam though. I may be on my own, but I'm still hanging desperately onto the 'quality not quantity' angle. If they can give us both, then a hearty WOOHOO, if not, then just let it lie.

fantasygoat's post looked very much like the cast for slacktwaddle's 2008 women of sci-fi calendar... what? Me? Cynical?

[surreallis.livejournal.com]

I'd still rather see it on for another season, but I'd be really up for the mini/movie thing if they could get RDA to do it. The Team back in all their glory would be the best possible outcome ever.

On the other hand, I also feel sort of nervous about it, like if we just let it all go... somehow the mini/movie thing might never materialize and suddenly everything will be gone and we'll have to rely on season 10 as the actual end. Which... meh.

But yes. Think positively because it sucks to feel depressed about a TV Show.

[rydra_wong]

Oh, the mini was a very good solution for Farscape, I think. It was the battle and the wait and the uncertainty that was so very painful.

And part of what made it so drawn-out was the fact that at the time of the cancellation, the Henson company was owned by a big media conglomerate which was in the middle of a financial meltdown (not sure how much of this you know already). So they weren't too bothered to lose a production with very high up-front costs, or at all interested in coming up with creative solutions.

It wasn't until Jim Henson's kids (Brian and siblings) bought back the company that things really started moving, and they were then able to put together a deal with Hallmark and a group of independent financiers (who'd had their interest sparked by the fan campaign) to fund the mini, and then sell it to Skiffy after that.

So it seems like the SG1 situation is very different, because MGM does seem to have a solid interest in getting some more out of the show, and the resources to do it right away.

Not to mention that Skiffy's now clearly aware that minis/movies can be a win-win.

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

I'd still rather see it on for another season, but I'd be really up for the mini/movie thing if they could get RDA to do it. The Team back in all their glory would be the best possible outcome ever.****

It would have to be the original four IMO. I wouldn't watch it otherwise. What would be the point?

[surreallis.livejournal.com]

Well, I meant the original four as the best outcome. But I'd watch the current incarnation if RDA didn't want to do it. It's not the same, but I'm okay with them.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

RDA would be like the icing on the cake!

I just think a movie/miniseries has a greater chance of having RDA and the rest of the cast if their schedules jived. I wouldn't mind another season, but I don't think it's going to happen.

I just want them to sign these people for possible something before they find other jobs and can't do it.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

thank you for the links. it's going to be interesting to see how they end the series...i hope they do it justice and don't leave us "hanging". meep.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I totally remember hearing about all of that. It's alllllll coming back to me...

And so, right -- there's another way that this situation is quite different. Immediately on the heels of the cancellation announcement, we get positive info from Bridge and from MGM being all supportive. It's really not at all like the limbo we were left in for FS. (And thank goodness, too.)

I feel a lot better than I did early in the week. I feel more resigned/accepting now. Now I can just focus a lot of my anxiety on "so, how will they end S10, then?" ;-)

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

No, I'm completely with you on the "quality versus quantity" angle. That's why I'm optimistically plumping for the movie/mini choice. At least in *theory*, it allows them to concentrate effort to produce something of quality. (Obviously, they can still bungle it; but I tend to be an optimistic person. :P ) Plus, I really think that the movie/mini has the potential to bring us back the Original Team, for a number of reasons. (Again: not necessarily; but I think it is a not-unreasonable hope with that format, whereas I don't think it's a hope at all with a new 20-ep season, so...)

*crossed fingers*

Also: *SNORT* (I haven't actually seen that calendar; but oh, I can imagine!)

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

*nods*

One of my problems with wishing for a S11 (although yes, in truth, that may be the best way to really finish telling the story) is that it only postpones the end of the show by a little bit. At most, truly, I ever only saw the show going one or two more years, even with the new life injected in it.

And that's where my realism kicks in. What network is going to pick up a show on those terms? I already really can't figure out what network is likely to pick it up at all.

So part of my lack of focus on a S11 is sort of self-protective.

Whereas, for a handful of reasons, the movie/mini option seems fairly realistic to me. It addresses budgetary problems (which are very real). It is an option that has been used successfully in the past, even the recent past. And it provides even greater flexibility -- as I remarked above, for a movie/mini, I can see them getting RDA and other guest-stars back, *and* having the time to tell a story that doesn't shortchange the expanded cast. As we were discussing earlier -- I don't for a moment think that RDA was considering coming back full-time for S11. But I can *totally* see him signing up for a projected of limited duration like this.

(I am extremely interested to see whether his presence -- IF THEY PROMOTE IT -- in the SGA two-parter, and in The Shroud or whatever SG-1 ep he does later, results in a similar ratings spike to what we saw for "200". I'm not betting on as high a spike, to be honest. I think a good bit of "200"'s spike was because of wide promotion -- IMAGINE THAT!!! -- and because it was an overall EVENT, and people were curious about all of it. It's the SGA eps and that other SG-1 ep that will indicate whether "the return of Jack" has ratings-increasing power on its own. I personally think that it probably does have *some* ratings-increasing power, I just don't know how much. But I have a feeling it is probably enough to make both Bridge and MGM aware that if you're doing a movie/mini, you absolutely try to get RDA involved in it if at all possible.)

Based on the success of the Farscape mini -- I am not feeling that, if we let the S11 idea go, we'll lose the shot at the movie/mini option. I think we would do well of course to communicate our enthusiasm *for* that, definitely. But the sense I get is that everyone involved, from MGM to Bridge to SciFi, is *already* fairly happy with that idea. SciFi knows that it's a successful, cheap alternative to buying a whole season. I just... I don't see it dying. Not when Farscape has provided the example of the successful model.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I would watch it no matter what, for the sake of completion.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

In a very limited way, I can tell you why it matters to me even if it's not Original Four.

Even if Jack's not there, he's still there in the universe. So on an in-story level, I tend to think of it as, what we see happening on the show, the story, still matters *to him*. Most particularly because Daniel's there, of course. But on a general level, as well. He's still in the fight, somewhere.

My preferred focus isn't S9-S?, of course. Fic-wise, I mean. But I have this completionist streak in me. I *want to know*. Particularly when there is always this chance (likelihood, even) of Jack popping back up in canon.

So if there were a movie/mini that was being made for the sake of giving the overall plotline a better ending than the end of S10 permits, I'll watch it for that sake of completion, even if it turns out for whatever reason that the Team isn't reassembled and RDA wasn't able to do it (or was only able to do a quick cameo). No, it won't be quite as enjoyable to me. But I'd still want to know how it went.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not quite sure how that process works. I mean, signing them to do a movie/mini now, when the scheduling of the making of that is not yet settled. Hmm. Well, I guess we'll find out -- because it really, really does look like that's the direction it's heading in.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, no kidding! Just, no cliffhangers, please!

[raven-lore.livejournal.com]

Mmmh, my worries come mostly on behalf of the new characters. With Moebius they brought to a possible conclusion characters that have had years to evolve. This time we have Cameron and Vala who are just starting to shape out, whose arches of evolution are just at the beginning. I don't know, maybe it's just me wanting more about them.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

gah, i hate cliffhangers. :::twitches at the thought:::