Kill Reality

I was sitting at my computer looking through some stuff I have collected over the last few months and found the trailer for Serenity. I couldn't help but ponder why do all the good shows get canceled? Farscape, Angel, Special Unit 2, Firefly, Enterprise, Grounded for Life, Good Morning Miami, Wonderfalls, Tru Calling, Joan of Arcadia, and The Lone Gunmen just to name a few... well maybe more than a few but get over it.

Well, I don't suppose many of you recogize Special Unit 2 (no its not a sequel either), Grounded for Life, The Lone Gunmen, or Good Morning Miami but they were good shows (except for GMM it was a decent show but whos counting). SU2 was suberbly funny take on things but it was aired on UPN which is basically a graveyard. Grounded for Life started on one station was on the brink of being canceled and then moved to another station, changed, ran for a bit, then canceled. All the time, little to no advertisments were aired. Now the Lone Gunmen was a spinoff of sorts from a wildly popular show (for a while) called The X-Files. It had a talented cast with great storylines, but little advertising. What advertising they did have was geared at getting the audience of The X-Files to also watch this show... bad move, this show was nothing like it thus it joined the others in the basement of cancelation.

Ok, my next round of shows: Enterprise, Tru Calling and Joan of Arcadia. I think I was one of the few who considered Enterprise a refreshing take on Star Trek. We get to see the roots of the Star Fleet and the adventures of the first Enterprise. First off, the theme song was hotly debated by Star Trek nerds everywhere...people get a clue, just because it wasn't the traditional anthem and actually had words that fit the storyline doesn't make the show bad. Honestly, I only got to watch the first season because I have a life (or should I say school has my life), so when I say 'it was a good show' you know what i'm talking about. Tru Calling, this show also seemed to be good but I did not actually get to watch any other than the first episode. It had one of the hotter chicks on television, one Eliza Dushku from Buffy. They aired the first season normally then they held the cards on the second season until after january (normally new seasons start around september). Couple this with more lack of advertisment and you also get a one way ticket to the basement of cancelation. Joan of Arcadia, once again, seemed to be a good show which I could not make time to watch. It had another nice looking chick by the name of Amber Tamblyn and John Ritters son. Neither of these could carry it past a second season because ABC is looking to grab a younger demographic which JoA wasn't reaching (until midway through the second season).

Now, Farscape, Wonderfalls, Angel and Firefly. These puppies were cream of the crop but dumped. Farscape was one of those religiously watched shows by me. Rockne S. O'bannon, David Kemper and company were fantastic. Every episode was practically like a movie and those three part episodes with the words "To Be Continued" drove me to my wits end. Half way through their 4th season SciFi (in their infinite wisdom) decided to take the escape clause and snuff out a 5th season. So what happens in the season finale... "To be continued". What a huge uproar by nerds everywhere. The most massive campaign ever seen to bring it back. You had ads in major cities, ads in newspapers, ads in magazines. It was even covered twice on CNN. Grassroots campaigns were started to help 'sell' the series to other broadcast companies by putting together packages. Protests where people were encourages to send empty cracker boxes to SciFi (because of an episode entitled 'Crackers Don't Matter') with statements that 'Crackers DO matter' enclosed. What eventually happens? A miniseries is made to tie up the loose strings finally. I guess you can kinda score one for the good guys there, they pull something from that cancelation basement for a brief but spectacular moment.

Angel was a spinoff of Buffy about the vampire with a soul. Several stars made their move from BtVS over to Angel eventually. It had a nice run but after BtVS left the WB I think it was doomed. Joss Wheden (brilliant person), IMO ticked off the WB when he packed up for UPN, and about this time was working on Firefly (explained later) so he didn't have direct control of either show. So in the end it came down to two things either WB was going to cancel Angel or Charmed...guess who got the axe. An awesome (and dark) storyline was started and was abruptly ended which left quite an aweful taste in my mouth.

Wonderfalls was a brilliant show by one of the producers of BtVS and Angel. It was quirky and extremely funny. Sadly, lack of advertising and a bad time slot helped usher it to the basement.

Finally, what got me started rambling: Firefly. Joss Wheden's masterpiece which I sum up as a space western. This series was picked up by Fox (three series on three different stations). The major blunder, Fox decided they would not air the Pilot episode first. So the first episode aired was actually the second episode. Even I was like 'ok, so how did all these people come together and end up running from those people'. Never second guess someone like Joss Wheden. Now, Joss got the funding for a movie to continue Firefly which is entitled Serenity. All of the series' fans are jubilant about this, however the mainstream people out there haven't heard of it. There have been talk of more movies if this is successful or maybe another series. I say rock on!

So why have I been babbling on about all of this? Reality TV. Its killing good series. Its cheap to produce and it seems like it captivates audiences. So, when you ask people 'Do you like Reality shows?' why do they answer 'I hate them'? Why do they keep making more of them if everyone seems to hate them so much? Simple, they get ratings. Why do they get ratings? Because people watch them! Why do they watch them? Because it seems that people get captivated by them. How? Because America is a country that likes to see humiliation and harm come to people...we like to see what someone will do for money or exposure. Its as simple as that. As long as we let ourselves be captivated by Reality TV, they will continue to make it and reap profits.

Lets hope that this quick list of shows continue to rise above Reality TV: Wildfire, The 4400, The Dead Zone and Monk.

So, what have we learned today? 1) I have too much time on my hands 2) I don't have much of a life 3) Serenity looks cool 4) Reality TV is evil.

Yes I admit that I omitted some stuff but dude...look at how long the post is already, do you think people want any more drivel today....I have to save something for tomorrow ;)

Update: After talking to a certain someone, they pointed out I forgot Dead Like Me. A series that was just canceled by Showtime. Quick synopsis: girl gets killed by a toilet seat from Mir and now must become a reaper. Very interesting premise, seemed to be a very likable show but was told to walk the plank and join the rest in the basement. A cool sidenote about the show, it also starred Mandy Patinkin which many should know from 'The Princess Bride' fame and the infamous line "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father...prepare to die."