Terra Nova Has Been Cancelled, Another Sci-Fi Show Bites The Dust On Fox

Date: Mar 6, 2012 | Author: Josh Tyler | Category: Sci-Fi

Terra-Nova You have to wonder, at some point, why Fox keeps making science fiction programming if the network is never really going to give it a chance. In recent years Fox has made and then quickly cancelled such shows as Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Chronicles, Tru Calling, and Dollhouse. Now you can add Terra Nova to that list.

The somewhat surprising thing is that, ratings-wise at least, Terra Nova was closer to being a success than any of those shows. By modern standards Terra Nova’s ratings were only mediocre, not terrible, which is probably why Fox took so long to decide they wanted to swing the axe. Ironically, out of all the shows I listed Terra Nova is probably the worst of the bunch and the one that least deserved to go on.

The news of the dino-show’s cancellation comes from Deadline, where Fox admits they made money off the season and that’s pretty much all they wanted from it. They’re cashing in their chips. They further admit that, well, it wasn’t very good. Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly says, “creatively, the show was hunting (for its identity).”

Basically they were only willing to bring it back for season 2 if tweaks were made to improve the quality of the product, and even though it earned money for them, Fox has decided it’s not worth the trouble.

I’d probably think they’re right, if this wasn’t the network that cancelled Firefly. Because of that, it’s always safe to assume Fox is wrong where science fiction is concerned.

There’s one small, very small, ray of hope out there for determined Terra Nova fans. The show is being shopped to other networks. It’s unlikely to happen, but maybe someone else will pick it up.

Comments

http://quityourdayjob.com.au/ Lee

I wasn’t a huge fan of Terra Nova but it’s a shame a science fiction show of its scope couldn’t keep going especially as it didn’t lose money.

It would be cool if SyFy picked it up but their track record isn’t fantastic either…
http://www.facebook.com/patrick.noe Patrick Noe

I dug season 1. Wish they would keep it going.
Tad Whatever

Fox gave Dollhouse and Sarah Connor Chronicles two seasons each. On what planet does that count as “quickly canceled”?

Also, you seem to have conveniently left out Fringe, now in its fourth season.

It’s time for Firefly fans to get over it. The people who canceled Firefly are NOT the same people in charge of the network today.
- DZ
  
  I wasn’t a big fan of dollhouse, but I did enjoy the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Fringe is okay and I really liked Firefly. Like someone pointed out, these shows might have never been made by another network, so at least we get something, which is better than nothing at all.
http://www.facebook.com/scott.hildebrand Scott Hildebrand

Oh thank god. I felt compelled to watch this only because it was science fiction… even though it was terrible. Now if only they could have cancelled Falling Skies in that same meeting!
- http://www.facebook.com/briancmckinley Brian C McKinley
  
  Good start to your post, bad ending.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Al-Pa/100001996399447 Al Pa

…. …. pehraps if a new sci fi netwrok were made, it could be called the sciencefiction movie channel,
http://www.facebook.com/briancmckinley Brian C McKinley

They can keep killing shows because the modern sic-fi fan base is so picky. Even in the above article where the writer was lamenting the shows cancellation, he goes on to point out how much it sucked. I don’t see reality show fans turning on their stuff as fast as sic-fi people turn on ours. Perhaps even if the show is not up to your mighty standards we should support it or at least not go out of our way to criticize it. Perhaps for no other reason than it is sic-fi and it starts creative thinking. Just a thought here.
- http://www.facebook.com/MalkiSevera Claudia Malkavian
  
  i agree with you, that sci-fi fans ar picky (hope my translater did its job well) and i think that`s a good thing… if a sci-fi fan decided to love a serie, this is (a little bit) a decision for life… we are true fans… and we ar manics ;-D but the reality-show fans (at least in germany i think) are only rubber-necker and look everything thats IN… you content them with every sh’%&…
  
  i hope my coment makes sense…
  and i excuse myself for my english…
http://www.facebook.com/people/Al-Pa/100001996399447 Al Pa

you know what htey should do, they should get a one of those time/space ships from stargate, and use it to go revive stargate universe, and call it stargate redemption, and you can get hte cast back, but a few years have gone by and we dont have the obnoxious battle with the human “pirates/slavers/whos story made little to no sense how they got an understanding of how the space ships work, or how to read gouold, or whatever :/ and they could put some of hte characters from atlantis onto that time ship they send to retreive it, and then they could go so far as to get mcgyver thier to and they could work together, and rush, and the others could continue doin what htey do in a more realistic maner… ahtough it would be sorta nice if rush continued doin what he does.. maybe get a few actors from firefly to :/
or not i dont know :/ just a wild idea
Siythe

For all the grief they get for cancelling these shows
exactly how many other networks do you think would have even had them made in
the first place?
Btzimmerman

typical, then we lost Star Gate Universe as well. All the good ones that have the potential to go on and on like Trek and dr who and they drop it.
mark

im a huge fan of Terra Nova but it’s a shame a science fiction show of .and they couldn’t keep going especially as it didn’t lose money. i wish they would concider keeping it going.
DZ

Now we’ll never know what was in the badlands. (probably more crazy fox executives)
They could have always brought in the alien angle, or discovered another thriving civilization somewhere else on the planet. Lots of possibilities that will never be explored.
DZ

Someday (soon?), software will be available that allows the fans to create episodes of their favorite shows. Just look at all the new episodes online written by Slider fans. It is not a huge leap to convert those stories to video with some kind of consumer cgi movie software.

Okay, maybe my post is Science Fiction, but maybe not for long.
Anonymous

This isn’t a shock. Any sci-fi series that includes Brannon Braga and Rene Echevarria in any part of the production is doomed to fail. Those two are poison.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=502974660 Mark Shorey

FUCK YOU FOX…. YOU ASSHOLES WOULDN’T KNOW GOOD Sci fi even if it shoved a Lightsaber-triquarder up your ass and turned it on.

Here is a great idea. come up with the pilot ONLY then give the series over to SYFY or SPACE and go fuck a REPUBLICAN
Bee

Bummer. I actually liked Terra Nova a lot. There’s nothing for us scifi watchers out there anymore, and I’m getting tired of Stargate reruns…
Rhinostic

So ally we have to do is convince SyFy that it will make money for them too?
http://www.facebook.com/gfiege Gregory Fiege

Well, at least for now I still have Fringe…
Corrosivepress

Sorry Mr. McKinley, but your Hollywood-logic/thinking is completely flawed. Here’s why:
1 — Reality show fans turn on their shows all the time. But reality is cheap to make and easy profit (even with so-so rating). FOX said it made the money on Terra Nova, and that’s all that matters in TV. And FOX likely knew that another season wasn’t as fiscally promising.

2 — Supporting a mediocre (or bad) show just because it’s sci-fi isn’t going to start creative thinking in Hollywood, that will end it. Because the decision-makers in TV aren’t the creative people, they are the number/profit-driven people (there are exceptions, of course). And if those people think they can make money shoveling sci-fi crap to viewers, they will continue to green-light crappy sci-fi shows (example: reality shows).

3 — Don’t care if you like it, but sorry, Falling Skies does suck. I’ve seen less endless talking on C-Span.

Don’t get irritated at sci-fi fans because we may not like what you do. That’s like a wife getting mad at the hooker for cheating, instead of the husband. Sci-fi fans expect high quality because this is a thinking-person’s genre. If all it took was a couple of laser beams, a spaceship (or monster), and a god-awful script — SyFy would be one of the most watched cable channel on the air.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=631263177 Richard Moore

I am so tired of Fox or any network for that matter cancelling sci-fi shows so quickly. I just get interested in the show and boom gone without so much as a goodbye. They don’t give them a chance to grow a bigger fan base. Look at Star Trek. They cancelled that series so fast and yet it is one of the greatest sci-fi series ever. And I am so tired of all of the reality.music shows that are on. Waste of prime time to me at least.
- MMax
  
  I still wanna kill syfy people for cancelling SGU just as it got really great but that is what they do best…kill great Science Fiction!
  - Artster
    
    SyFy killed SGU and are truncating the final season of Eureka which I’ve always enjoyed. Maybe Netflix, Hulu, etc will do a better job in the long run of providing decent alternative SciFi/Fantasy programming than major networks. The current head of SyFy doesn’t even LIKE the genre. How many phony friggin’ “what was that” ghost shows and bigfoot “used to be called snipe” hunts can they shovel?
Tv nutjob

Who is the fu***** ass****** canceling this sci-fi episodes.

bring back Terminator SCC and V … now please!

Giant Freakin Robot