Being Human (American Version) - Season 3

Haven, which has also been renewed for a fourth season. And FaceOff, which is also in its fourth or fifth season.

As I've argued before, the whole "Syfy cancels everything!" meme is mostly a fannish myth. They stick with genre shows longer than every other network. When was the last time Syfy cancelled a series midway through its first season, like the other networks do all the time? Even CAPRICA and SGU and ALPHAS lasted a couple of full seasons--unlike TERRA NOVA or FAST/FORWARD or FIREFLY or whatever

(Heck, Fox just cancelled THE CULT today--after how many episodes?)

And yet somehow Syfy ends up with a reputation as a show-killer because it cancels FARSCAPE or EUREKA after four or five seasons.

As though no other channel has ever cancelled a fan-favorite TV show before . . . .

 

^^ What they did with both of those shows, though (Farscape and Eureka) was renew them and then renege on the renewal. Although Farscape eventually got Peacekeeper Wars and Eureka got one "extra" episode.

The reason I was worried about Being Human was that I was looking at the ratings on Wiki, which are now about half of what they were when the show started.

 

I Cult was on WB not Fox....but thereason why were so unrelenting, is that SyFy is SUPPOSED to be about SyFy/Fantasy shows...the other networks...they have a variety, with other type of shows their mainstays (like dumb raunchy sitcoms or police procedural shows).



And SyFycancelled shows that seemed to be doing quite fine (certainly storywise) like Eureka and Farscape...they could have easily gone another season...and certainly deserved to have some REAL warning about it, so they could have wrapped up in a whole season, rather than in a hasty way.

As a contrast (on other networks), when Lost and Fringe got to be wrapped up..even if some people weren't happy with the final product, many fans were at least happy their shows got some respect, and we'll be willing to look for more.

 

On the other hand, it's very rare that any show gets cancelled at exactly at the right moment. Either a show ends too soon ("No! Bring it back, you bastards!") or not soon enough ("Geez, is that still on?"). Heck, on this very board, people are still debating whether TNG ended prematurely--after running a mere seven years! There's almost never a good time to cancel a show. Fans are always going to complain.

FRINGE and LOST are the exceptions to the rule. Broadcast TV is littered with shows that were cut off in their prime, on every network. Just ask fans of, say, THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES or CARNIVALE or MOONLIGHT or REAPER or THE MIDDLEMAN or DOLLHOUSE or JOHN DOE or THE JOURNEYMAN or MILLENNIUM or THE EVENT or THE 4400 or ROSWELL or SPACE:ABOVE AND BEYOND or THRESHOLD or SURFACE or V or THE GATES or . . the list goes on.

The idea that other networks consistently show more "respect" to their discards doesn't really hold up to close examination.

Bottom line: TV shows get cancelled. Every channel does it, every year. Fox cancels shows. USA and TNT cancels shows. Heck, Lifetime cancels shows. And genre shows have a MUCH better chance of lasting for four or five seasons if they're on Syfy than Fox or the WB or whatever. Syfy lowers the axe MUCH less quickly than other networks

(Anybody seen THE SECRET CIRCLE lately? What about THE CAPE?)

At this point, the whole "What's the point? Syfy cancels everything!" business has become an easy, cliche punchline that really bears no resemblance to reality.

Sure, I would have liked another season of FARSCAPE or EUREKA, too. But those are hardly the only times in TV history that a good show got cancelled earlier than its fans would have liked . . . and Syfy is hardly the only network with a body count.

Syfy isn't allowed to cancel genre shows like every other channel does?

 

I've never understood the complaints about Syfy either. While fans might have wanted more Farscape and Eureka, they had good runs. I know Farscape ended on a cliff hanger, but they did give us PK Wars, which is a lot more than other shows got after they ended. As for Eureka, it ran 5 years, and was given real finale, that's pretty good in my book. Not to mention the network saved Stargate: SG-1 and gave us Atlantis and SG:U.

 

Yeah, it's kinda surreal.

NBC cancels a show after three episodes. No one cares.

Syfy cancels Eureka after five years. "Stupid Syfy! They always cancel everything!"

 

SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't kept up...










So Aiden just let Stevie go? Untrained, undisciplined, and with no one to turn to? Knowing that the werewolf packs are hunting? Aiden should not be turning anyone! He means well, but he can be such a jerk.

 

Just to avoid confusion, I'm guessing you mean Kenny?

(I think Stevie was Sally's teen suicide ghost friend.)

 

Oops, yep.

 

Syfy is stupid. They don't focus on genre shows anymore. When they have 23 reality programs plus goddamn WWE compared to 7 genre shows they aren't a genre channel anymore.

 

Well, that might be changing as we enter the next season. I'm not sure how long we have until we get a definitely yes or no on all of them though.

 

Sciffy is no stupider or merciless than most other channels these days. Look at what's become of channels like History and Cartoon Network. Niche programming, by definition, means settling for a smaller audience and therefore settling for a lesser income, but greed has overwhelmed that reality.