I believe the initial airing of Night One was a 2-hour block (Night Two's initial airing was), and the initial airing of Night 3 should be as well.
Syfy's Ascension Miniseries
- Thread starter cylkoth
- Start date
I'm fairly confident it had more ads than that. It was a limited-commercial broadcast, true, but 7 minutes of ads would mean that each individual break would've been no more than a minute, and that wasn't my impression.
No, Night One ran from 9 to 10:25 in its first airing and 10:25 to 11:57 in its encore, IIRC. So there were a few more ads in the encore. Nights Two and Three run from 9 to 11 in the debut and 11 to 1 in the encore. This is largely because Night One had limited commercials and the other two don't, but I do think Night One had to be a few minutes shorter in actual content.
Persons in advertising have been growing far more cunning since the days of Madmen.
If they anticipate a %20 to %30 percent drop in viewers per episode, as a worst case scenario, and lets remember that they sold these ad blocks MONTHS ago, then that means (these ratios and statistics are not real) if they have to reveal this prediction to their advertisers, then ad space for episode 2 would cost 20 to 30 percent less for the advertisers than ad space for episode 2, and moving along cost 40 - 60 percent less for episode 3.
SYFY can charge more for seconds/minutes of ad space in episode one, so that is why there is 13 minutes More ad space in episode one, than there is in episode 2. If this slick "theory" holds true, then episode three should have even more story and less advertising than episode 2.
A miniseries is about the only time you can sell/buy advertising like this because of how finite the production is.
Overall lets assume that there is 4 hours of programming and an hour 20 of advertising. All they did was push the advertising from later episodes forward and push the story back to later episodes where there was a vacuum. No extra advertising, no loss of story, but they make a few extra million dollars (10s of millions?) by choosing where to put their ads.
Now imagine if there was a continued 20 percent drop off over the course of 6 nights and the episodes were too small to move the advertising around like this?
Methinks someone has no faith in Ascension.
If they anticipate a %20 to %30 percent drop in viewers per episode, as a worst case scenario, and lets remember that they sold these ad blocks MONTHS ago, then that means (these ratios and statistics are not real) if they have to reveal this prediction to their advertisers, then ad space for episode 2 would cost 20 to 30 percent less for the advertisers than ad space for episode 2, and moving along cost 40 - 60 percent less for episode 3.
SYFY can charge more for seconds/minutes of ad space in episode one, so that is why there is 13 minutes More ad space in episode one, than there is in episode 2. If this slick "theory" holds true, then episode three should have even more story and less advertising than episode 2.
A miniseries is about the only time you can sell/buy advertising like this because of how finite the production is.
Overall lets assume that there is 4 hours of programming and an hour 20 of advertising. All they did was push the advertising from later episodes forward and push the story back to later episodes where there was a vacuum. No extra advertising, no loss of story, but they make a few extra million dollars (10s of millions?) by choosing where to put their ads.
Now imagine if there was a continued 20 percent drop off over the course of 6 nights and the episodes were too small to move the advertising around like this?
Methinks someone has no faith in Ascension.
I was a little more cautious after the reveal at the end of the first night, but I still really enjoyed it. I still found the stuff on the ship interesting, now cutting to the people outside watching and reacting just added another layer to things.
Up thread someone was talking about the real reason for the mission being the new tech they've developed, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case, it seemed to me that that was just kind of a side thing they took advantage of to keep the "mission" going. It definitely seems that this whole thing was an attempt to breed whatever Christa is. It also make me wonder if that was the reason behind the people being paired off the way they are. Maybe they're specifically pairing off people who have a better chance of producing someone with special abilities.
The producers have been open with the fact that they are hoping this will continue past tonight. I've read several articles with the people involved where they've said they already have an idea for where things would go if it ran multiple seasons.
Up thread someone was talking about the real reason for the mission being the new tech they've developed, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case, it seemed to me that that was just kind of a side thing they took advantage of to keep the "mission" going. It definitely seems that this whole thing was an attempt to breed whatever Christa is. It also make me wonder if that was the reason behind the people being paired off the way they are. Maybe they're specifically pairing off people who have a better chance of producing someone with special abilities.
The producers have been open with the fact that they are hoping this will continue past tonight. I've read several articles with the people involved where they've said they already have an idea for where things would go if it ran multiple seasons.
As far as the breeding lists go, Enzmann is trying to make his telepaths, buuuuuuut... Then there's the other 50 breeding pairs on the list every year. This I can see... Christmas party + far too much alcohol + dart board, or at least photos of every one on the ship on a cork board and a whole bunch of darts which drunk people are throwing at those pictures.
70 scientists + 30 potentially telepathic children + X = 350 original crew.
We can assume that the other 250 original crew were just assholes, or we can guess that there were 3 or four more other experiments on the go with the other crew that we do not know about yet.
70 scientists + 30 potentially telepathic children + X = 350 original crew.
We can assume that the other 250 original crew were just assholes, or we can guess that there were 3 or four more other experiments on the go with the other crew that we do not know about yet.
I was really hoping to see Tricia Helfer in a different sort of role here. I didn't watch a lot of previews (on purpose), but I knew she was going to be in it which is one of the reasons I tuned in. But I feel like I'm watching Number Six in a different setting. Not that that's a bad thing, I was just hoping for something different for her. But she's still as lovely as ever and amazingly doesn't appear to have aged a day since the premiere of nuBSG.
Second night was better than the first for me. Hoping it gets better.
Second night was better than the first for me. Hoping it gets better.
That ending sucked
I didn't enjoy Part 3 much. Too much soapy stuff and political/personal infighting, and too much focus on the magic Star Child. (And I can't believe that woman literally called her "the Star Child!" :facepalm: ) It's marginally interesting that the plan was to promote evolution; there actually is some merit to the idea that evolution can spike in a small, isolated population, because genetic variations that would usually be swamped by the preponderance of "normal" individuals would have a better chance of surviving. But it wouldn't produce a huge quantum leap in just three generations. Not to mention that I am so deathly sick of the hoary old cliche of equating human evolution with magical mind powers. Evolution does not work that way.
Also, if the goal was to prompt an evolutionary process, isn't it counterproductive to remove the first individual to manifest the desired trait? Shouldn't she be left in the gene pool in order to propagate it further?
And that last twist was insanely ridiculous. So Christa magically teleported Gault across interstellar space? And Harris and his father intended all along to breed a Star Child with psionic wormhole powers in order to send people into space? How the hell did they know that would be the result? Ohh, this was just so stupid. What a disappointing payoff.
The most interesting part was Stokes's reaction to discovering that his whole life had been a lie, and that wasn't given nearly enough attention, because it was buried under cliched "evil conspiracy is out to get us" stuff. The first two parts were mediocre, but this was mostly just bad.
Also, if the goal was to prompt an evolutionary process, isn't it counterproductive to remove the first individual to manifest the desired trait? Shouldn't she be left in the gene pool in order to propagate it further?
And that last twist was insanely ridiculous. So Christa magically teleported Gault across interstellar space? And Harris and his father intended all along to breed a Star Child with psionic wormhole powers in order to send people into space? How the hell did they know that would be the result? Ohh, this was just so stupid. What a disappointing payoff.
The most interesting part was Stokes's reaction to discovering that his whole life had been a lie, and that wasn't given nearly enough attention, because it was buried under cliched "evil conspiracy is out to get us" stuff. The first two parts were mediocre, but this was mostly just bad.
^ Gotta say I disagree with you, Christopher. This final part just changed everything for me vis a vis what I thought about the whole "nothing is real" meta-concept and turned the show itself from something I was vastly disappointed in and dissatisfied with into something that I would definitely watch if it were to be continued.
As discussed above, most of those "missing" minutes were commercials, because the first night aired with limited ads.
Episode 3 was 1 hour 26 minutes long without advertising (or ending credits.).
Shhhhhhhhhhhh!
I'm still watching.
And I'm spent.
I was wondering if they were still using lipstick that they brought with them from Earth? Seriously. A hundred years of Lipstick for 300 woman is probably twice again the mass of the Ascension.
"Pig fat" was my next thought, and then I checked wikipedia and laughed my ass off.
Christa is not the Starchild because she has already been born. The honeytrap is waiting for some kid arriving in the next generation if not one of Christa's children.
What was that oath they did in episode two? Was that we will boldly go to Proxima? (or something similar) But mind over matter they've been saying that for 50 years creating the belief that the journey is inevitable.
Remember Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve? In that they claimed all you needed to do time travel was to believe that you had time travelled. By immersing himself in a fake 1900, until it did become 1900 because his faith towards where he was standing in time had become inviolable.
There is a psychic engine at the bottom of the water reservoir that shots people at Proxima. Christa was drawing it in the sand when she said it was down there. They just never had any/enough psychic energy till now to put into the engine to teleport people to other star systems.
I'm assuming that Christa is a battery that can be hooked up to all sorts of devices that are not Einstein Rosen bridges, which is why the TC group wanted her immediately?
I was wondering if they were still using lipstick that they brought with them from Earth? Seriously. A hundred years of Lipstick for 300 woman is probably twice again the mass of the Ascension.
"Pig fat" was my next thought, and then I checked wikipedia and laughed my ass off.
I also laughed incoherently at the the utterance "The Starchild must be Born!"
Christa is not the Starchild because she has already been born. The honeytrap is waiting for some kid arriving in the next generation if not one of Christa's children.
What was that oath they did in episode two? Was that we will boldly go to Proxima? (or something similar) But mind over matter they've been saying that for 50 years creating the belief that the journey is inevitable.
Remember Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve? In that they claimed all you needed to do time travel was to believe that you had time travelled. By immersing himself in a fake 1900, until it did become 1900 because his faith towards where he was standing in time had become inviolable.
There is a psychic engine at the bottom of the water reservoir that shots people at Proxima. Christa was drawing it in the sand when she said it was down there. They just never had any/enough psychic energy till now to put into the engine to teleport people to other star systems.
I'm assuming that Christa is a battery that can be hooked up to all sorts of devices that are not Einstein Rosen bridges, which is why the TC group wanted her immediately?
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The ending was too quick, it really needed to flesh stuff out better, or have a part 4. I don't understand the ending. Also, nothing on the ship was really resolved. A lot of open threads here. I guess maybe they want to try and leave it open for a tv series? Otherwise, this did not end very well.
However, I was still entertained. I enjoyed the mini series. I just wish the ending was better.
"Starchild" reminds me of 2001 a space odyssey
Man dat ending though, it needed better resolution of the storyline threads. Just too open ended, and I don't get exactly what the child is? Did she create something new? Is she the starchild? Or is the starchild yet to be born?
I did notice in the episode they said it was designed to withstand the impact of an asteroid. So I guess at first they probably did build it as a real life boat incase of war or destruction on Earth, but it has obviously morphed into more than that.
However, I was still entertained. I enjoyed the mini series. I just wish the ending was better.
"Starchild" reminds me of 2001 a space odyssey
Man dat ending though, it needed better resolution of the storyline threads. Just too open ended, and I don't get exactly what the child is? Did she create something new? Is she the starchild? Or is the starchild yet to be born?
I did notice in the episode they said it was designed to withstand the impact of an asteroid. So I guess at first they probably did build it as a real life boat incase of war or destruction on Earth, but it has obviously morphed into more than that.
They had to fool the greatest minds of the 20th century. Everything had to be real right down to the nuclear reactor powering the non-existent engine.
The first time I heard the cringeworthy term Starchild was in the Original V.
This is worse...
The first time I heard the cringeworthy term Starchild was in the Original V.
This is worse...
True, although I cringed when they left the "under God" in the pledge. But if most of the original crew were scientists, there probably weren't a lot of traditionalists or true believers; and they wanted to leave behind the things that were threatening to destroy the Earth.
Steampunk doesn't make sense either, yet it is a wonderful thing. The idea that this was 60s-era Steampunk is what made me so excited about it. Now I'm disappointed.
The thing about a miniseries is that at the end of it, you should feel a sense of closure. The main point of the story should be resolved. It's fine if they leave dangling plots to build on for a continuation, but resolve something.
I felt no sense that anything is resolved. There should have been a big "To be continued" hung on that last scene, because nothing completed. The show wasn't good enough, in my opinion, to warrant a continuation, but give there is no closure, it doesn't call for a re-watch either.
It's just poor work in structuring the story for the method of story they were telling.
I felt no sense that anything is resolved. There should have been a big "To be continued" hung on that last scene, because nothing completed. The show wasn't good enough, in my opinion, to warrant a continuation, but give there is no closure, it doesn't call for a re-watch either.
It's just poor work in structuring the story for the method of story they were telling.
It was probably meant to be a backdoor pilot, but really there was no need for a six miniseries with no real climax.
That struck me as odd, too. I mean, they've got a library, lounges, recreational facilities, an automat, even a bogus "beach," but there's no chapel aboard the ship?
I also caught what seemed like a few anachronisms: did people use the word "upload" in the digital sense back in the early sixties? As well as the stock phrase: "I'm sorry for your loss."
Otherwise, I seem to have enjoyed this more than most. I was sufficiently intrigued that I stayed up too late two nights in a row to find out what happened next.
But, yeah, I could have lived without the whole "Starchild" business. The dynamics and culture aboard the ship, and the hoax gimmick, were interesting enough without the cliche of a "special" child with psychic powers . . . .