KalElFan
12-27-2007, 12:07 AM
[note crossposts]
Summarizing this from some browsing and a podcast interview
of Creator and Executive Producer Kevin Falls that I ran across
and listened to tonight. The interview was from December 18,
between the last two episodes that aired on the 17th and 19th.
I'll give some URLs at the end of this post but some of the key
points include...
1. Although he says the odds are against keeping the show
going, he mentions it's possible (citing Jericho) and encourages
fan efforts going on to get the show picked up.
2. Responding to a specific question about the possibility of the
FOX network picking it up, he again downplays hopes but says
that his agent will be talking to the studio (FOX produces the show)
and to the FOX network about this possibility after January 1.
3. He cites another potential problem with #2 (beyond the ratings
expectations that FOX may have), which is whether NBC would let
the show go to FOX. I found this one curious since NBC's option
on the back 9 wasn't exercised, and one would think that would
have to free up the show eventually. But perhaps it has to do
with contracts not officially expiring until next June or some such
(just guessing because it really wasn't explained). Falls mentions
that CSI started development at ABC and they let that go, losing
what proved to be a very successful show and indeed franchise
to CBS. (The subtext being neither NBC nor any network exec has
reason to open themselves up to that kind of possibility if they have
a veto. Which is why I again find it curious if they have any long-
term veto.)
4. Though he regrets the writers' strike, Falls also mentions
that the show probably would have been pulled before sweeps
had it not been for the strike. In response to a question, he also
conceded that if the strike lasts through pilot season and there
are no new shows to pickup, and/or if other reality/replacement
programming failed on NBC, it might increase Journeyman's
chances of getting a rerun of its 13 eps, and depending on that
and other factors perhaps even a pickup. (But again he indicated
he wouldn't want the writers' strike to drag out like that, he was
just responding to the question.)
5. He says the issue of the DVD is still uncertain. Apparently
one of the impediments is cost/benefit to FOX, because the
show is apparently expensive and music rights were mentioned.
He cited a $40 million figure as the loss FOX will have taken on
the series if it ended now, which sounds high even as the total
cost. It'd be just over $3 million per episode. If it lost that after
the NBC licensing fee then the cost per ep is probably $4M+.
It seems to me that sunk cost shouldn't deter FOX on the DVD,
but if there are significant new costs in getting rights, or other
payments, and if indeed NBC has a perpetual veto over FOX
or anyone else picking up the show, then I guess it's possible
FOX would see insufficient upside in releasing the DVD.
6. The interview was given before the finale aired. He mentions
during the course of it (it's about 53 minutes long) that the last
ep provides closure without giving everything away, and later
he says he thinks it's their best episode. (I agree, especially
in the context it places the whole 13 episodes. It elevates it
to what I think is a Great SF Miniseries that should go on.)
There's some other interesting stuff in the interview but some of
it is spoilers on what they would have done. I've separated that
out into another post.
Just my comments now...
As far as the campaign goes (I give some URLS below), the
problem is not just the time of year but also the strike. Picking
up the back 9 is nothing but a concept at this point, as is a
hypothetical season 2. Everything scripted is canceled as
long as the strike goes on, and so it seems kinda pointless
to be signing petitions or sending NBC execs Rice-a-Roni.
With Jericho there was a massive effort to reverse CBS's
cancellation -- failure to pick up season 2 -- and it succeeded
within a week to 10 days. Reportedly one of the incentives
CBS had was that other networks (TNT, Sci-Fi, and by some
accounts one of the other major networks) were ready to
pick it up. If NBC has a veto here, or the show is in limbo
anyway until June, there's just no urgency on anyone's part
to do anything right now especially considering the ongoing
strike.
I think what fans have already done -- wax enthusiastic for the
13-ep series especially after the great finale -- is probably the
best they can do at this point. If it spurs FOX to release the
DVD and indicate willingness to consider picking up the show
depending on sales of that, then a DVD-buying campaign may
work as it did for Family Guy. Have a fan campaign to buy
multiple sets, keep one and use the rest in giveaway contests
in local newspapers and on radio and web sites, to get more
people to see the 13-ep first season. The combination of
enough DVD cash and positive buzz would further demonstrate
the wisdom of continuing the series, if they don't already see
that from the reaction after the finale.
Here's the page I got to the podcast through:
http://podcastpickle.com/cast/28583
There are three option-links on there but the mp3 file to listen
on your computer is here:
http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-56095/TS-76276.mp3
(I listened from that link but I think you can also right click and
download via the "Save Target As" option. Again it's 53 minutes
and about 21.4 megabytes, and the sound levels on a few callers
into the show shoots up or down.)
There's also a blog message from Kevin Falls dated December
13 or so, right after it was announced the back 9 weren't being
picked up by NBC:
http://blog.nbc.com/journeyman/
There's close to 1200 comments on that that I didn't sift through,
so I don't know if there's any news there. The podcast mentioned
it's a lot of fans praising the show and urging it be kept going by
NBC or another network (mainly FOX).
The fan campaign is apparently going on via a few sites:
http://savejourneyman.net/
http://savejourneyman.funurl.com
That one is for the Rice-a-Roni campaign and a related blog
site is here:
http://save-journeyman.blogspot.com/
There are two petitions at the following links:
http://www.petitiononline.com/jmf/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/sjmnbc/petition.html
I hadn't looked at those last five links before but just checked to
make sure they work. The petitions have 10,000+ and 7,000+
signatures respectively, and the blog says they've sent 450
pounds of Rice-a-Roni so far.
Summarizing this from some browsing and a podcast interview
of Creator and Executive Producer Kevin Falls that I ran across
and listened to tonight. The interview was from December 18,
between the last two episodes that aired on the 17th and 19th.
I'll give some URLs at the end of this post but some of the key
points include...
1. Although he says the odds are against keeping the show
going, he mentions it's possible (citing Jericho) and encourages
fan efforts going on to get the show picked up.
2. Responding to a specific question about the possibility of the
FOX network picking it up, he again downplays hopes but says
that his agent will be talking to the studio (FOX produces the show)
and to the FOX network about this possibility after January 1.
3. He cites another potential problem with #2 (beyond the ratings
expectations that FOX may have), which is whether NBC would let
the show go to FOX. I found this one curious since NBC's option
on the back 9 wasn't exercised, and one would think that would
have to free up the show eventually. But perhaps it has to do
with contracts not officially expiring until next June or some such
(just guessing because it really wasn't explained). Falls mentions
that CSI started development at ABC and they let that go, losing
what proved to be a very successful show and indeed franchise
to CBS. (The subtext being neither NBC nor any network exec has
reason to open themselves up to that kind of possibility if they have
a veto. Which is why I again find it curious if they have any long-
term veto.)
4. Though he regrets the writers' strike, Falls also mentions
that the show probably would have been pulled before sweeps
had it not been for the strike. In response to a question, he also
conceded that if the strike lasts through pilot season and there
are no new shows to pickup, and/or if other reality/replacement
programming failed on NBC, it might increase Journeyman's
chances of getting a rerun of its 13 eps, and depending on that
and other factors perhaps even a pickup. (But again he indicated
he wouldn't want the writers' strike to drag out like that, he was
just responding to the question.)
5. He says the issue of the DVD is still uncertain. Apparently
one of the impediments is cost/benefit to FOX, because the
show is apparently expensive and music rights were mentioned.
He cited a $40 million figure as the loss FOX will have taken on
the series if it ended now, which sounds high even as the total
cost. It'd be just over $3 million per episode. If it lost that after
the NBC licensing fee then the cost per ep is probably $4M+.
It seems to me that sunk cost shouldn't deter FOX on the DVD,
but if there are significant new costs in getting rights, or other
payments, and if indeed NBC has a perpetual veto over FOX
or anyone else picking up the show, then I guess it's possible
FOX would see insufficient upside in releasing the DVD.
6. The interview was given before the finale aired. He mentions
during the course of it (it's about 53 minutes long) that the last
ep provides closure without giving everything away, and later
he says he thinks it's their best episode. (I agree, especially
in the context it places the whole 13 episodes. It elevates it
to what I think is a Great SF Miniseries that should go on.)
There's some other interesting stuff in the interview but some of
it is spoilers on what they would have done. I've separated that
out into another post.
Just my comments now...
As far as the campaign goes (I give some URLS below), the
problem is not just the time of year but also the strike. Picking
up the back 9 is nothing but a concept at this point, as is a
hypothetical season 2. Everything scripted is canceled as
long as the strike goes on, and so it seems kinda pointless
to be signing petitions or sending NBC execs Rice-a-Roni.
With Jericho there was a massive effort to reverse CBS's
cancellation -- failure to pick up season 2 -- and it succeeded
within a week to 10 days. Reportedly one of the incentives
CBS had was that other networks (TNT, Sci-Fi, and by some
accounts one of the other major networks) were ready to
pick it up. If NBC has a veto here, or the show is in limbo
anyway until June, there's just no urgency on anyone's part
to do anything right now especially considering the ongoing
strike.
I think what fans have already done -- wax enthusiastic for the
13-ep series especially after the great finale -- is probably the
best they can do at this point. If it spurs FOX to release the
DVD and indicate willingness to consider picking up the show
depending on sales of that, then a DVD-buying campaign may
work as it did for Family Guy. Have a fan campaign to buy
multiple sets, keep one and use the rest in giveaway contests
in local newspapers and on radio and web sites, to get more
people to see the 13-ep first season. The combination of
enough DVD cash and positive buzz would further demonstrate
the wisdom of continuing the series, if they don't already see
that from the reaction after the finale.
Here's the page I got to the podcast through:
http://podcastpickle.com/cast/28583
There are three option-links on there but the mp3 file to listen
on your computer is here:
http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-56095/TS-76276.mp3
(I listened from that link but I think you can also right click and
download via the "Save Target As" option. Again it's 53 minutes
and about 21.4 megabytes, and the sound levels on a few callers
into the show shoots up or down.)
There's also a blog message from Kevin Falls dated December
13 or so, right after it was announced the back 9 weren't being
picked up by NBC:
http://blog.nbc.com/journeyman/
There's close to 1200 comments on that that I didn't sift through,
so I don't know if there's any news there. The podcast mentioned
it's a lot of fans praising the show and urging it be kept going by
NBC or another network (mainly FOX).
The fan campaign is apparently going on via a few sites:
http://savejourneyman.net/
http://savejourneyman.funurl.com
That one is for the Rice-a-Roni campaign and a related blog
site is here:
http://save-journeyman.blogspot.com/
There are two petitions at the following links:
http://www.petitiononline.com/jmf/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/sjmnbc/petition.html
I hadn't looked at those last five links before but just checked to
make sure they work. The petitions have 10,000+ and 7,000+
signatures respectively, and the blog says they've sent 450
pounds of Rice-a-Roni so far.