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Farscape Fans Produce Commercial
angst writes "Farscape fans have come together and produced a commercial called 'I am Farscape'. In the hopes of bringing more media and consumer awareness that the fans of this show are not happy that it is being cancelled. So far it will be aired in 24 cities nation wide. Look for it the week of Nov. 24th if you are in the list."
with these many people willing to strongly support it, it makes one wonder why the show is in danger of being cancelled in the first place.
I'd like to see this -- what, no link? -- and have to wonder how Star Trek TOS would have done if it had had *this* kind of rabid support.
But then, how much does Sci Fi care what its hardcore geeks think? There was an interesting article in the Times on how terribly inaccurate the advertising world's obsession with the 25 to 34 demographic is. And it is what the advertisers want, or think they want, that drives commercial programming. (Maybe Farscape should move to HBO -- might even get me to subscribe.)
I've seen and read so much from so many fans of this show all over the net, that I keep asking myself - if they have this large and loyal a following, why was this show canceled? What were the ratings like? What was Sci-Fi's reasoning? I don't exactly see a plethora of good original programming on that channel, so why kill off one of the few successes?
I dunno...I'd characterize the commercial as "quirky," but not necessarily bad. And in the end, it really doesn't matter how good or bad the commercial is; the important thing is that it's getting aired and getting publicity for the campaign. These people aren't giving up, and if it gets me more episodes of the show, I have to say more power to them. This thing has gone farther than any save-our-show campaign I can recall...it's going to be interesting to see where it ends.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
In many of those cities, the ad may air only once, and it may be in the middle of the night on an undisclosed channel.
would it take that much extra work for them to specify which channel, or at least which network it's an affiliate of? i'm a little skeptical of the claim that "it doesn't matter what channel", since the mainstream media isn't exactly going to rush out headline stories about this unless people see it.
Unfortunately for the FS fans, more than likely their efforts won't work and if anything cause a lot of snide and humorous jokes about their commercials on SNL, Jay leno and such. Even if simply because the lack of quality.
It's nice that they are willing to try and make a point about their dedication but it probably will just reach the average TV viewers and NOT anyone in control of FS's life-span.
Fuzdout
..My sig ran away. Has anyone seen my sig?
Seriously, has *any* series ever gotten this kind of rabid support? Even Babylon 5 didn't inspire loyalty on the same level.
Since I don't have cable, I never saw FarScape, but any marketing department in their right mind would kill to have fans so willing to spend their money on a given product that they'd pay for their own ads to be aired.
If SciFi was concerned about profitability, they should have started cranking out the merchandise, because this is a bunch of people who are obviously willing to put their money where their mouths are.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
GEEKIEST COMMERCIAL EVER
Seriously, I've watched maybe 1 episode of Farscape. Its a fine show, but (1)It's not the last time that a good scifi series will air (2) There are MANY other causes (insert ANY anti-war/hunger/etc... effort here) that are far more worthy of the kind of attention that this TV SHOW is garnering. Fence-sitting junk like this is why I cant stand slashdot sometimes.
"Dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire" --Robert Frost
Another show which boasts rabidly loyal fan support bites the dust. Just yesterday, Comics2Film reported rumors that the Batman-inspired "Birds Of Prey" won't be renewed by the WB network.
These networks need some perspective. They're never going to be NBC, and they're never going to produce "Friends." The absolute best they can hope for is to attract a couple of million die-hard fans, who tune in week after week -- guaranteeing a specific demographic to sell to advertisers.
So, "FarScape" only attracted a bunch of geeks and nerds. That's what's called a "high-saturation demographic." Sure, it's not very appealing to advertisers trying to sell basketball shoes; but for the company selling video games, or computer software, or pocket protectors...advertising on "FarScape" is money well-spent. You're pitching to an audience which might be 90% favorable to your product -- as opposed to betting on the more mixed demographics watching, say, "Trading Spaces" or "Emeril Live."
Old marketing adage: Figure out your strength, and play it. As long as these cable channels keep trying to compete with The Big Three, they're going to keep tripping over themselves.
crib
Please don't read my journal
I'm sitting here wondering why we Slashdotters aren't raising money to air our own awareness ads regarding DMCA, SSSCA, and other Bad Things. We need a geek lobby. Now.
Bored with karma, be a fan/freak
Surely the TV companies know what's making them money and what's not? If the show was as good as all these fanatics claim it was then it wouldn't be getting canned in the first place.
And even sicker is that anyone who dares protest this state of affairs is branded a "communist" or a "hippie".
This is not how capitalism is supposed to be.
We need a sound balance of capitalism and socialism-- and a heavy dose of fairness. Unfortunately, lots of people do not have the Buddha-nature and are quite selfish and greedy. (And I'm sorry, I don't care how much of your $billions you gave away to charity, BillG, wanting/insisting upon 100% market share in every market you touch does make you "quite selfish and greedy").
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
WTF. We can't do the same for the politicians we support or in opposition to those bills we know will create a totalitarian state in the U.S. A.?
WTF again. Where are our FUCKING PRIORITIES? Farscape is just a little bit less important than preserving civil liberties of American citizens, and for that matter, the peace of the rest of the world. If for no other reason than to preserve the freedom of our (possible) children, we should be exerting these efforts in favor of STOPPING NIXON-ERA FORIEGN POLICY TACTICS and electing officials who will make this planet habitable for the next two centuries at the very least.
Thank you for your time, I'm going to bed.
sig-free as of 28 July 02!
Many of you seem to be missing the point as to why the uproar about it being cancelled. I as well as most of you realize that all good things come to an end. But, the problem here is that Farscape was signed up for 5 seasons and got cancelled at the end of season 4 with no warning. So there will be no closure at the end of season 4. We will all be left wandering, just like at the end of every season finally. This is was pisses me off, not the it was cancelled, but there will be no closure to the long developed story line.