Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sci-Fi Channel to Pick Up John Doe

Posted by Zonk on from the next-show-planned-for-pickup-is-alf dept.

KrayzieKyd writes "The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing 'John Doe', another dead series that premiered with cult hit Firefly. It features a man with no memory of who he is but, but somehow has infinite knowledge. With his gift, he solves crimes which are hinted through his monochromatic sight with color. The show will re-premiere Friday, Jan 20 at 9pm ET." It's raining new shows on Sci-Fi, apparently.

39 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Now by OverlordQ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If only somebody could convince Sci-Fi to stop making a new 'oh no monster' craptastic movie each month, and instead maybe make a couple really good ones a year.

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:Now by no_pets · · Score: 2, Interesting

      IMHO SciFi makes a couple of good movies a year and some fun-to-watch "B" movie escapism movies to help fill the void.

      I like them and hope they keep up the work.

      --
      "A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." - Shepard Book Quoting Malcolm Reynolds
    2. Re:Now by luna69 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > If only somebody could convince Sci-Fi to stop making
      > a new 'oh no monster' craptastic movie each month

      Precisely.

      I'd rather they spend their money on making maybe one great show per season (and fill the rest of the time with reruns, old movies, independently produced shows by up-and-coming directors, etc) than continue to try and force feed us a steady diet of "Stargate: [$x]" or "[$deadly_animal_name]: The Lost City" or "[$any_show_in_space]".

      They're far too conservative (not taking chances with new and interesting material), pour too much money into schlock that appeals to nobody but twelve year old boys, and generally give "Science Fiction" a bad name. There's so much excellent, interesting, literary, smart science fiction out there, it's a crying shame that, for the most part, the best that hollywood seems to be able to do is cough up formulaic pap.

      I *do* have to give them credit for carrying BsG, which ranks right up there with the best stuff on TV (I rate it, on my personal scale, in the same neighborhood as the best seasons of BtVS, Showtime's "Weeds", HBO's "Six Feet Under", etc).

      --
      No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
    3. Re:Now by Kohath · · Score: 2, Funny

      I like their creative choices of monsters too. I think the next one is going to be about people who are attacked by giant squirrels.

      Here is some inspiration from the news:
      Truce called in war on squirrels
      Squirrels Gone Wild
      Russian squirrel pack 'kills dog'

      That's going to be a good movie.

    4. Re:Now by Belgand · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well if you look at their current schedule they really don't have very smart people running the show over there.

      Most days tend to be 8am-3pm being filled with re-runs of some sort often with only the vaguest sci-fi connection (e.g. Knight Rider). Not re-runs of multiple shows, but re-runs of the same show all day long. Then we get some time for the X-Files, maybe a Stargate SG-1 re-run and a some random crap. They'll usually toss in a movie at night. Sometimes it's something worth seeing (e.g. Stargate, Army of Darkness), but recently it's far more likely to be Dracula 3000 or some piece of dreck that they financed.

      The only night of original programming they have is on Fridays when they run 3 shows (currently, though bringing Dr. Who to the US is a smart move): Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica. I'm not certain if they're still running Firefly re-runs on Fridays as well because I have the DVDs.

      Of all the money they have to spend (that they don't spend producing some of the absolute best bumps I've ever seen) they funnel into those 3 shows and some absolutely piss-poor movies. Now, I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that almost nobody watches Stargate Atlantis. I can't imagine that anyone watches their movies unless they involve Bruce Campbell in some way (and even then Alien Invasion was beyond me after the first 30 minutes). They need to stop making the crappy movies and instead start seeking some new original programming and not the crappy original shows they've done in the past that nobody watched. While they destroyed Sliders and eventually killed MST3k at least they were trying. Picking up other people's properties seems to be the best they can really do.

      That said they are currently working on new shows (at least, according to thefutoncritic.com) including an adaptation of Mike Mignola's Amazing Screw-On Head and a show called Eureka about a town in the Pacific Northwest where the government has been secretly relocating the world's geniuses. Admittedly they have a variety of projects going on, but most are only at the script stage and of the few ordered to pilot most never seem to ever get picked up or even screened. Check the showwatch and devwatch sections at futon critic to see what else they're supposedly working on. At least they're trying.

    5. Re:Now by luna69 · · Score: 3, Funny

      > Anyway, who besides an adolescent male appends '69' to their username?

      Someone who knows history? What happened in 1969? Could it be...no, wait a minute, I think I've got it....we landed on the moon? The moon, as in "Luna"?

      --
      No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
    6. Re:Now by odourpreventer · · Score: 2, Funny
      Squirrels Gone Wild

      Mmm, Furry Porn.

      No, wait... D'oh!

      --
      Adventure, Romance, MAD SCIENCE!
    7. Re:Now by Surazal · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sir, your reply gets three snaps and one "You go, girl!"

      *snap* snap* snap* You go, girl! :^)

      --
      --- Journals are boring; Go to my web page instead
    8. Re:Now by KermitJunior · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm so thankful you didn't say, "Keep up the good work."

      --
      There is a Universal Life Value Check it
  2. Cliffhanger by pantropik · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The series ended with a cliffhanger (first season finale), which I've always thought is a pretty nasty thing to do to your audience, not that I'd expect anything better from Fox. I watched it the first time around in tandem with Firefly and was looking forward to some payoff in the second season, but I can't see a reason to watch it again knowing there will never be a payoff at all. You can bet Sci-Fi won't mention that when they are promoting it.

    1. Re:Cliffhanger by halcyon1234 · · Score: 3, Informative
      The series ended with a cliffhanger (first season finale), which I've always thought is a pretty nasty thing to do to your audience, not that I'd expect anything better from Fox.

      I always thought there should be a law that prevents any show from having a cliffhanger unless they have already been guarenteed a next season.

      As you mention, Fox is notoriously bad for this. Right off the top of my head, I can think of VR5, Brimstone and American Gothic. All great SF(ish) shows that had cliffhangers and were cancelled. Cruel beyond belief.

      --
      UTF-8: There and Back Again
    2. Re:Cliffhanger by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Its cliffhanger was particularly nasty, and even worse knowing there were a good 4 seasons left before the whole story would be told.

      However, like Farscape, Carnivale's cliffhanger could have been avoided by skipping the last 2-3 minutes of the last episode. Without those minutes, both shows could have been considered to have half-way decent wrap-ups. Not anywhere near perfect (such as the ending of the Buffy series) but at least average.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    3. Re:Cliffhanger by DavidTC · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Actually, that cliffhanger was the show's fault. (Not that I give fox any slack for canceling the series.)

      The revelation of the guy at the end (I'm trying not to spoil it.) was not intended to be that guy. They apparently were going to cast and bring in someone, playing that guy, as the villian of the next season.

      They literally threw it in at the last minute when they realized the show was canceled, basically to confuse the hell out of people.

      Hell, if you've got to go out, go out with a bang, right? Or at least go out with something that will make people go 'Huh?' and watch all the episodes again.

      Yes, I know quite a lot of places will claim the show was cancelled after the last episode was filmed. The shows producers, however, claim they knew.

      And, unlike

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
    4. Re:Cliffhanger by DavidTC · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Actually, you want to know where the story was ultimate going? It did have an overall premise behind John Doe, which was revealed after the show to be:

      Basically, when you die, God, or something, tells you everything that happened, every single known thing. Basically, it's nethack's 'Do you you want your possessions identified?'

      Somehow, those Phoenix people figured this out (probably someone else in history did it), and figured out a way to get a guy, whoever John Doe was, to this point without him actually being dead, and bring him back. (Or maybe, with him actually being dead.)

      This appears to have been quite a bit more involved than 'Flatliners', and seemed to involve him physically reappearing in the world.

      Hence, he became 'The Phoenix'.

      What is with the memory loss is unknown, as is whether or not he left behind a corpse when he 'died'.

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
  3. Re:English? by pantropik · · Score: 3, Informative

    He has no memory of his past and sees everything in black and white. Sometimes, though, he'll see an object or person in color, which causes him to pay special attention to the person/oject and, you know, go adventuring and solve crimes and stuff.

  4. Took a little suspension of disbelief, but not bad by koreth · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I was pretty skeptical about that show when it started, but it grew on me. Its big saving grace is that the lead does a great job of acting like a bit of a dork most of the time.

    The show has an ongoing storyline, which stars off kind of slow but takes a pretty wild turn late in the season. Sadly, we'll never know how it ends, since the season-ending cliffhanger was the last episode. So beware if you start in on it -- you will be left hanging.

    I suppose it's possible Sci-Fi could do a movie-of-the-week or two to wrap it up, like the "Alien Nation" movies did for that show. That would be swell. But I'm not holding my breath.

  5. Now pick up - Threshold by gadlaw · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I broke my own rule of not even looking sideways at a television show until it has at least two years in the can by watching and enjoying Threshold. I look for it after the Christmas break and find it has been cancelled. Most annoying. Now I'm waiting for Surface to be cancelled and of course the crapfest Invasion will probably be on air for years to come. No justice.

    --
    Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
  6. I used to watch it by Kohath · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The most noteworthy thing about this show is how it's exactly like "The Pretender".

    1. Re:I used to watch it by DavidTC · · Score: 2, Interesting
      No it's not. The Pretender actually made sense.

      The only secret Jerrod was trying to figure out is who his parents were and what happened to them, and that's completely unrelated to his abilities, which is basically just incredible acting talent combined with very good problem solving.

      The two series may look superficially the same, but Jerrod part of The Pretender was actually much more like Quantum Leap. Show up, pretend to be someone, solve problems with your superior skills and knowledge, leave. Although Jerrod focused on crimes and Sam on future problems.

      The Center part of the shows, however...I can't offhandedly think of an analog of that, although I'm sure it's existed. Basically, people unravelling the vast web of lies and deception around them. I suspect Twin Peaks would qualify, although I have not seen that, and The Center never even appeared normal.

      And, although people rarely caught on, they were two completely seperate TV shows that happened to inhabit the same hour. Seriously, about 1% of the airtime required you actually knowing about both 'shows'. You could have watched just Jarrod, and known some mysterious people were after him, or just watched Ms. Parker and company, and known her overall goal was to catch someone, but she always failed, but the amount of crossover between the plots was almost nothing. An editor could sit down and slice them apart to make 'Jerrod' show or 'The Center' show, and almost no footage would be in both.

      I can't think of any TV show that's done that.

      As for John Doe, the real analog would be Nowhere Man or, indirectly, The Prisoner, or even something like Strange Luck.

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
  7. Re:John Doe brought down Firefly by pantropik · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A consistent schedule, at least a nod toward marketing the show and maybe one or two episodes being shown in the proper order might have helped, too. I actually liked John Doe ... it was like "X-Files & The Pretender: What if they mated?"

  8. Re:John Doe brought down Firefly by luna69 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You're right - FF was done a huge disservice by the people who put the lineup together. Well-written, character-driven SF on TV *can* be successful (e.g., BsG), but not if it's put in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a shame, because the writing was great, the cast was obviously in sync, and there was plenty of room for storyline growth.

    Oh well.

    What will happen, eventually -- Hollywood is going to have to be dragged into the future kicking and screaming -- is that we will move away from this broadcast delivery model in which we are expected to watch shows at specific times. Once the whole issue of how money changes hands gets worked out, things will progress rapidly, I think - witness the popularity of TiVO and its copycats. As long as content producers can find a way to get paid, they'll be on board...and it may turn out that when people can watch whatever they want, whenever they want, that shows like FF have more of a shot at building an audience.

    Of course then marketing shows to the public becomes an issue: in the broadcast model, there are only so many channels, and only so many hours in the day. This limits the pool of competitors for eyeballs. When people can choose from a wider array of content and watch it on their terms, profits can be diluted, competition can be fiercer for eyeball loyalty, etc.

    On a related note: if I could, I would gladly pay a nominal fee to watch serial shows like BsG, FF, etc. without commercials. If I could buy access to what amounts to about 40 minutes of actual content, skip the commercials, and see the show in high def, I'd GLADLY pay the content producers.

    --
    No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
  9. The Fox Friday Rerun Channel by Ray+Radlein · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I eagerly await the remainder of their backwards trek through Fox's collection of excellent prematurely-cancelled Friday night shows. Firefly and John Doe, check: How long before they work their way back to Strange Luck and VR.5 ?

  10. now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    they need to pick up dark angel.

  11. re-premier??? by advocate_one · · Score: 2, Insightful

    surely a contradiction in one word... I think the word we are looking for here is "repeat"...

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  12. you forgot by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You forgot about Strange Luck. Like John Doe, it is one of those shows that cannot be explained in 1 sentence.

    --
    Fight Spammers!
  13. Sci-Fi Channel, R.I.P. by dada21 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think we need to see this one go away.

    We're geeks. We like to be ahead of the game. We like it our way, hold the ketchup and the onions, thank you very much.

    In-your-face, take it or leave it TV is dead, or it should be. The horse is beaten, the flies have eaten, it's time to bury it. A la carte TV is so 90's, even if it wasn't really available. The iTunes format is cool. but it isn't quite what we need or want.

    AKIMBO is cool, but I'm sure it's plagued with lame shows and whatever "it isn't open source" problems people have with it.

    So the answer is where should we go next? I'd love to see viewer funded "television" -- maybe geek television at its finest. Firefly, BsG, hell, even bring back Monty Python with a newer funnier cast. Give us an option -- tell us how much it will cost, how many episodes we can assume to be paying for, ask us what video formats we'd like to see, and then do it. Start a website or a blog or whatever we need to find you. Let us pay for it, in advance, with a contract stipulating some refund if you don't meet the requirements.

    I'll put up $500 of my own money, right now, for Firefly to come back. I'd pay $500 for 2 guaranteed seasons (22 episodes per season). I'd cancel cable TV in a heartbeat (I bet we're paying over $1000 a year) and put that money towards 6 or 8 good shows, a la carte. Film them in Canada, give the actors a piece of the action (call them producers, skip the unions) and let's find some good TV. I can't handle anything aimed at the mainstream (maybe L&O: CI on occasion) anymore.

    There are 1 million people coming to /. this week (or more?) $50 a year per user is $50 million. This is enough to get 20 shows going for a year.

    Why are we still talking about Sci-Fi again, we have money, let's use it. Any 10 of you want to match my $500 and get something started?

    1. Re:Sci-Fi Channel, R.I.P. by BushCheney08 · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's not that nobody won't. It's that nobody legally can. Fox owns the rights to television shows based on Firefly. That's why another company (Universal) was able to make it into a movie -- because it wasn't a TV show. If Firefly ever returns to the small screen it will be because Fox decided to do it (or they sold the rights to it).

      --
      Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
    2. Re:Sci-Fi Channel, R.I.P. by canavan · · Score: 2, Informative

      There are 1 million people coming to /. this week (or more?) $50 a year per user is $50 million. This is enough to get 20 shows going for a year.

      I'd say that's just barely 30 episodes of some shows. Futurama averages at about US$1.5 Million per episode.

    3. Re:Sci-Fi Channel, R.I.P. by Bemopolis · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm in -- on two conditions:
      1. On every show there is a character named "Brannon Braga" who is horribly mutilated in the first five minutes of the show.
      2. On every show there is a machine capable of raising the dead, so we can revive "Brannon Braga" for the next episode.

      Bemopolis

      --
      "I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
  14. John Doe is a pretty generic term... by hackwrench · · Score: 2, Informative

    and I don't know what the producer's name is.

    Fortunately, Wikipedia to the rescue:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe_(TV_series)

  15. Re:Correct for Slashdot by bert.cl · · Score: 2, Funny
    Yes^H^H^HNo^H^HYes^H^HNo^H^HWikipedia is goatse!^H^H^H^HYes^H^HNo^H^HThis Page is a stub

    Meant to be funny, by all means, do mod me down :). I do like wikipedia tho

  16. Re:Lemon Curry? by thunderbee · · Score: 2, Insightful

    BLASPHEMER!!!

    True. Tie him to the comfy chair, and poke him with the soft cushion!

    --
    In my opinion, Scientology is a cult you should avoid.
  17. Fox Reveals Doe's Secret (spoiler!) by mwyner · · Score: 2, Informative

    I read about this a couple of months ago, and never knew it about the time. Apparently after the got cancelled, they revealed what was going to happen: http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue326/news.html

  18. pretender by chigun · · Score: 2, Insightful

    wasn't this show on NBC before, except called The Pretender?

    --
    swanker than you
  19. Oh, that painful first episode... by dmorin · · Score: 3, Informative
    Scene : John Doe, having just realized his "powers", is in some sort of mall taking questions from strangers.

    Doe: "....010111010101101..1011."

    Stranger: "Wow....he actually knows the assembly code for DOS."

    Or something like that. But it did actually get good, especially as it progressed toward the eventual cliffhanger that others have mentioned. If SciFi channel has ordered new episodes I'd be thrilled, but I don't think they have.

    --
    www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
  20. What?! by Aero+Leviathan · · Score: 2, Funny

    And... unlike... unlike what? WHAT HAPPENED? This post was cancelled? That's BULLSHIT! It was just starting to get good! DAMN YOU SLASHDOT!

    --
    ~ Aero
  21. They did... by schon · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wish they would bring back Farscape.

    They did, only they dropped the muppets, and renamed it Fargate SG-1.

  22. Re:I Don't know who sci-fi channel's audience is by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Asking him all of these mundane questions was pretty cool. The DOS thing though, eck.

    The point was to ask an impossible question and have him answer it. Hence something mystical/futuristic was at foot.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  23. Unless they destroyed it by KingSkippus · · Score: 2, Informative

    Unless they destroy it, like they did with Sliders. I used to like that show. I thought it was moderately intelligent and had a great premise. When the Sci Fi channel started making it, though, it got sooooo bad.

    I'd rather have no Firefly at all than have it become really bad. And that says a lot, because I really want more Firefly.