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BSG Prequel Series Caprica Canceled
Kethinov writes "The sci-fi TV series Caprica, a prequel spinoff from Battlestar Galactica, was just canceled by the Syfy channel. In response to the cancellation and the recent theme of many similar good sci-fi shows getting canceled over the last few years, I've written an editorial arguing that Caprica's cancellation reflects the decreasing sustainability of the cable TV business model. A better, more modern business model could have saved Caprica from cancellation. If this model is adopted in the future, it could save many other similar niche genre shows from the same fate down the road." Another perspective here might be that a boring, ponderous show got yoinked because nobody watched it. Just sayin'.
I watched BSG religiously (and bitched like fuck after the final episode) but I never watched Caprica - I didn't want to have to watch another series just to have some small parts of the back story filled in, and Caprica didn't interest me as an independent series either.
Plus the BSG writers pretty much blew it for me when they discussed in a podcast during season 2 or 3 that they had no idea that the 'final five' thing was going to become what it did, they just realised that viewers had latched on to it as a mystery and then decided to run with it - the final five were all chosen much later on as well, just before they were revealed, so again the concept that the writers 'had a plan' was blown for me early on.
The problem is that Caprica didn't have just a mid-season hiatus... it went almost a full year between season 1 and 1.5. Few shows can survive that.
Also the other poster is correct: The story simply wasn't that good. Other than the cute girl(s), I could find little reason to continue watching. I suspect "Haven" is also destined for the chopping block, for the same reason.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
It did have many dark and mature themes. There were many interesting ideas embedded in the story as well. They also had quite a few really well done scenes.
However, I think they lacked good pacing. The story seemed to plod along clumsily. It was almost like watching a television show directed by Stanley Kubrick (whom I love, but who clearly draws certain scenes on way too long).
One part of the story that I found truly absurd and overly drawn out was when Stoltz's character was repeatedly attempting to torment his dead daughter that he believed might be inside the Cylon. It was completely warped, sadistic, hard to believe, and overly drawn out. The multiple experiments to convince himself just seemed to make it feel drawn out, while making him look like a sadistic prick.
You're conflating two very different ways to screw up a series.
A: If you extend it so far that you have to pad it out with boring subplots and unlikeable characters, then that's not so bad - just fast forward through the tedious stuff and enjoy the exceptions. Babylon 5 Season 5 was no worse than Season 1 in that regard; in both cases you can pretty much skip the non-Londo-and-G'Kar stuff and you're still good.
B: If you extend the story in such a way that it changes the background or themes from the first story for the worse, then that's much more awful. Starting with a Neo who says "I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people a world you don't want them to see." and inexplicably transitioning to "I'm mopey." doesn't just make a bad second movie, it makes the first movie worse. Following Newt's rescue in Aliens with her pointless death in the Alien3 backstory turns Ripley from a hero into a tragic farce. And following up "They Have A Plan" with "But The Writers Can't Think Of A Good One" was just sad. Here the best way to go really is to just pretend that the sequel/prequel stories didn't exist.