If you have an active campaign to support a struggling sci fi / fantasy show or save a cancelled one, send us the information at cancelledscifi [at] gmail [dot] com and we will pass it along.
The Nielsen ratings continue to drive the fate of the shows currently on television (and yes, the networks do look at the overnights). But the tide is changing and fans have social media as a powerful tool to let the networks know that there is a larger audience out there than what the ratings are measuring. Live tweeting when an episode airs is the best way for fans to show their support. And hashtag campaigns throughout the week is a good idea as well. And the other social media sites should play into this as well. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and whatever the latest one is can all provide a means for fans to support their shows and get the word out for other people to start watching. This is your Call to Action to make your voices (and numbers) known and to do your part to save your favorite shows.
In the last post (at this link), I looked at The 100, Minority Report, Heroes Reborn, and also the campaign to revive The 4400. Here are the shows that are in focus this week:
Sleepy Hollow (FOX): When FOX recently released their mid-season schedule, this show had been kicked to Fridays (as I had previously predicted). That’s not a good thing, folks, as it looks like the network could be sending it to burn-off its remaining episodes before having a date with the Network Executioner. And this show does not get the protected third season show because of the shortened episode orders it has had thus far. If fans want this one to survive into a fourth year, they need to get active as the show wraps up its Fall episodes. If they can bring enough attention to the show through social media campaigns, perhaps the Friday numbers will be good enough for FOX to keep it there into a fourth season. The network plugged up a Friday night hour with Fringe for two years, so why not Sleepy Hollow as well. If they see the show has support, perhaps it could happen.
- Update 12/11: A petition asking FOX to give Sleepy Hollow a fourth season has been posted at this link.
The Last Man on Earth (FOX): This is another show that ended up on the wrong end of FOX’s schedule revamp (just as I had predicted) and it goes into limbo after it wraps up its Fall run. Fans need to get active and draw attention to it before that happens (Fall finale is December 13th), otherwise it may remain off the schedule or get sent to a Summer burn-off run if it still has any episodes in the can. As a sitcom, its ratings don’t need to be as high as an hour drama because it is cheaper to produce. But it needs to be doing better than last place for FOX on Sunday nights. It airs a repeat this coming Sunday, but then it has its last two Fall episode over the two weeks that follow. Fans need to get active and draw attention to the show, otherwise time will run out quickly.
Kickstarter Campaign:
Mystery Science Theater 3000: As I mentioned in this week’s Sci Fi TV Development post, MST3K creator Joel Hodgson has a Kickstarter campaign to finance a new season of episodes of this sci fi riffing show. The initial goal of $2 million has been met which means that three new episodes are on the way. But each additional $1.1 million will allow them to add three more episodes to the season. As of this writing, they are at $2.8 million and there are sixteen days left in the campaign to reach the stretch goal of $5.5 million for twelve eps. So kick in your support to help bring in a new batch of episodes for this classic show. Campaign link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/bringbackmst3k/
