No mention of 17th Precinct (on NBC) in that article? A guaranteed pickup if you asked me; created by Ron Moore and has an all-star cast, reuniting BSG trio Jamie Bamber (Apollo), Tricia Helfer (Number Six) and James Callis (Baltar), not to mention Esai Morales (Caprica - Joseph Adama) and Kristen Kreuk from Smallville.
Surely guaranteed a pickup.
No guarantee about it. 17th Precinct isn't some Syfy cable project. Battlestar Galactica itself would have had bad numbers on NBC, which needs to attract a bigger, more mainstream audience. NBC has a lot of drama pilots this year and 17th Precinct could easily be overlooked by network executives who don't care about whatever "geek cred" Ron Moore and the actors you mentioned possess.
No guarantee about it. 17th Precinct isn't some Syfy cable project. Battlestar Galactica itself would have had bad numbers on NBC, which needs to attract a bigger, more mainstream audience. NBC has a lot of drama pilots this year and 17th Precinct could easily be overlooked by network executives who don't care about whatever "geek cred" Ron Moore and the actors you mentioned possess.
Okay 'guarantee' is a strong word, but with the state NBC is in right now it needs to find itself an audience from somewhere, and I think they will see this as a huge opportunity.
Saying BSG would have had bad numbers on NBC is a completely unqualified statement, based on total guesswork. There hasn't been a proper science fiction show on network television for a long time (excluding sci-fi which is pretending to be a thriller, a la FlashForward and The Event), so with proper marketing, and the critical attention it drew, it's impossible to say whether it would have been a hit or not.
Saying BSG would have had bad numbers on NBC is a completely unqualified statement, based on total guesswork.
An educated guess based on knowledge of the consistently poor ratings record of science fiction on US network TV. Frankly, I'm amazed any science fiction project ever gets greenlit by the US networks -- but they keep trying. And since I love science fiction, I am happy they do keep trying. But that does not blind me to the fact that over DECADES, with VERY few exception, US science fiction television series have had to find homes outside the network system to survive any decent length of time.
There hasn't been a proper science fiction show on network television for a long time (excluding sci-fi which is pretending to be a thriller, a la FlashForward and The Event), so with proper marketing, and the critical attention it drew, it's impossible to say whether it would have been a hit or not.
I would love to hear what you consider PROPER science fiction. Examples other than BSG? Even better would be a definition. It is awfully convenient if every time a network science fiction show gets cancelled prematurely you can say, "Well, it wasn't really science fiction."
I wasn't trying to say they wern't science fiction, simply that they were not billed as such, to the point of trying to hide from their own genre, a la FlashForward. I was simply trying to say that these days networks purposely disguise their science fiction shows, since as you say, historically they have not faired well. Think about how they have been billed:
Lost - "Drama following a plane crash leaving passengers stranded on an island"
FlashForward - "The next LOST"
The Event - "High-octane thriller" "The next 24"
There are a couple of recent examples such as V and Invasion which have been clearly billed as SciFi but on the whole the networks are very much trying to disguise the genre, which leads to viewers bailing as soon as they hear the word 'aliens' or anything similar.
Again I was being a bit extreme when I used the word 'proper', perhaps I should have said 'traditional'. I was simply agreeing with your point that classic sci-fi such as shows like Star Trek, Stargate, BSG etc have all been on homes outside US networks, since it has been so difficult to gain an audience on network tv.
I simply think a network should be bold enough to introduce a proper, traditional science fiction show, and say 'SciFi fans - are you there?'.
I wasn't trying to say they wern't science fiction, simply that they were not billed as such, to the point of trying to hide from their own genre, a la FlashForward. I was simply trying to say that these days networks purposely disguise their science fiction shows, since as you say, historically they have not faired well. Think about how they have been billed:
Lost - "Drama following a plane crash leaving passengers stranded on an island"
FlashForward - "The next LOST"
The Event - "High-octane thriller" "The next 24"
There are a couple of recent examples such as V and Invasion which have been clearly billed as SciFi but on the whole the networks are very much trying to disguise the genre, which leads to viewers bailing as soon as they hear the word 'aliens' or anything similar.
Again I was being a bit extreme when I used the word 'proper', perhaps I should have said 'traditional'. I was simply agreeing with your point that classic sci-fi such as shows like Star Trek, Stargate, BSG etc have all been on homes outside US networks, since it has been so difficult to gain an audience on network tv.
I simply think a network should be bold enough to introduce a proper, traditional science fiction show, and say 'SciFi fans - are you there?'.
When science fiction is done on American TV, it is standard practice to either downplay the sci-fi or outright deny it is sci fi. This is nothing new. In the 1960's, Gene Roddenberry promoted Star Trek as "Wagon Train to the stars!" -- invoking the title of a Western TV series about people on a "trek," because Westerns were king back then. In the 1990's Chris Carter actually denied The X-Files was science fiction. Since then, it seems to me that the producers of about half the science fiction shows that have been on American TV have denied their shows are science fiction. It's really quite hilarious.:)
When science fiction is done on American TV, it is standard practice to either downplay the sci-fi or outright deny it is sci fi. This is nothing new. In the 1960's, Gene Roddenberry promoted Star Trek as "Wagon Train to the stars!" -- invoking the title of a Western TV series about people on a "trek," because Westerns were king back then. In the 1990's Chris Carter actually denied The X-Files was science fiction. Since then, it seems to me that the producers of about half the science fiction shows that have been on American TV have denied their shows are science fiction. It's really quite hilarious.:)
Kind of sad though, too. Even the SyFy channel shys away from it I guess, with all the wrestling!
Ah well, as you say, as long as they continue to produce it then it's good for us
No mention of 17th Precinct (on NBC) in that article? A guaranteed pickup if you asked me; created by Ron Moore and has an all-star cast, reuniting BSG trio Jamie Bamber (Apollo), Tricia Helfer (Number Six) and James Callis (Baltar), not to mention Esai Morales (Caprica - Joseph Adama) and Kristen Kreuk from Smallville.
Surely guaranteed a pickup.
Doesn't look good for 17th Precinct
NBC
Of the 2 magical pilots, 17TH PRECINCT and GRIMM, GRIMM appears stronger, while 17th PRECINCT doesn't look good.
Comments
No guarantee about it. 17th Precinct isn't some Syfy cable project. Battlestar Galactica itself would have had bad numbers on NBC, which needs to attract a bigger, more mainstream audience. NBC has a lot of drama pilots this year and 17th Precinct could easily be overlooked by network executives who don't care about whatever "geek cred" Ron Moore and the actors you mentioned possess.
Okay 'guarantee' is a strong word, but with the state NBC is in right now it needs to find itself an audience from somewhere, and I think they will see this as a huge opportunity.
Saying BSG would have had bad numbers on NBC is a completely unqualified statement, based on total guesswork. There hasn't been a proper science fiction show on network television for a long time (excluding sci-fi which is pretending to be a thriller, a la FlashForward and The Event), so with proper marketing, and the critical attention it drew, it's impossible to say whether it would have been a hit or not.
An educated guess based on knowledge of the consistently poor ratings record of science fiction on US network TV. Frankly, I'm amazed any science fiction project ever gets greenlit by the US networks -- but they keep trying. And since I love science fiction, I am happy they do keep trying. But that does not blind me to the fact that over DECADES, with VERY few exception, US science fiction television series have had to find homes outside the network system to survive any decent length of time.
I would love to hear what you consider PROPER science fiction. Examples other than BSG? Even better would be a definition. It is awfully convenient if every time a network science fiction show gets cancelled prematurely you can say, "Well, it wasn't really science fiction."
Lost - "Drama following a plane crash leaving passengers stranded on an island"
FlashForward - "The next LOST"
The Event - "High-octane thriller" "The next 24"
There are a couple of recent examples such as V and Invasion which have been clearly billed as SciFi but on the whole the networks are very much trying to disguise the genre, which leads to viewers bailing as soon as they hear the word 'aliens' or anything similar.
Again I was being a bit extreme when I used the word 'proper', perhaps I should have said 'traditional'. I was simply agreeing with your point that classic sci-fi such as shows like Star Trek, Stargate, BSG etc have all been on homes outside US networks, since it has been so difficult to gain an audience on network tv.
I simply think a network should be bold enough to introduce a proper, traditional science fiction show, and say 'SciFi fans - are you there?'.
When science fiction is done on American TV, it is standard practice to either downplay the sci-fi or outright deny it is sci fi. This is nothing new. In the 1960's, Gene Roddenberry promoted Star Trek as "Wagon Train to the stars!" -- invoking the title of a Western TV series about people on a "trek," because Westerns were king back then. In the 1990's Chris Carter actually denied The X-Files was science fiction. Since then, it seems to me that the producers of about half the science fiction shows that have been on American TV have denied their shows are science fiction. It's really quite hilarious.:)
Kind of sad though, too. Even the SyFy channel shys away from it I guess, with all the wrestling!
Ah well, as you say, as long as they continue to produce it then it's good for us
Hah, is that really going to be a show? I was thinking that the entire time.
Yes I was thinking that too, and especially about Burrows' accent. It was very poor, she is English so she didn't have to put on a Van Dyke accent.
It looks like it might be a good series, I like the character of the Finder, but they need to get rid of her accent.
The cases are standard fair, I don't really care about any of the characters and Dana isn't wearing her FMBs enough too keep my attention.
Shame really.
imo Body of Proof isn't the best show but it is okay. I still haven't gotten around to watch the latest two episodes though.
Doesn't look good for 17th Precinct
http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/primetime-pilot-panic-2nd-hot-list/#more-127168