Millions donated to help save Enterprise

[wiseone]

Dude? Why is the show being cancelled, is it the viewing figures? Cos i thought it was quite successful?!

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I could see this becoming the new thing.

Attention Fans: we have paid for the production of you favorite show for the past three years. Now it is time to pony up. Each viewer is encouraged to pay at least $15 via check or PayPal in order to maintain the production budget for next season. For each $1 million short, we will be forced to either cut an episode or kill off a main character. Remember, if this show dies, you will only have yourself to blame.

Sincerly,
The Producers

 

[mojo1701]

A more worthy cause would be to pitch money towards a Babylon 5 continuation series. Let Star Trek die. It had a good run, but its over. Stop trying to use your evil necromancy to make it into a zombie.

Blasphemer! Couldn't the same be said towards B5? I never watched it.

Dude? Why is the show being cancelled, is it the viewing figures? Cos i thought it was quite successful?!

It averages about 2.5 million viewers each new episode. From what I can't tell (don't ask me; I don't study Nielsen ratings) that's not a lot.

Worth quoting as there is so much going on ranging from Florida hurricane victims to Chicago school closings to of course, teh Tsunami victims.

Right Back at ya!

 

[jester47]

Worth quoting as there is so much going on ranging from Florida hurricane victims to Chicago school closings to of course, teh Tsunami victims.

Breaking post quarentine for this:

Yeah, the "Star Trek" thing to do would be to give the money to a real charity that needed it rather than try to use it to support a TV show.

Apparently these fans are not asking themselves "What would Picard do?"

Aaron.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Couldn't the same be said towards B5?

That is an astute question. Actually no. Trek has had a good run. Its had five multi-season TV series, ten movies, and people are finally tuning out because its run its course. Its being cancelled because of low ratings, so people just aren't watching.

Crusade was the last real attempt at another Babylon 5 series. Due to creative disagreements between JMS and TNT, they cancelled the series before it even aired. It never had a chance to succeed. Other attempts have failed not because of ratings issues, in fact it was one of the best rated scifis in syndication when it was on the air, but because of cost concerns and business people dragging their feet. Apparently it makes more sense to these people to try out new untried series and then cancel them than to create one that is attached to an already successful series.

So no, the two are really not the same at all. In fact, I would say that they're polar opposites from one another. One has been rejected by the viewership while the other has been rejected by a bunch of clueless moneymen.

 

[Volaran]

Breaking post quarentine for this:

Yeah, the "Star Trek" thing to do would be to give the money to a real charity that needed it rather than try to use it to support a TV show.

Apparently these fans are not asking themselves "What would Picard do?"

Aaron.

I would agree with that. I think fundraising attempts are a futile way to save the show, but if they donated the totals to charity, perhaps in the name of Star Trek, Enterprise, ect. that would be a nice send off.

 

[mojo1701]

I would agree with that. I think fundraising attempts are a futile way to save the show, but if they donated the totals to charity, perhaps in the name of Star Trek, Enterprise, ect. that would be a nice send off.

If you've ever seen "Trekkies," then a lot of people, I think, would agree with this. Especially the one woman who is a lt. cmdr (at the time) in the "Federation Alliance" says that one of the tenets of being a member in this club is to do community service.

I think it should survive now as a movie series, just like the originals thrived in such a manner. Perhaps fund some fanfilms (if I were to get the manpower and materials, I wouldn't mind producing one, although I'd need room to produce a standing bridge set ).

 

[Umbran]

Apparently these fans are not asking themselves "What would Picard do?"

Spurious logic, there. Picard was frequently seen with a book or music for relaxation. Thus, he recognizes the need for such in one's life. TYhe simple fact fo our world is to get that required relaxation, we need to expend some of our wealth.

Those who are without sin may throw the first stone. Has anyone here donated all their expendable income to charity? Has anyone here not spent any money on something they like as entertainment? If not, don't criticize how others choose to spend their entertainment dollars.

 

[johnsemlak]

Before folks start chanting that Enterprise is not a charity, think a moment. How is paying a few bucks to cover production costs of a program really any different from paying a few bucks for a season of that show on DVD?

I don't think there's much difference at all.

The people leading this donation drive have estimates some 3 million people watch Enterprise on a regular basis. If each of those people donated about $12 to their show, they'd pay for the whole season.

Think about that for a moment. How much might you pay per season to have your favorite show? Certainly, people pay far more than that to own a season of stuff that's already been aired, not a shred of it new material. Why is it so crazy that people might want to pay a bit for something new?

Don't think of it as Enterprise being a charity. Think of it instead as a proof of concept - we may not be limited to what the studios feel they can sell on the airwaves, pushed by mass-market advertising.

OK, I admit they way you put it It might be worth putting up some dough. But they way this drive is being promoted (using words 'donate' or 'contribute'--words I associate with charity), I don't see this as being something where I pay $15 dollars and as a result get a product for that.

 

[Mark]

Trek (...) being cancelled because of low ratings, so people just aren't watching.

Babylon 5 (...) was one of the best rated scifis in syndication when it was on the air

Hard numbers not hyperbole. How many for each in terms of millions of viewers? Anyone?

From what little I can find online, ENT had (at one time) around 8 million viewers, and I'm sure that the producers hoped to grow that number closer to 10 million or beyond. I've seen on these boards (but can't find a link) that the number dropped below 3 million.

http://www.trektoday.com/news/121001_05.shtml

http://www.trektoday.com/news/101003_04.shtml

http://www.trektoday.com/news/171002_01.shtml

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/9088

** http://www.treknation.com/articles/ratings_history.shtml **

As for B5, I'm not finding anything other than message board posts that purport to have firm numbers.