[OT/Andromeda] Help! What happened with Trance?

[Psion]

Sorbo is actually going to be writing the episodes??

I don't think so. But I did hear that it was Sorbo's desires to dumb down the show that got the current author canned and there is talk of nixing the existing story arcs and going for someting more episodic, springing from Sorbo's desires.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I've got one thing to say about the new Trance:

H O T

OMG! I think I am in love.

 

[DPG Darrin]

I don't think so. But I did hear that it was Sorbo's desires to dumb down the show that got the current author canned and there is talk of nixing the existing story arcs and going for someting more episodic, springing from Sorbo's desires.

Yep, I read that too. Guess they just lost a viewer. Too bad.

Hopefully Staczynski can get Legend of the Rangers to fly, but preferrably with a different actor playing th captain.

 

[Warchild]

as soon as i start to like a show........

Romey's hair - ugh. Crap!!!
Future Beka - please don't hurt me!!
New Trance - whoa. i like. i like.
Sorbo's rumored ego - not good. in fact bad.....baaaaadddd!!

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

I don't see the point of worrying until we see the new episode format.

About this episode- I usually dislike time travel episodes, but I enjoyed this one. I will appreciate it more if they stick with the hints of things to come.

FD

 

[Umbran]

Folks,

I haven't actually watched the episode yet, but I can verify a few things...

Yes, Brent Stait (who played Rev Bem) left the show due to severe allergic reactions to the makeup. In one interview, Mr. Stait has been quoted as saying that Sorbo asked if he'd like to come back at some point as another character. So, perhaps we we will see him again some day.

About Trance, her tail, and more recent cosmetic and writing changes - to blame this all on Sorbo is a vast oversimplification. Yes, Sorbo is now a producer of the show, and he is on record as preferring a more episodic format. However, the changes in Trance are, by reports I have read, more the doing of Tribune Entertainment, which bankrolls the show.

Even if it's filmed in Canada, it's still Hollywood, folks. DOn't jump to conclusions and blame a particular personality when the situation is usually far more complicated.

 

[Psion]

About Trance, her tail, and more recent cosmetic and writing changes - to blame this all on Sorbo is a vast oversimplification.

Um, I don't think ANYONE here at least has blamed any of the changes to date on Sorbo. This episode was Wolfe's last, so in all likelihood, everything you have seen to date is how Wolfe intended it.

Now what people are concerned about is the content of a Sorbo interview in which he stated a desire to dumb down the show and make it more episodic. To we fans who appreciated the fact that there was an intelligence to the show that made it more than another Braga-Trek clone or Hercules-and-Xena in space, this comes as a rather black omen. We have yet to see an episode produced under this new regime, but the fear is there. And I think with good reason.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

The problem is, more episodic shows are generally more lucrative. B5 struggled throughout its run to stay on the air, and its successor, Crusade, despite being more episodic in nature, died quickly. B5 never attained the same name recognition as Star Trek, and never will, in part due to the fact that Trek is/was more episodic, and theerfore easier for the average viewer to get into. The general public often needs time to discover a show, and if, in the second or third season, people start to check it out, a continuing storyline will likely drive them away; viewers will feel like they need to "catch up," and few will be willing to try and do so. Star Trek benefited from its episodic run, and that's why it's much more mainstream success-wise.

I loved B5, and I like Andromeda quite a bit. I like story arcs. But, the truth of the matter is, I am not exactly the type of person a show needs to attract. What I like is not what the vast majority of TV viewers like. If shows like Andromeda need to ensure their futures by compromising a bit, then they should do it, by all means. I'd rather the show survive than go under because it tried to cater to a specific, small demographic which has never proven itself to be major consumers to advertisers. Even Star Trek, while successful in scifi terms, is still not that powerful a name brand - that's why Enterprise is on UPN and not one of the "Big 3" networks (which, despite serious erosion due to cable, are still the major players) and all the previous series, except the original, were syndicated. Even the original never really made it big until it was syndicated. Even then, "big" is a relative concept, since even the most successful syndicated Trek series would have been quickly cancelled by a network, because its ratings aren't really competitive with network shows.

Advertising fuels the TV industry. Without large numbers of viewers, and the right demographic breakdown, advertisers don't bother spending their money. Without that revenue, there is no show. So making Andromeda more episodic may be better for it in the long run. I am a bit leery of the show losing a major part of its creative team, though.

But the new Trance is pretty hot. I still find Lisa Ryder (Beka) more attractive, though.

 

[LightPhoenix]

The problem is, more episodic shows are generally more lucrative. B5 struggled throughout its run to stay on the air, and its successor, Crusade, despite being more episodic in nature, died quickly.

Whoops, bad analogy. That was TNT's fault, not the ratings, which were quite good for a cable sci-fi series.

The general public often needs time to discover a show, and if, in the second or third season, people start to check it out, a continuing storyline will likely drive them away; viewers will feel like they need to "catch up," and few will be willing to try and do so.

The thing is, Andromeda was never (and now never will be) as story-heavy as Babylon 5 was - this effect is greatly diminished. But it is a valid concern, I just don't think that Andromeda had very much of an arc at all that would drive people away.

What I like is not what the vast majority of TV viewers like. If shows like Andromeda need to ensure their futures by compromising a bit, then they should do it, by all means. I'd rather the show survive than go under because it tried to cater to a specific, small demographic which has never proven itself to be major consumers to advertisers.

While much of what you said I agree with, I can't support this statement. This seems like selling-out to me, and the way it's been described, it's very much not going to be the same show as it used to be. I liked Andromeda's balance of episodic and arcing storylines a lot, now I think that balance is gone.

Even Star Trek, while successful in scifi terms, is still not that powerful a name brand - that's why Enterprise is on UPN and not one of the "Big 3" networks (which, despite serious erosion due to cable, are still the major players)

The Big 3 don't like science fiction at all, prolly cause of ratings. They would never pick up a scifi show.

LightPhoenix

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Whoops, bad analogy. That was TNT's fault, not the ratings, which were quite good for a cable sci-fi series.

I don't see why it's a bad analogy. B5 wasn't on TNT until near the end of its run, having dodged cancellation 3 or 4 times prior, and Crusade, which, as you say, was highly rated for cable, just didn't attract the kind and numbers of viewers it needed to survive. It had close to a network show's budget and a fraction of its audience. Certainly TNT can take the blame for some of its failure, but not all of it; it would have been interesting to see if Crusade would have been found by an audience had it lasted longer.

As for selling out...as a friend of mine says, "I can't sell out because I never sold in." Andromeda was never devised as an art project or a masterwork. It was created, simply, to make money as a TV show. There isn't anything wrong with that. I will say again, though, that the loss of a major member of the creative team may well spell trouble. We'll see.