"This is a good death."
Aug. 22nd, 2006 08:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merelynSo SG-1 has been cancelled and SGA has been renewed. To all SG-1 fans reading this, I offer my condolences.
I had heard, though, that there was some bitterness expressed on some message boards toward SGA being renewed, and while I haven't found any of these posts myself, I can imagine what they say: SGA sucks/is the inferior bastard child of SG-1/doesn't deserve to go on while SG-1 was killed. I have been that bitter fangirl, my friends. I know. And while I don't imagine this will reach the ears of too many of those bitter fangirls; nonetheless, I have something to say based on my own personal experience:
When I heard, my immediate thought: Thank fuck. Pure relief. I'll admit that I've never been that invested in SG-1, and I'm an SGA fan first. With all the ratings crap, I was worried about SGA getting renewed. So I was glad, and as for the fate of SG-1, I didn't care so much. When I heard about the "SGA being renewed" bitterness, it got my back up, because from my POV, if one of them had to go, I'd pick SG-1 every time.
That being said, I have been on the other side of this equation. Anyone who follows my lj, or knows me, remembers my effusive bitching a few months back over the cancellation of Everwood in the WB/CW changeover. That was a situation where they literally had too many shows from the WB and UPN to fit in their line up. It was a numbers game, and X number of shows had to be cancelled to make room. Everwood, a show I had been a faithful fan of for almost all of its life, was canned. Shows that made the cut were ones that I frankly thought were complete crap, like Supernatural, One Tree Hill, and my personal favorite, the cancelled-but-mysteriously-resurrected 7th Heaven. Yes. One of my favorite shows of all time was axed in favor of one that had indeed already been cancelled and had even aired its Series Finale.
My response? I bitched. I ranted. I signed petitions. Hell, I paid money to put a giant ferris wheel in front of the office of the CW head of programming (don't ask; it was a statement). So when I say, SG-1 fans, that I know where you're coming from, trust me, I know where you're coming from.
However, this is a completely different situation. This wasn't a competition. SG-1 was not killed as a sacrifice for the continuance of SGA. In fact, I'd say that the reason SGA exists at all is that the creators of SG-1 knew that it'd be ending soon and wanted to create a new franchise to go on after it. It seems to me that they've been preparing to wrap up SG-1 for a while. I'd always assumed that this was going to be its last season, what happened yesterday was only an unsurprising confirmation of that.
It's been going on for 10 years. 10 years. That is a ridiculously long time for a TV show. Friends, a major piece of pop culture, went on for 10 years. So did Cheers, if I'm not mistaken. And in my opinion, by the time a TV shows reaches that point, it's about time. It is enormously difficult, perhaps even impossible, to keep finding fresh storylines and character development when you've already got 200 hours of story behind you. Of course, I can't really make that judgment about SG-1, those of you who watch it will know better than I, but the episodes I did watch (barring last week's "200" which I loved) seemed very flat to me. (Of course, if they ever made a spin off just about Vala I'd be there in a heartbeat.)
Besides that, from a pure practicality standpoint, once a show gets that old and the ratings start slipping, you should start expecting the beginning of the end. Even though it is designed to be a bottle show, SG-1 has reached a point where the myth-arc of the show is so extensive and daunting that attracting new viewers is becoming more and more difficult. When the old viewers start leaving it, the ratings go, the advertising money soon follows, and eventually it doesn't become worth it to make the show anymore, no matter how much the fans love it.
And really, having a closed canon isn't the end of the world. It doesn't mean that the fandom is going to necessarily dry up and blow away. There are plenty of shows who have been off the air since the 70s that still have fandoms. Besides that, it also means the show can no longer kill off your favorite character, or have your least favorite pairing get together, or just generally drive you nuts. (As someone who has weathered a lot of crappy episodes- nay, whole seasons- of show's she's loved, it's kind of a positive thing.) What happens after the the season finale is all in your hands.
Also, I'm not fully briefed on what's going on with the whole movie thing, but it doesn't seem like the canon will even be fully closed. There may still be more, let's not loose hope on that point. This isn't a case of a show being cruelly cancelled before it's time. To me it seems like the creators are in control of what's happening here. "200" struck me as an episode made by people who have reached a milestone and are ready to end it.
Therefore- and I may be a defeatist- I don't think it matters how many petitions you sign. I've been there, and you have reach a point where you accept the inevitable, let it go, and enjoy what you've got left while you've still got it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't contact TPTB. you should! But you'd be better off, IMO, to just say how much you loved the show, congratulate them on a great run, and express hope for whatever's coming next. Because as an objective observer, I don't think SG-1's coming back. Sorry. At this point, it'd be like writing J.K. Rowling and asking for and 8th Harry Potter book.
And if you're still mad about SGA, well you're entitled. I'll probably hate 7th Heaven til one of us dies, whichever comes last. But being bitter about other shows isn't going to help you. Sure, anger is part of the grieving process, but instead of being all vitriolic, why don't you do something a little more constructive, like compiling a list of your favorite SG-1 moments? Or re-read your all time favorite fanfic? Or go watch some obscure Michael Shanks movies (except for the one with the swans, 'cause that one was CREEPY)?
This probably sounds horribly patronizing, I know, but I've done the bitter thing, and you know what? I'm still a bitter, and my show's still cancelled. Nothin' good there.
The next time around, whenever one of my favorite shows gets canned, like SGA somewhere down the road- because it will be, and each new season is a gift- I hope by that time I'll have learned to act with a little more grace or something. No promises, but here's hoping.
I had heard, though, that there was some bitterness expressed on some message boards toward SGA being renewed, and while I haven't found any of these posts myself, I can imagine what they say: SGA sucks/is the inferior bastard child of SG-1/doesn't deserve to go on while SG-1 was killed. I have been that bitter fangirl, my friends. I know. And while I don't imagine this will reach the ears of too many of those bitter fangirls; nonetheless, I have something to say based on my own personal experience:
When I heard, my immediate thought: Thank fuck. Pure relief. I'll admit that I've never been that invested in SG-1, and I'm an SGA fan first. With all the ratings crap, I was worried about SGA getting renewed. So I was glad, and as for the fate of SG-1, I didn't care so much. When I heard about the "SGA being renewed" bitterness, it got my back up, because from my POV, if one of them had to go, I'd pick SG-1 every time.
That being said, I have been on the other side of this equation. Anyone who follows my lj, or knows me, remembers my effusive bitching a few months back over the cancellation of Everwood in the WB/CW changeover. That was a situation where they literally had too many shows from the WB and UPN to fit in their line up. It was a numbers game, and X number of shows had to be cancelled to make room. Everwood, a show I had been a faithful fan of for almost all of its life, was canned. Shows that made the cut were ones that I frankly thought were complete crap, like Supernatural, One Tree Hill, and my personal favorite, the cancelled-but-mysteriously-resurrected 7th Heaven. Yes. One of my favorite shows of all time was axed in favor of one that had indeed already been cancelled and had even aired its Series Finale.
My response? I bitched. I ranted. I signed petitions. Hell, I paid money to put a giant ferris wheel in front of the office of the CW head of programming (don't ask; it was a statement). So when I say, SG-1 fans, that I know where you're coming from, trust me, I know where you're coming from.
However, this is a completely different situation. This wasn't a competition. SG-1 was not killed as a sacrifice for the continuance of SGA. In fact, I'd say that the reason SGA exists at all is that the creators of SG-1 knew that it'd be ending soon and wanted to create a new franchise to go on after it. It seems to me that they've been preparing to wrap up SG-1 for a while. I'd always assumed that this was going to be its last season, what happened yesterday was only an unsurprising confirmation of that.
It's been going on for 10 years. 10 years. That is a ridiculously long time for a TV show. Friends, a major piece of pop culture, went on for 10 years. So did Cheers, if I'm not mistaken. And in my opinion, by the time a TV shows reaches that point, it's about time. It is enormously difficult, perhaps even impossible, to keep finding fresh storylines and character development when you've already got 200 hours of story behind you. Of course, I can't really make that judgment about SG-1, those of you who watch it will know better than I, but the episodes I did watch (barring last week's "200" which I loved) seemed very flat to me. (Of course, if they ever made a spin off just about Vala I'd be there in a heartbeat.)
Besides that, from a pure practicality standpoint, once a show gets that old and the ratings start slipping, you should start expecting the beginning of the end. Even though it is designed to be a bottle show, SG-1 has reached a point where the myth-arc of the show is so extensive and daunting that attracting new viewers is becoming more and more difficult. When the old viewers start leaving it, the ratings go, the advertising money soon follows, and eventually it doesn't become worth it to make the show anymore, no matter how much the fans love it.
And really, having a closed canon isn't the end of the world. It doesn't mean that the fandom is going to necessarily dry up and blow away. There are plenty of shows who have been off the air since the 70s that still have fandoms. Besides that, it also means the show can no longer kill off your favorite character, or have your least favorite pairing get together, or just generally drive you nuts. (As someone who has weathered a lot of crappy episodes- nay, whole seasons- of show's she's loved, it's kind of a positive thing.) What happens after the the season finale is all in your hands.
Also, I'm not fully briefed on what's going on with the whole movie thing, but it doesn't seem like the canon will even be fully closed. There may still be more, let's not loose hope on that point. This isn't a case of a show being cruelly cancelled before it's time. To me it seems like the creators are in control of what's happening here. "200" struck me as an episode made by people who have reached a milestone and are ready to end it.
Therefore- and I may be a defeatist- I don't think it matters how many petitions you sign. I've been there, and you have reach a point where you accept the inevitable, let it go, and enjoy what you've got left while you've still got it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't contact TPTB. you should! But you'd be better off, IMO, to just say how much you loved the show, congratulate them on a great run, and express hope for whatever's coming next. Because as an objective observer, I don't think SG-1's coming back. Sorry. At this point, it'd be like writing J.K. Rowling and asking for and 8th Harry Potter book.
And if you're still mad about SGA, well you're entitled. I'll probably hate 7th Heaven til one of us dies, whichever comes last. But being bitter about other shows isn't going to help you. Sure, anger is part of the grieving process, but instead of being all vitriolic, why don't you do something a little more constructive, like compiling a list of your favorite SG-1 moments? Or re-read your all time favorite fanfic? Or go watch some obscure Michael Shanks movies (except for the one with the swans, 'cause that one was CREEPY)?
This probably sounds horribly patronizing, I know, but I've done the bitter thing, and you know what? I'm still a bitter, and my show's still cancelled. Nothin' good there.
The next time around, whenever one of my favorite shows gets canned, like SGA somewhere down the road- because it will be, and each new season is a gift- I hope by that time I'll have learned to act with a little more grace or something. No promises, but here's hoping.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-23 02:06 am (UTC)