Mallozzi's Mailbag for May 13, 2011
Mallozzi's Weblog Link
NOTE: Better late than never, I suppose. This is all probably old news to everyone at this point, but it's included below for the sake of completeness -- Mallozzi responds to Craig Engler's reasoning for why Syfy cancelled SGU.
Also, I've changed the order of the Q&A's so that I could put them under certain cuts.
MALLOZZI ADDRESSES SYFY'S REASONS FOR CANCELLING SGU
BoltBait writes: “Any comment on this? http://www.gateworld.net/news/2011/05/an-open-letter-to-stargate-fans-%20%20from-syfy/“
Answer: Back in the last few years of Stargate, I took to giving the network notes on their notes. Essentially, I would go through the notes, address the concerns I could, then specifically respond to ones I couldn’t do or felt I shouldn’t do. As I read this article, I felt like responding in similar fashion. A lot of good points are raised. On the other hand, a lot of baffling points are made as well. For starters, I don’t think an official explanation on the part of SyFy is necessary. While I can empathize with fans who object to the abruptness of the cancellation after ten years on the network, one has to understand that television is a business. If SyFy has alternate scripted programming that performs better on Mondays or Tuesdays in the fall, then it’s understandable why they would choose those shows over a third season of SGU. That said, certain statements in the article had me scratching my head…
“When MGM decided to bring Stargate Atlantis to an end after five seasons…”
Hmmmm. Not to belabor the point (because I have discussed this in past entries) but, at the time, when we asked the studio whether or not there was any interest on their part in producing a sixth season of Atlantis, I was told that, while the increased budget made a season six less attractive for them, there were other reasons to do it (ie. as a lead-in to the new series). I wasn’t privy to the final decision-making process so it’s possible that the studio had an 11th hour change of heart - but I’m not sure why they would have.
“Because Stargate SG-1 and had performed so well for us in the past, we felt confident about SGU and committed to a two-season deal for it, as long as the show met certain milestones along the way. Two-season deals are rare in the TV world because they tie up a huge amount of investment (both time and money), but our great track record with MGM and Stargate made this seem like as much of a sure thing as you’ll get in the TV business. That means before any footage was shot or any actors were hired, we knew there’d be 40 episodes.”
Craig rightly points out that the second year pick-up was contingent on the show’s first season meeting “certain milestones”. Which makes the last sentence: “That means before any footage was shot or any actors were hired, we knew there’d be 40 episodes.” somewhat debatable - unless he’s suggesting that the network was insanely optimistic at the time. If the first season had not met the milestones set forth in the original deal, there would have been no guarantee of a second season pick-up.
“The show quickly moved forward and officially launched on October 2, 2009. The debut was watched by a good if not spectacular 2,779,000 viewers. To give that some perspective, Stargate Atlantis debuted with over 4 million viewers, so SGU was more than 25% below that.”
File this one under baffling. Comparing the SGA premiere to the SGU premiere overlooks is grossly unfair. First - Atlantis premiered during the summer while Universe - originally slated for a fall premiere - premiered in the much more competitive fall. Second the time between the two premiere has seen a significant increase in DVR usage and internet downloads, and a simultaneous erosion in live viewership. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don’t think so. Simply put, back when Atlantis aired, fewer viewers were recording or downloading television and many more were watching television live.
“With untenably low numbers and no sign of growth on Fridays where it had now lost 1/3 of its initial audience, we decided to move SGU for its second season. We’d had tremendous success on Tuesday’s with our breakout hit Warehouse 13, so we paired SGU with Caprica and moved them to Tuesdays, hoping to introduce both shows to a new audience.”
Sigh. Okay, look - while I understood (and supported) the move to Tuesday night and the pairing with Caprica, I nevertheless take exception to the assertion that the network had enjoyed “tremendous success on Tuesday’s with [their] breakout hit Warehouse 13″. While Warehouse 13 certainly aired on Tuesdays, it did so in the summer (where, I’d like to reiterate, SGU was originally scheduled to air).
“We moved the final 10 episodes of SGU to Monday nights where we’d just had success with a new show called Being Human, but the ratings remained flat.”
Okay but, realistically, the series had already been canceled so I’m not sure how much reasonable audience growth could be expected at that point.
Like I said - television is a business and decisions are driven by the bottom line. All the same, we were on the network for ten years. When my last relationship ended after 10+ years, we enjoyed a nice post break-up wrap-up dinner. Just saying.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Mr. Scirev writes: “Will there be a box set of all SGU?”
Answer: Eventually, I’m sure there will.
stacy fincher writes: “ I did have a question for you did you are the other ever think of the dimities of the Destiny how big it was?”
Answer: Sorry, that’s something I never gave much thought to - although the design team and VFX crew certainly did. Head on over to twitter and ask VFX Supervisor Mark Savela.
Joe Cool writes: “if we gathered fans to donate money and started a project on kickstarter.com for you guys to be able to continue some form of production on the stargate canon (whether it be a movie or a comic book or webisodes or what have you) do you think that could be beneficial at all?”
Answer: Afraid not. MGM owns Stargate and the final decision on what gets produced and when rests with them.
William Francais writes: “Was there ever any discussion of resolving the DHD problem Or bringing on races similar to that of Atlantis?”
Answer: I want to say “yes and no” but am not exactly sure what you mean by DHD problem and races similar to that of Atlantis? Are you referring to the crew’s reliance on the remotes and an alien species like the wraith?
Vinci writes: “so right now your saying that is mostly likely that stargate universe will not continue?”
Answer: Yes. Sadly, that is what I’m saying.
max writes: “Joe, you mentioned that the fate of the SG movies hinged on DVD sales, so given that no SG movies will be made, would you characterise the sales of DVDs as unusually disappointing for MGM and Syfy?”
Answer: DVD sales have dropped significantly over the past few years. They’ve been unusually disappointing for everyone.
Balial writes: “now that SGU is sadly over, could you please tell us, who The planet builders from episode Faith were? What kind of civilisation or society they were? Something more powerfull than the ascended ancients, or something different?”
Answer: We envisioned the planet-builders as an extremely advanced race who, while very powerful, differed significantly from the Ancients. They didn’t possess the extensive knowledge of the Ancients nor did they, at any time, evolve from a physical form similar to ours. Brad threw around the idea of having them pay us a personal visit at some point - but, like so many others, we’ll file that one under “season 3 stories that might have been”.
Ulrike Tannenberg writes: “How would Rush have fared later on?”
Answer: I don’t know. We would have continued to develop him as an individual who walks the line between darkness and light, someone capable of touching surprises and crushing disappointments.
Marc writes: “do you think a real stargate movie (in the theatres I mean) could be successful and a possible future for the franchise?”
Answer: It’s a possible scenario - but, I imagine, I long way off.
sss writes: “whether it is possible to agree on the extension of the franchise to another channel in another country?”
Answer: Alas, no. Not possible.
Rhyney writes: “Is there a chance that you and the other authors could come together to write Extinction and Revolution as comic books, as well as a continuing SGU comic series with your advisorial support?”
Answer: This might be an option MGM could pursue in the not too distant future, but its doubtful any of the writers involved in the production would be the ones to write any comic book continuation of the series.
DougIndy writes: “On another note, do you think it is impossible that there will ever be another sg1, atlantis, or universe dvd movie? Has the studio closed the door on those 3 shows for good or is it more of a not now?”
Answer: Unfortunately, I have no idea what the studio has planned.
Alfredo De La Fe writes: “What are your thoughts of the fan attempts at convincing SyFy and MGM to reconsider?”
Answer: Love the fans and wish them luck!
GAUNTLET
MNP writes: “My only disappointment (other than the scandal thing, which I hadn’t noticed before now) was that the possibility of uploading was never even brought up in the episode. Surely Rush would think of such a thing?”
Answer: Not sure what you mean. Uploading one’s consciousness to Destiny would be a last resort. Their body would die even though their mind would live on.
Expletive:BMP writes: “Mr Joe, how much would it cost to have Kino episodes with Just Eli trying to fix the problem with the stasis pod, and other such adventures?”
Answer: Unfortunately quite a bit since, in a matter of weeks, those sets will no longer exist.
Zac writes: “Do you think it would have been possible for either Eli or Rush to use the neural link of Destiny to project her surroundings into her head… kinda like when TJ was doing surgery and saw Amanda Perry?”
Answer: An interesting idea, but I don’t think the neural link works that way.
Prior_of_the_Ori writes: “I wanted to ask, was there any talk of who created the Berserker drones?”
Answer: If you’re asking whether we considered the possibility that the crew’s descendants were responsible for creating the drones - yes, that was one possibility floated.
NOTE: Better late than never, I suppose. This is all probably old news to everyone at this point, but it's included below for the sake of completeness -- Mallozzi responds to Craig Engler's reasoning for why Syfy cancelled SGU.
Also, I've changed the order of the Q&A's so that I could put them under certain cuts.
MALLOZZI ADDRESSES SYFY'S REASONS FOR CANCELLING SGU
BoltBait writes: “Any comment on this? http://www.gateworld.net/news/2011/05/an-open-letter-to-stargate-fans-%20%20from-syfy/“
Answer: Back in the last few years of Stargate, I took to giving the network notes on their notes. Essentially, I would go through the notes, address the concerns I could, then specifically respond to ones I couldn’t do or felt I shouldn’t do. As I read this article, I felt like responding in similar fashion. A lot of good points are raised. On the other hand, a lot of baffling points are made as well. For starters, I don’t think an official explanation on the part of SyFy is necessary. While I can empathize with fans who object to the abruptness of the cancellation after ten years on the network, one has to understand that television is a business. If SyFy has alternate scripted programming that performs better on Mondays or Tuesdays in the fall, then it’s understandable why they would choose those shows over a third season of SGU. That said, certain statements in the article had me scratching my head…
“When MGM decided to bring Stargate Atlantis to an end after five seasons…”
Hmmmm. Not to belabor the point (because I have discussed this in past entries) but, at the time, when we asked the studio whether or not there was any interest on their part in producing a sixth season of Atlantis, I was told that, while the increased budget made a season six less attractive for them, there were other reasons to do it (ie. as a lead-in to the new series). I wasn’t privy to the final decision-making process so it’s possible that the studio had an 11th hour change of heart - but I’m not sure why they would have.
“Because Stargate SG-1 and had performed so well for us in the past, we felt confident about SGU and committed to a two-season deal for it, as long as the show met certain milestones along the way. Two-season deals are rare in the TV world because they tie up a huge amount of investment (both time and money), but our great track record with MGM and Stargate made this seem like as much of a sure thing as you’ll get in the TV business. That means before any footage was shot or any actors were hired, we knew there’d be 40 episodes.”
Craig rightly points out that the second year pick-up was contingent on the show’s first season meeting “certain milestones”. Which makes the last sentence: “That means before any footage was shot or any actors were hired, we knew there’d be 40 episodes.” somewhat debatable - unless he’s suggesting that the network was insanely optimistic at the time. If the first season had not met the milestones set forth in the original deal, there would have been no guarantee of a second season pick-up.
“The show quickly moved forward and officially launched on October 2, 2009. The debut was watched by a good if not spectacular 2,779,000 viewers. To give that some perspective, Stargate Atlantis debuted with over 4 million viewers, so SGU was more than 25% below that.”
File this one under baffling. Comparing the SGA premiere to the SGU premiere overlooks is grossly unfair. First - Atlantis premiered during the summer while Universe - originally slated for a fall premiere - premiered in the much more competitive fall. Second the time between the two premiere has seen a significant increase in DVR usage and internet downloads, and a simultaneous erosion in live viewership. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don’t think so. Simply put, back when Atlantis aired, fewer viewers were recording or downloading television and many more were watching television live.
“With untenably low numbers and no sign of growth on Fridays where it had now lost 1/3 of its initial audience, we decided to move SGU for its second season. We’d had tremendous success on Tuesday’s with our breakout hit Warehouse 13, so we paired SGU with Caprica and moved them to Tuesdays, hoping to introduce both shows to a new audience.”
Sigh. Okay, look - while I understood (and supported) the move to Tuesday night and the pairing with Caprica, I nevertheless take exception to the assertion that the network had enjoyed “tremendous success on Tuesday’s with [their] breakout hit Warehouse 13″. While Warehouse 13 certainly aired on Tuesdays, it did so in the summer (where, I’d like to reiterate, SGU was originally scheduled to air).
“We moved the final 10 episodes of SGU to Monday nights where we’d just had success with a new show called Being Human, but the ratings remained flat.”
Okay but, realistically, the series had already been canceled so I’m not sure how much reasonable audience growth could be expected at that point.
Like I said - television is a business and decisions are driven by the bottom line. All the same, we were on the network for ten years. When my last relationship ended after 10+ years, we enjoyed a nice post break-up wrap-up dinner. Just saying.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Mr. Scirev writes: “Will there be a box set of all SGU?”
Answer: Eventually, I’m sure there will.
stacy fincher writes: “ I did have a question for you did you are the other ever think of the dimities of the Destiny how big it was?”
Answer: Sorry, that’s something I never gave much thought to - although the design team and VFX crew certainly did. Head on over to twitter and ask VFX Supervisor Mark Savela.
Joe Cool writes: “if we gathered fans to donate money and started a project on kickstarter.com for you guys to be able to continue some form of production on the stargate canon (whether it be a movie or a comic book or webisodes or what have you) do you think that could be beneficial at all?”
Answer: Afraid not. MGM owns Stargate and the final decision on what gets produced and when rests with them.
William Francais writes: “Was there ever any discussion of resolving the DHD problem Or bringing on races similar to that of Atlantis?”
Answer: I want to say “yes and no” but am not exactly sure what you mean by DHD problem and races similar to that of Atlantis? Are you referring to the crew’s reliance on the remotes and an alien species like the wraith?
Vinci writes: “so right now your saying that is mostly likely that stargate universe will not continue?”
Answer: Yes. Sadly, that is what I’m saying.
max writes: “Joe, you mentioned that the fate of the SG movies hinged on DVD sales, so given that no SG movies will be made, would you characterise the sales of DVDs as unusually disappointing for MGM and Syfy?”
Answer: DVD sales have dropped significantly over the past few years. They’ve been unusually disappointing for everyone.
Balial writes: “now that SGU is sadly over, could you please tell us, who The planet builders from episode Faith were? What kind of civilisation or society they were? Something more powerfull than the ascended ancients, or something different?”
Answer: We envisioned the planet-builders as an extremely advanced race who, while very powerful, differed significantly from the Ancients. They didn’t possess the extensive knowledge of the Ancients nor did they, at any time, evolve from a physical form similar to ours. Brad threw around the idea of having them pay us a personal visit at some point - but, like so many others, we’ll file that one under “season 3 stories that might have been”.
Ulrike Tannenberg writes: “How would Rush have fared later on?”
Answer: I don’t know. We would have continued to develop him as an individual who walks the line between darkness and light, someone capable of touching surprises and crushing disappointments.
Marc writes: “do you think a real stargate movie (in the theatres I mean) could be successful and a possible future for the franchise?”
Answer: It’s a possible scenario - but, I imagine, I long way off.
sss writes: “whether it is possible to agree on the extension of the franchise to another channel in another country?”
Answer: Alas, no. Not possible.
Rhyney writes: “Is there a chance that you and the other authors could come together to write Extinction and Revolution as comic books, as well as a continuing SGU comic series with your advisorial support?”
Answer: This might be an option MGM could pursue in the not too distant future, but its doubtful any of the writers involved in the production would be the ones to write any comic book continuation of the series.
DougIndy writes: “On another note, do you think it is impossible that there will ever be another sg1, atlantis, or universe dvd movie? Has the studio closed the door on those 3 shows for good or is it more of a not now?”
Answer: Unfortunately, I have no idea what the studio has planned.
Alfredo De La Fe writes: “What are your thoughts of the fan attempts at convincing SyFy and MGM to reconsider?”
Answer: Love the fans and wish them luck!
GAUNTLET
MNP writes: “My only disappointment (other than the scandal thing, which I hadn’t noticed before now) was that the possibility of uploading was never even brought up in the episode. Surely Rush would think of such a thing?”
Answer: Not sure what you mean. Uploading one’s consciousness to Destiny would be a last resort. Their body would die even though their mind would live on.
Expletive:BMP writes: “Mr Joe, how much would it cost to have Kino episodes with Just Eli trying to fix the problem with the stasis pod, and other such adventures?”
Answer: Unfortunately quite a bit since, in a matter of weeks, those sets will no longer exist.
Zac writes: “Do you think it would have been possible for either Eli or Rush to use the neural link of Destiny to project her surroundings into her head… kinda like when TJ was doing surgery and saw Amanda Perry?”
Answer: An interesting idea, but I don’t think the neural link works that way.
Prior_of_the_Ori writes: “I wanted to ask, was there any talk of who created the Berserker drones?”
Answer: If you’re asking whether we considered the possibility that the crew’s descendants were responsible for creating the drones - yes, that was one possibility floated.