[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 28 October 2010 - 03:22 PM, said:

link fu http://blog.zap2it.c...ax-at-syfy.html

Not to dis anyone's taste, but from the eps i saw, the show was big on inter-personal drama, family drama, political drama and techno-existential whatever drama, and severely lean on dudes with lasers fighting CGI robots.

As a gross generalization, SF shows without a healthy dose of the kicky zappy have little hope. SF shows trying to pick up the audience from predecessor shows that had a healthy, at times insane, level of zap-wow, have even less hope.

BSG had its flaws, but you could rely on a solid round of vipers vs raiders about every other ep or so.... at the very least Starbuck would punch someone's face into a red pulp (extra points if it was Apollo or a cylon!) and who wouldn't tune in to see that? Hell most of the Trek shows followed a pattern of thinky show then action show then back again.

Caprica was trying too hard to be the thinking BSG fan's show and not hard enough to be a BSG fan's show with a bonus for the thinking fans. I like a show that stretches the thinkymeatz, but sooner or later i want a smoke monster or evil shapeshifters or robots ripping off limbs and clubbing people to death with them, or something. BLOOD & CHROME is already starting strong by being set during a war.

- Abyss, violent.... in a thoughtful way.

These are all very good points. And true. I guess the viewing public just doesn't want thinking sci-fi without any (or much action)...and yeah, CAPRICA didn't have loads of either. Sigh. Another show to mourn.

BLOOD & CHROME will have to be as awesome as BSG if I'll bother with it...maybe it will. Here's hoping.

[Tsundoku]

I suppose the reason recorded TV figures don't matter so much to the network execs is because by skipping the ads (which let's face it, is what the majority end up doing) you therefore become redundant to the advertisers and thus don't figure into their calculations. That it is on pay TV doesn't matter because they already have your subscription.

[Abyss]

...and deep setting-based sf shows are in a bind because unlike, say, THE EVENT where your characters can all pile into a Escalade and call each other on their Telus Smartphones while racing to the Radisson to stop the Armani clad villain from escaping on his Harley-Davidson while his Dell laptop counts down to setting off the bomb in scenic downtown Miami, ...product placement is almost impossible, hence, those non-live viewers are worth even less.

Some networks get around this by those opaque ads on the corner or annoying banners (raise you hand if you've picked up the phone and bitched out a network customer service drone because their ad for THE BACHELOR hid all the subtitles during an episode of ALIAS set in Kerpluchistan) but those don't replace real ads. nevermind that most of us chansurf, get a drink or make out during those.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 01 November 2010 - 02:59 PM, said:

...and deep setting-based sf shows are in a bind because unlike, say, THE EVENT where your characters can all pile into a Escalade and call each other on their Telus Smartphones while racing to the Radisson to stop the Armani clad villain from escaping on his Harley-Davidson while his Dell laptop counts down to setting off the bomb in scenic downtown Miami, ...product placement is almost impossible, hence, those non-live viewers are worth even less.

Some networks get around this by those opaque ads on the corner or annoying banners (raise you hand if you've picked up the phone and bitched out a network customer service drone because their ad for THE BACHELOR hid all the subtitles during an episode of ALIAS set in Kerpluchistan) but those don't replace real ads. nevermind that most of us chansurf, get a drink or make out during those.

Speaking of....did you see the BLATANT product placement in Hawaii 5.0 on the second episode? The goddamned Chevrolet they drove was so new and sparkly, and of course parked on a slight angle in the scene and none of the actors were standing in front of it. It was like a fucking car commercial...and it kinda disgusted me...and now I have problems with Hawaii 5.0...

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 05 November 2010 - 07:27 PM, said:

Speaking of....did you see the BLATANT product placement in Hawaii 5.0 on the second episode? The goddamned Chevrolet they drove was so new and sparkly, and of course parked on a slight angle in the scene and none of the actors were standing in front of it. It was like a fucking car commercial...and it kinda disgusted me...and now I have problems with Hawaii 5.0...

Product placements really just make me laugh. I just take it for what it is - an acceptable alternative to commercials i am not going to watch. Some shows are evn worse than this - i still laugh at this episode of ALIAS way back when... they needed to steal a car... cue Jennifer Garner shouting 'TAKE THE ONE-FIFTY' and then stealing the shiniest, cleanest Ford 150 pickup in the history of the automotive industry that had its own corner in the packed parking lot and never mind what her six second door jimmy and hotwire job says about the security of the thing... and the chase scene where it smashes the shite out of several imports yet somehow barely scratches the paint. Glorious capitalist moment that.

What messes me up on 5-0 is the Hyundai commercials with DD Kim. because while i know his character drives a Harley, i still think i missed a bit of show on the ffwd.

But when sf shows can't resort to this (hands up if you remember the very special episode of HEROES where Noah bought Clare a Nissan) $ problems can follow. Even FRINGE is having fun with the product placements in the alt universe.