TVPast Forums

MagnificentMarcus · #1 08-02-2006, 11:42 AM

I just started watching a Showtime show called Dead Like Me. It is really a funny show, very original. I was reading up a little on it and found out people used to have Dead Like Me parties to watch the show. It was very popular and actual increased viewers of Showtime; but leave it to Showtime to cancel it.

What is with these idiots?? If it's a good show it's not good for them? Just another long list of great shows they cancelled:
Odyssey 5
Jeremiah
They sold Stargate SG-1, now it sort of sucks.

markatisu · #2 08-02-2006, 11:52 AM

They also cancelled Queer as Folk (might not be your genre but still an incredibly dramatic and well written show), they could have went 2-3 more seasons but Showtime backed out after 5

Dead Like Me was a very GOOD series and should not have been cancelled, now it of course airs on Sci-Fi in re-runs.

What makes me laugh is how Showtime did not seem to have much success with Stargate and then Sci-Fi got a hold of it and now its so huge you would never think it started on Showtime.

I think the people in charge of Showtime just dont get it, thats why they get their *** handed to them every year by HBO.

lordsmurf · #3 08-02-2006, 12:54 PM

Stargate was with Showtime for 2 seasons, and it was basically continuations from the movie. Then Fox got it for seasons 3-4, and they introduced a few new things (Asgard, etc), before they let it go. Then SciFi got hold of it, and it really picked up. The stories have gotten more complex as time has gone on. Some of those early episodes were almost formula story telling.

If Showtime would have kept Stargate, it would have been over years ago.

ogopogo2000 · #4 08-02-2006, 12:57 PM

I miss Dead Like Me too. I don't understand why they have a tendency to cancel some of their more popular shows. Is something like Dead Like Me expensive to make?

MagnificentMarcus · #5 08-02-2006, 03:32 PM

Dead Like Me had to be a cheap show. It did star Mandy Pratikin and Jasmine Guy (still hot), but most of the other characters had previous exposure. Sorry, I cancelled Showtime after QueerFolk came on. I tried to keep an open mind but was just to grossed out after a while.

markatisu · #6 08-02-2006, 04:01 PM

Well they balanced it out with the lesbian show The L Word

I agree that Dead Like Me had to be a cheap show to make, it was not like it had any monsterous effects or anything. Most of the stars were from other shows so its not like they demanded big salaries either.

debwalsh · #7 08-02-2006, 10:25 PM

Stargate started with a commitment for 44 episodes on Showtime in 1996, and ran for 5 full seasons on Showtime. It never belonged to Fox, although it may have run on your Fox affiliate when it went into syndication. Michael Shanks (Jackson) credits Showtime with providing the show the opportunity to grow and reach a fan base - they started with that 44 episode commitment and didn't have to worry about cancellation for 2 complete seasons. I think the increasing production costs had an impact on Showtime's decision to let the series go up for bid, which SciFi ultimately won. If I remember correctly, MGM had a part to play in the decision, as they may have raised the per episode price.

FYI, the Asgsard were introduced in season 1, in Thor's Hammer.

MagnificentMarcus · #8 08-03-2006, 02:20 AM

You hit it right on the button Deb about SG-1. LS, you dare to call yourself a Stargate fan. SG-1 was the main reason I had Showtime.

lordsmurf · #9 08-03-2006, 06:04 AM

I don't have money for premium channels. I already feel like I'm overpaying for crappy quality basic cable as it is.

My introduction to Stargate was on SciFi channel about 3-4 years ago, just before season 7 started. I watched re-runs on Fox, re-runs on Sci-Fi, and traded for a ton of VCDs because only S1-S2 was released. So I saw S1-S6 on my DVD player. Whatever I read about the history of the show is apparently not correct.

debwalsh · #10 08-03-2006, 07:03 AM

Someday I'm going to put the Showtime specials and promos on disc. None of them have ever made it to commercial DVD, probably because Showtime owns them and not MGM.

lordsmurf · #11 08-03-2006, 07:17 AM

My mother had Showtime for S1-S2 and she actually recorded some of the promos. She's been a fan since day 1. I put those on DVD several years ago, as a bonus on my S7 set. A lot of the content actually did cross over onto the official DVD bonuses.

debwalsh · #12 08-03-2006, 08:01 AM

There was a making of special that aired before the series debuted, and another they did before the second season started. Even the opening credits were different on Showtime vs. the UK release and the syndication release. The only thing I'd really like to track down is RDA's appearance on The Daily Show just before the series debuted.

I loved the movie, so I was primed for the series when it began. And one of my best friends adores Richard Dean Anderson, and I'd loved him in Legend. I had a friend who was one of the executive producers on the first season of MacGyver (there were a lot of EPs that year), and he said that even though people were frustrated by the fact the show was underfunded, etc., and staff were leaving in droves, everyone agreed that Anderson is the nicest guy to work with. I've had a fondness for him ever since.

My favorite promos were the 10 Sharp series that Showtime did. Beats heck out of the wading through water with a p*ssed off expression that SGA uses ...

MagnificentMarcus · #13 08-03-2006, 11:55 AM

Anyway getting back to Dead Like Me, it's a great show if you guys get a chance-watch it.
Mandy Patikin is one of the most talented actors in today's cinema or television. By the way he can sing and dance like you wouldn't believe.

Showtime execs are still the stupidest idiots around! I must of sent about a half dozen letters and e-mails to these losers when they cancelled Odyssey 5.

debwalsh · #14 08-03-2006, 12:12 PM

Mandy Patankin is brilliant, no question. I especially like when he does comedy, his timing is perfect. Dead Like Me just did not grab me, and I didn't stick with it after the first episode or two. I still can't believe the way Showtime treated Odyssey 5 and Jeremiah. Now, Jeremiah, I loved. And I was totally addicted to Odyssey 5. I think there was a change in leadership or something, because one minute they had this huge commitment to SF (SciFriday), and the next, poof. And their stuff was innovative, not what you'd see on any ole channel.

weevil6772 · #15 08-04-2006, 08:59 AM

I really, really liked Dead Like Me.Seems that all the offbeat shows die quick and sudden deaths these days.Guess either audiences or executives prefer watered-down, formulaic,crap.Pardon my french.I don't watch tv much anymore.Collecting and watching older shows I missed, and favorites.Too much pure and utter crap is on now, and all the shows I do catch and enjoy are canceled after one or two seasons.I loved Carnivale, Dead Like Me, and several others that ended abruptly.

SavageAmusement · #16 08-10-2006, 03:05 AM

Showtime cancelled huff, one of my favorites
Dead like me another favorite

What might change the whole cable/network landscape is corporate ownership. NBC now owns USA, Sci-Fi, Bravo and others. These type of corporate conglomerates may help or hurt programming. You would think if a show isn't working out too well on NBC (but still has a fairly good audience), they could move it to one of their cable outlets, where a smaller audience is typical and advertising isn't as expensive. That way they don't have to cancel they show (losing all the investment they've made in it).

Then again there are a ton of shows cancelled before their time
Greg the Bunny
Father of the Pride
Freaks and Geeks
firefly..
Helk, even Fawlty towers.

Shrug...too much money and corporate politics play into a show

weevil6772 · #17 08-10-2006, 03:09 AM

Wow I forgot about Greg the bunny and Freaks and Geeks.My wife and I watched a 4 day marathon of Freaks and Geeks when I got the set.Loved it....