http://www.gateworld.net/news/2011/0...ans-from-syfy/
I've re-read Craig Engler's response to Gateworld on the cancellation of SGU. I agree that his arguments are reasonable: to paraphrase, he's basically saying Syfy gave SGU 40 episodes, unprecedented for new tv series and moved it in the schedule to attract new viewers and because it was not doing well enough (on their terms) to be renewed on Fridays. Syfy gave SGU good support, wanted it to succeed, and was not being vindictive.
As Brad Wright mentioned, there were probably a confluence of factors that affected SGU. It was a very different series from SG-1 or Atlantis, but Syfy could have eased the transition, by having a 6th season of Atlantis running alongside SGU. Considering episodes like "Epilogue" and "Gauntlet", which offer some closure to the story, the producers of SGU gambled on a renewal, rather than write a series finale. As a response to the open letter noted, though, an open ending to the story allows the audience to imagine their own.
The series that SGU became by season 2.5 deserved renewal, but I can see that criticsim of season 1 (it was slow, like BSG, soap opera, etc) is valid. The ratings after "Life" aired dropped 33% below the series' high and never recovered. Also, SGU was an expensive looking production(cool sets, cool cgi, large cast) and ratings near 1.5 mil viewers were not enough to pay for this.
So I would say All the Above, since Syfy could have advertised and started the show on more fertile ground, and also SGU's storytelling had problems, and the ratings reflected this.
I've re-read Craig Engler's response to Gateworld on the cancellation of SGU. I agree that his arguments are reasonable: to paraphrase, he's basically saying Syfy gave SGU 40 episodes, unprecedented for new tv series and moved it in the schedule to attract new viewers and because it was not doing well enough (on their terms) to be renewed on Fridays. Syfy gave SGU good support, wanted it to succeed, and was not being vindictive.
As Brad Wright mentioned, there were probably a confluence of factors that affected SGU. It was a very different series from SG-1 or Atlantis, but Syfy could have eased the transition, by having a 6th season of Atlantis running alongside SGU. Considering episodes like "Epilogue" and "Gauntlet", which offer some closure to the story, the producers of SGU gambled on a renewal, rather than write a series finale. As a response to the open letter noted, though, an open ending to the story allows the audience to imagine their own.
The series that SGU became by season 2.5 deserved renewal, but I can see that criticsim of season 1 (it was slow, like BSG, soap opera, etc) is valid. The ratings after "Life" aired dropped 33% below the series' high and never recovered. Also, SGU was an expensive looking production(cool sets, cool cgi, large cast) and ratings near 1.5 mil viewers were not enough to pay for this.
So I would say All the Above, since Syfy could have advertised and started the show on more fertile ground, and also SGU's storytelling had problems, and the ratings reflected this.
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