The Anti Season 4 Thread (Spoilers). For complaints and misgivings ONLY.

[dana]

Peters: 4400 Is Canceled

R.I.P.

So, what's next?

[mcbarr]

USA Network Pulls Plug on The Dead Zone, The 4400

Sunday-Night Dramas Not Returning After Ratings Slump

By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/19/2007 5:32:00 PM

USA Network is ending long-running series The Dead Zone and The 4400, not picking up either Sunday-night drama for new seasons.

The decision was not surprising -- each had a successful run, but both fell off during the past season and the NBC Universal-owned cable network has a slew of newer series in its stable.

The Dead Zone premiered as basic cable’s most-viewed series ever at the time in June 2002, with 6.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. By season four, it was averaging 3.4 million viewers, and in its sixth and final season this summer, it drew about 2.1 million.

The 4400 premiered in July 2004 as a six-hour limited series and bested The Dead Zone’s premiere showing with 7.4 million viewers, and USA promptly green-lit it to series. Season two averaged 3.9 million viewers, season three 3.2 million and the fourth and final season this summer pulled an average 2.1 million.

With a slew of other shows to likely to premiere this summer (pending, of course, changes brought on by the ongoing writers’ strike), it would have been financially taxing for USA to keep up production on both series, especially given that the ratings showed waning interest from audiences.

While the network hasn’t nailed down scheduling yet for its summer shows, it is teeing up new drama In Plain Sight; second seasons of last summer’s limited The Starter Wife and Burn Notice; a third season of Psych; and possibly a seventh season of Monk. Contracts on the veteran Tony Shalhoub show were being negotiated at the onset of the writers’ strike.

"We wish we could keep all of our great shows alive forever,” USA executive vice president of original programming Jeff Wachtel said. “But we feel that we need to give some of our new shows a platform to grow, and it's with great sadness that we say goodbye to two shows that had a great run and helped to create the resurgence of original programming on our network and on all of cable."

Broadcasting & Cable

[dana]

The decision was not surprising -- each had a successful run, but both fell off during the past season

Now where have I seen that?

[Falcon Horus]

Peters: 4400 Is Canceled

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I still have to watch the last 3 episodes of season 4 but people, The 4400 rocked. Why oh why?

This sucks beyond belief.

[mcbarr]

Now where have I seen that?

You know, if the writers' strike ended tomorrow, I'm not sure Skiffy wouldn't reconsider SGA's renewal.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I still have to watch the last 3 episodes of season 4 but people, The 4400 rocked. Why oh why?

This sucks beyond belief.

Yes, it does. And season 4's finale left so many possibilities open.

[justhere1971]

Broadcasting & Cable

I had lost interest in 4400 & the dead zone this season. So I stopped watching after the premier. It's still sad though.

[g.o.d]

B*****KS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is officially not fair

no, it's not. Especially when you realize how crappy SGA is and still goes on

[marielabbott]

I had lost interest in 4400 & the dead zone this season. So I stopped watching after the premier. It's still sad though.

Talk about a reset button, the Dead Zone killed or got rid of three of it's main characters in the season debut. It sucked to an unbelievable level. I expected it to be axed. That's depressing about the 4400, though. I've only finished season 2 on DVD, but so far I really like it.

[Celcool]

It's a fact: shows with bad ratings get cancelled. So why did SGA-1 get renewed when its ratings are embarassingly low? The other shows that do get cancelled have even better ratings. So why oh way did this crappy excuse of a show get renewed? No plausible reason that's for sure.

[Reefgirl]

From what I can understand the last series of 4400 still got double the veiwers that SGA is getting now. I give up trying to understand how the minds of TV PTB's work

[Gregorius]

B*****KS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is officially not fair

To quote from Babylon 5:
Marcus Cole: You know, um… I used to think that it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.

It's a fact: shows with bad ratings get cancelled. So why did SGA-1 get renewed when its ratings are embarassingly low? The other shows that do get cancelled have even better ratings. So why oh way did this crappy excuse of a show get renewed? No plausible reason that's for sure.

Because SciFi lacks good shows so they keep the ones they have alive. It might even be possible that SciFi will pick up the "The 4400" and give it another season or so, although I'm against it considering what happens to shows on SciFi, since SciFi desperately needs good shows.

[mcbarr]

It's a fact: shows with bad ratings get cancelled. So why did SGA-1 get renewed when its ratings are embarassingly low? The other shows that do get cancelled have even better ratings. So why oh way did this crappy excuse of a show get renewed? No plausible reason that's for sure.

Personally, I think the writers' strike is playing an important role in SGA-1's renewal. The show is crappy, but it's safe. Does that make any sense? I also think MGM made a lot of concessions to Skiffy/NBC in order to get that season 5.

[Falcon Horus]

Personally, I think the writers' strike is playing an important role in SGA-1's renewal. The show is crappy, but it's safe. Does that make any sense? I also think MGM made a lot of concessions to Skiffy/NBC in order to get that season 5.

Yeah, I think it could potentially be one of the reasons.

[Briangate78]

It's a fact: shows with bad ratings get cancelled. So why did SGA-1 get renewed when its ratings are embarassingly low? The other shows that do get cancelled have even better ratings. So why oh way did this crappy excuse of a show get renewed? No plausible reason that's for sure.

I just don't understand why NBCU would renew shows just because of the writer's strike. They aren't, they are using reruns to fill the gaps. Why would they renew SGA for a 5th season if it was not bringing in revenue.

What are bad Ratings to you? It's not what I think or you think, it's how the show performs for the network and how much revenue is being made.

Some facts...

The last 4 eps have averaged better ratings and numbers than the first 4 eps(Likely based on the renewal decision) this season. So I'm pretty sure the network is happy to know the season is doing better than when it started.

C3 for SGA has brought more revenue to the network since there were loyal viewers not counted until after the C3 report.

From what I can understand the last series of 4400 still got double the veiwers that SGA is getting now. I give up trying to understand how the minds of TV PTB's work

Totally different network and totally different show. Also after looking at that article 4400 went from 6.4 mil to 2.1 mil? SGA has averaged around 2 mil the past several seasons, and the first half of this season will likely be around 1.8 mil viewer average. A 200,000 viewer loss does not exactly mean the show is doing bad. You cannot compare ratings points, you have to compare the viewers. It looks like 4400 from Season 3 to 4 went from 3.2 mil to 2.1 mil, which saw more than a 1,000,000 viewer loss average.

If SGA was pulling in Flash Gordon's numbers I'd say it was a nice run, goodbye, but it's not.

[Briangate78]

Personally, I think the writers' strike is playing an important role in SGA-1's renewal. The show is crappy, but it's safe. Does that make any sense? I also think MGM made a lot of concessions to Skiffy/NBC in order to get that season 5.

Because SGA is likely more successful internationally, MGM can front more money to get another season produced. That is likely the case and SGA could be safe for years if the ratings only dip a little from where they are now.