I saw every scene with Tom in it, but it really doesn't do much for the plot. They need to think of more inventive ways to spice this season up, especially following last season.Originally Posted by Yukimura
I saw every scene with Tom in it, but it really doesn't do much for the plot. They need to think of more inventive ways to spice this season up, especially following last season.
I think the 'Evil Tom' angle is kinda interesting, but i don't wanna see that for the rest of the show, i mean, honestly its starting to get a little old. I also wonder what his powers will be when he takes the shot (you know he will). And Isabelle and Kyle? Ugh...The last time he saw her, she was a toddler!!!! I'm sick of all this pedophilia :\
***bump
The past episode wasnt that bad; esp. when Diana showed a lot of balls shooting "Tom". Too bad they waited til the end of the season to make good episodes.
BUMP
So, the season ended; the finale was actually pretty good, but one thing i don't get is, wasn't Tom like, in Seattle. Why didnt he get an ability...and will he take the shot?? Plus, lol at Diana not gaining a power b/c of natural immunity. No one else has been watching at all??
I've watched every week but I didn't really have much to say and didn't think anyone else was.
Isabel managed to redeem herself so I'm happy about that, though I don't know what's going to happen with Richard now. I'd like to see him brought back personally. Tom spent most of his time at that house which was in the suburbs and even if he was in the city proper the virus spread mostly to people involved with the containment effort in some way, which he wasn't.
Everyone and his mother getting abilities was quite an interesting twist, though only Marco's ability really seemed cool. But I didn't like the way they just wedged in a promcin vaccine and Diana's immunity. (And how Kevin could get a complete hormone test in only a few hours).
But they did lay good threads for next season, p positives control Seattle, Jordan is technically still Marked (we never saw Shawn and co. fix him and there was that scene with him looking at the magazine), Tom and Jordan both know who the Marked are, and
I suspect sometime next season we'll see someone (probably a Marked) from the outside suggesting that everyone in the country be forced to take Ubiquinone. Oh and Tom will take the shot, but what will his ability be!?!? Suck that we have to wait until next summer, but such is the TV business.
This is bullshit, it seems like the show might've been cancelled... hopefully it's all a hoax:
http://www.tv.com/story/10626.html
I won't be surprised if its true, both shows were disappointing last season. I'm not surprised about Deadzone although I'll miss it but the new season of 4400 looked promising. It looked like 4400 was coming to an end though, they could have atleast brought it back for 1 or 2 more seasons and let them finish it out.
Dreaming impossible dreams.
Sapphire is awesome!
I really hope this is a hoax. The 4400 had one of the most interesting concepts of any TV show around (except Heroes of course) it was getting a little weird after last season but the characters made it worth watching even if the story was becoming a bit misguided.
If they do cancel it I would hope they'll replace it with something at least of the same genre. NBC did a good job after canceling Surface by airing Heroes, hopefully the same people are involved with picking replacements for shows on USA as well. What worries me is that I don't remember the Sunday 9:00-11:00 PM summer lineup having any other sci-fi drama shows so if they're really turning their back on both 4400 and Dead Zone they may be turning their backs on Sci-Fi drama in general.
Last edited by Yukimura; Thu, 12-20-2007 at 11:36 AM.
I'm halfway through watching Season 4 now, and I like it a lot. Shame they're cancelling it. I even signed the save the 4400 online petition.
Finished watching the last episode of Season 4, but it was a really good one. I want more =(
This was simply a dumb move by USA... I can understand them cancelling The Dead Zone, which has really gone down hill last couple of seasons, but cancelling The 4400 is just plain dumb.
Plans to save the show:
http://www.tv.com/story/10796.html
Last edited by Munsu; Sat, 02-02-2008 at 12:54 AM.
Well I think the reason the show was canceled was because it didn't get much viewers despite the fact that it has a rather large fan base. Seriously everyone has been jumping on the send them something and they'll bring back your show back wagon lately. Do they actually think USA is anything like CBS.
Journey man fans sending in boxes of Rice-a-Roni now that is hilarious.
Dreaming impossible dreams.
Sapphire is awesome!
That's my point, this smaller networks like USA, Sci-Fi, The CW need to base a tv show's success on something else rather than on ratings (unless they are utterly horrible). They need to base it on critical acclaim and on dvd sales for starters; the best these networks can do is hope to have a show that has a cult following; and The 4400 certainly had that. For comparisons, look at the Battlestar Galactica ratings which is highly successful, yet they have terrible ratings (on big network standards).
And also, look at the Supernatural ratings, which aren't good at all and the show has quite a high following. These are simply networks that won't attract many viewers no matter what they do. CSI could've started in one of these networks and I doubt it would have near the success it has had on CBS.
Cancelling The 4400 was completely dumb, especially if the decision was based on a completely flawed system like the Nielsen Ratings. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... the revenue structure for the networks and tv shows is awful. They need to find a better one, but no one has the balls to do it. If I were them, I'd start by doing direct to dvd episodes, selling those along with advertisement, and then air the episodes... after that, you sell the season boxsets. I don't know about you, but that seems quite logical to me.
I concur.
CSI definitely would never have made it if it was on a smaller network and I remember thinking for a while, in the beginning, that Supernatural wouldn't survive and based on the latest interview with Kripke I would say that the question is still out there.
I don't think that your plan would work for all shows but it would be great for a show like 4400 and I would imagine that it would also be incredibly more profitable.
Dreaming impossible dreams.
Sapphire is awesome!
Oh certainly, it wouldn't work for most shows, especially established ones... but it gives an opportunity for the networks to make money in a more organic structure, instead of solely relying on advertisements when the shows air. It also gives them an opportunity to test the market, in a fairly low-cost and high revenue manner, it gives the viewers and consumers more input in what shows deserve to stay and which don't, and they can make a lot of money off desperate people.
It's like a drug. For example, for a given show, you can release 1 dvd every two weeks with two episodes of that show, and you can combine it with two episodes of another. For that dvd you sell advertisements as well as sell the dvds to the consumers. Then after 4 weeks or so, you start airing the show. So now you're selling dvds and airing the show simultaneously, only thing is that dvds are about 4 episodes ahead of when it airs (which is also selling advertisements). So what does this mean, that people who CAN'T wait for the next episode are going to keep buying these dvds, especially if the episodes end of cliffhangers. Don't you think there would sell well, considering how many people are desperate to know what's going to happen next? At about $5 a dvd or something, wouldn't they make a ton of money? For a full 24 episode season, they can make about 12 different dvds for a season, that's 12 single dvds they'll be selling for quite a lot of revenue I would think.
What this also allows it's for them to allow to show the public a ton of pilots. People love to watch pilots, and the networks can get a better sense of what shows are worth taking the next step forward with and with which not. They get better information, while making money at the same time. It's a win-win situation from where I see it. And this are just general ideas, if someone where to polish them with a better business sense than I have, then they'll surely make a ton of money off the shows, and hopefully it'll lead to more successful shows and less cancellations.
I completely agree with you.
Dreaming impossible dreams.
Sapphire is awesome!
Bud your theory reeks of what the US anime industry tries to do, and it hasn't been working out so well for them, though their prices are much higher than what you suggested.
"Buy before you try" just doesn't sit well with me as a consumer and I hate that you have to do it for pretty much all purchases. Television is one of the few venues where it's "try before you buy" and I feel that losing that would make television a chore instead of a relaxation tool.
The biggest problem I see with your idea is I don't think the majority of people would want the hassle of choosing which new 2 episode DVD's they should buy each season. They'd be looking at spending $10-$50 per season for what they are used to getting completely for free. Even at $10 the cost is significantly more than just watching/TiVoing an episode or four to get a sense of a series. So what incentive does John Q. Citizen, who just watches TV casually, have to start "buying before he tries"?
Now from a hardcore fan perspective I can see the merits off this plan, since instead of having what is aired decided by focus groups picked by TV studios or whatever it is they do, it would be decided by the aggregate amount money people are willing to spend to see something. However the crucial issue then becomes, is the total amount of money hardcore fans would be willing to spend enough to offset the potential loss in advertising revenue from making shows catered to the subset of people willing to pay for their entertainment instead of as many different people as is feasible in one show.
As an advertiser I would be wary of investing any advertising dollars into something that was chosen because it caters to people who would spend lots of money to get and keep TV show on the air. If my potential consumers had to make a purchasing decision between buying my product and buying a DVD to keep their TV show on the air then by funding that TV show I'm effectively investing in giving people a reason not to buy my product.
So what do you think? Can enough money really be milked directly out of the pockets of Firefly, BSG, and 4400 type fans to offset the potential money made by replacing any of those shows with something more sensational and aimed to grab the most eyes, and thus the most advertising incentives possible?
I can't see how selling DVD's before people have seen a show is a viable option except if it was done like Battlestar Galactica was. Make a stand-alone DVD movie and release that, (you should probably air it too). Then if people eat up the dvd of the stand-alone, you create a show around it. Then maybe you could release DVD's ahead of the actual show to determine if there's still a market for it, while simultaneously making some money, but, the people buying the DVD's are much less likely to be affected by TV ads advertisements b/c either they won't watch it on TV or won't buy the products seen due to their need to spend money on TV show DVDs.
If I have missed any incentives for either the business side or consumer side please enlighten me, but as I understand it your model offers hardcore fans a lot, but the everyday consumer and advertisers very little. What incentives would average consumer have to offset paying money to get the same thing they currently get for free? And what incentive would advertisers have to spend big bucks advertising on a show that the people who really like it have probably already seen and the general public may not even like it.
Last edited by Yukimura; Thu, 02-07-2008 at 12:56 PM.
Actually, it's quite different. Many people have watched the anime before it even comes out on DVD. With this, episodes are completely new... there's more incentive for you to buy them in order to watch them.
And again, it would be shown on tv anyways in a couple of weeks... so you'll get your episodes for free if you're willing to wait.
I'm not sure if you missed the part where I said that the episodes would air after the dvd comes out, in a matter of weeks. And I think you missed the part were I mentioned that these pre-air DVD would be selling advertisements themselves... just as if it would if it were airing, and then again sell advertisements when it aired.
You also have to remember that at any given timeslot a viewer can only watch ONE thing. So, that a hardcore viewer already watched the episode is really of no consequence because there's no assurance that he would've seen the episode anyways. ALSO remember that ratings only is affected by a small portion of the population, so hardcore fans may not even have nielsen boxes... so who cares if they buy the dvd since wether they view the episode or not wouldn't have affected the ratings.
And it's kinda absurd to think that you have to choose between buying a dvd that's worth $3 dollars or so and between something advertised on DVD. "Hmm, we have an ad for a BMW... damnit, that's not going to work because the consumer already spent $3 dollars on this dvd. Crap!!!!" I guess it's useless to advertise on movie theaters too while we are at it, and on newspapers and the likes. There are sponsors, and companies that benefit from the selling of dvds, if that's what you're worried about. What about Best Buy wanting to advertise or Blockbuster? Maybe Netflix would want to. What about SONY and other electronic companies?
So by your understanding, a network is better off showing a show on air with its advertisements (shows that are usually poor in ratings, most are... successful shows are very rare, especially those on small networks)... than selling DVDs with advertisements and then airing it with advertisements? You think they'll make more money with the former? Doesn't make sense to me. So by your accounts, the system currently in place works... and that's why so many shows get cancelled and why many shows aren't being profitable. There's clearly something wrong with their business model. Anything at this point that has the potential to bring in more revenue has to be better than it.
Last edited by Munsu; Thu, 02-07-2008 at 03:09 PM.
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