But it seems clear at this point that Paramount believes that it’ll be able to make a return on its investment, so it’s just a matter of where the show eventually lands, not if the new season gets created.
Unless they do like WB did for Batgirl, and shitcan the entire thing permanently after production is complete, for a tax write-off.
I don’t think Netflix actually cancels shows after two seasons any more often than other networks do.
Somehow people got it into their heads that Netflix is far more cancel-happy than its competitors, but if you look at the numbers, traditional TV networks have had like a 50% cancellation rate for decades.
Even TOS was cancelled after two seasons!
If Netflix is more prone to cancelling shows at all, which I’m not convinced is even true, it can’t be by an enormous margin.
There was an article a few weeks ago about how Netflix only has about a 15% cancellation rate. Unfortunately there was no deep dive into the data, so the figures are suspect. A few factors that weren’t considered:
A very significant percentage of Netflix programming is reality TV and cheap junk. This doesn’t get cancelled because well, it’s cheap.
Many series don’t get cancelled, they just aren’t renewed. If Netflix tells the producers this is the last season, they’re gonna rush the storyline to some kinda ending regardless of whether it was originally supposed to stretch several more seasons.
I would rather a rushed ending than to be left hanging (unless they’re going to do a movie or something)
Maybe the last few years are better, but through the late 2010s Netflix very much looked at the per episode drop off rate for viewers and used that to determine if a show would continue to pull in viewers and get renewed. They were quite aggressive and then when other streaming services started coming into play they aggressively tried cutting costs off dead shows and burned a lot of people.
I saw this article first, but startrek.com has an announcement with a couple of brief quotes:
“Thank you to our incredible Star Trek: Prodigy fans, who championed not just a show, but a community that’s always been connected by the belief that we build a better future together,” said executive producer Alex Kurtzman and co-showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman. “We set out to inspire you, but you inspired us. The team is still hard at work on the second season, and we can’t wait to share it with the amazing fans around the world.”
“I’ve always held that the Star Trek fan base is among the strongest and most intelligent in the world. They have shown their collective passion, and we’re happy to be able to celebrate Prodigy once again,” said Kate Mulgrew, voice of Admiral Janeway.
Excluded from the deal are Canada, where Prodigy is carried by CTV.ca and the CTV App, and in SkyShowtime’s European territories: the Nordics, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Central and Eastern Europe.
Wow, Canada must charge a lot more for cable than the US then. When I cut the cord in 2012 I was paying about $60 USD per month. I just got an offer for $70/mo for 2 years. You are paying more then that at least.
I was paying $120ish for cable in 2014 (not including cable internet, with that it was nearly $200). We would have cut the cord earlier, but without cable our internet went way up and we may as well have had cable too.
Weird that it’s excluded in Canada - since it won’t be streaming on Crave as well as broadcast on CTV Sci-fi.
Up to now, Netflix has been able to get the streaming rights to CTV Sci-Fi Channel shows if Crave doesn’t take the complementary streaming portion of the Canadian market.
This is such good news! I wonder if the incredibly effective and creative UAW strikes made them realize they were fucked if they didn’t get reasonable. The public is squarely on the side of the workers, in all the different labor actions going on right now. When this many different industries say enough is enough and take a stand, it’s hard to ignore who has the real power.
Good point! I also think it’s interesting this is days after several talk shows ended up being pressured into staying off the air pending the WGA strikes. Could be that they were gonna try using talk shows to normalize scabbing until the unilateral public backlash made it clear they wouldn’t get their way?
Whether or not it was that calculated, the backlash and pullout showed the producers they were going to have a hard time filling the schedule with unscripted reality shows and ad-libbed talk shows. Especially if they couldn’t get anyone with any talent in improvising to “not act” in them.
This is mostly hearsay (supported by things the WGA said, so I trust it), but not all members of the AMPTP were happy with the strike going this long and wanted to negotiate a lot sooner.
Earlier this month there was talk of some members leaving so they could negotiate new contracts independently. This might have lit a fire under the ass of the holdouts, since the AMPTP losing someone big like Disney would significantly weaken their own negotiating power.
Interesting. We’re seeing something similar with the UAW as Ford seems more willing to negotiate
The automakers aren’t a single block, so separate contracts need to be signed to end the strike, but any manufacturer still being targeted would be at a major disadvantage to any others that have ended their strikes
Ah that’s good context, thanks. It seems like it’s mostly a positive, since it would give labor even more leverage to improve the contracts that haven’t been negotiated yet. I’m just happy that progress is being made at all. The longer this goes, the more the studios’ reputation will suffer. I hope the public says strong with their support if this deal falls through for some reason.
Yeah it’s also be fascinated to see what points the WGA was willing to concede, if any, and how much the AMPTP was convinced to give up the main things the WGA was demanding.
Unfortunately it sounds like even members of the guild aren’t being told that info yet, let alone the public.
It makes some sense for them to get some sleep and get ready for a big press conference in the morning. Because there’s going to be a lot of immediate debate once it’s out, and they want to be on top of that. Even if they got everything they asked for.
That’s normal for this kind of negotiation. It would be horrible to unleash the press and public opinion on the representatives who have to sign the agreements. There will always be some who aren’t satisfied with the outcome, but in negotiations during a conflict it’s often a good idea to postpone some of the more specific wishes to the next ordinary round of negotiations, so that an agreement can be made at all. Some things are easier to achieve through ongoing dialogues instead of potentially obstructing an agreement on wider issues. Quite often it happens that a conflict is resolved with only little improvements, but with the following negotiations completing the wishlist.
I like Chris Pine’s Kirk, but I can imagine Mr. Olyphant as Kirk in the Kelvin films and doing a great job at it. I get that the Kelvin films Kirk was set when he was closer to Mr. Pine’s age. Still, I can’t help but wonder what a Timothy Olyphant Kirk might have been like.
Chris Pratt Hemsworth Pine is very skilled at being as generic as possible, Zach Quinto is very good at being melodramatic as fuck, but otherwise couldn't act his way out of a paper bag, Karl Urban can act when he wants to... but he was too busy chewing scenery trying to mimic DeForest Kelley's mannerisms in these movies to do any... everyone else was just kind of... there.
I’m not a fan of any of the Kelvin films other than “Beyond”, but not because of the quality of the acting. It is wild to me that you’re willing to disparage the performances of talented and hard working people just to shit some movies you don’t care for. Clown nonsense.
Mr. Olyphant was great as Cobb Vanth in The Mandalorian. Vanth standing in the entrance to the bar in the Mandalorian armor is such an amazing moment. It’s burned in my brain.
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