I HEARD THIS week from a few fans of the show I worked on in Vancouver last year, BLOOD TIES, that they'd heard from Lifetime, the U.S. Broadcaster, that the show was not going to be picked up for a second season; that the reasoning was that it had not performed up to ratings expectations.
Which kind of closes an open secret door. It's been pretty clear that Lifetime wasn't going to pick up the show for the longest time now. Since I was just a hired hand, and it wasn't my show, I kept mum whenever anybody asked me about it because that's what you do.
But now that it's official, and coincidentally, because I got more than four emails this week asking essentially the same question in essentially the same way, now I'm gonna answer it.
The question I've been asked this week is: Do you think that BLOOD TIES is going to come back, that someone else will pick it up and more episodes will be made?
The answer is No. No I don't.
Because there's more than one Vampire show that's been shit-canned recently, I should also answer the email that I've gotten from a couple of Moonlight fans: Do you think that Moonlight has a chance to wind up somewhere else?
No. No I don't.
I put those two things together because I'm now leading into the larger point: I'm not the guy who owns either property, and the dude who's doing the negotiations, so I can't really say for sure. I don't know for sure. I'm not involved. Take that with any grain of salt that you want. (And I'll get back to this, too. Remember the salt.)
I would say that Moonlight probably had a better chance because it had been on CBS, but since they passed, and since the sets have been struck, and since the Jericho thing worked out so well, I'm gonna say full page ads or no full page ads, that show's probably toast. And if the network version's done, then the cable version's definitely done. (Again, all this is my-- you know what? Can we just take as read for the rest of this post that at the end of every paragraph, I'm silently mouthing that warning that appears on every DVD now about the opinions not necessarily reflecting the opinions of anybody other than the people making the statement, and not the corporation that owns the show? Can we just take that as read? Good, cause qualifying this shit is exhausting. )
I think it's a shame that Moonlight and Blood Ties are both toast. Because I think vampire stories are fun and I love'em and I think there should always be some sort of Vamp show on the air. (Although, seriously dudes, that whole can go out in the day thing is MONUMENTALLY fucking cheating. NOT cool. It makes the tragic scary vamps seem like my redheaded friends. And trust me, none of them are particularly scary. Okay. Maybe K-Mac. But still.)
Blood Ties is tragic for me because it was fun to work on, and I think it was a fun show, and a different take on the whole thing because no matter what the fangirl squee, the vamp was actually the sidekick. I think that was the genius part of the world that Tanya Huff created in her books and that Peter Mohan brought to TV. The central figure was the girl. That's a different spin.
There's a couple of other perplexing things about BT going down, and some bad timing things. The show was not helped by the fact that by the time we'd shot the only season (and it was not two seasons, that was just marketing) the originating Canadian Broadcaster who had started it rolling, CHUM, essentially ceased to exist when it was split in twain and sold off to two companies. The show kind of got lost in two differing agendas.
But -- and this is something that we all point out every time we who worked on it get together -- the show did good numbers in Canada -- better than the lead in and the lead out. Better than what was in the timeslot before it premiered, and better than what they put in there afterward. And it sold everywhere -- well. I'm told that the international sales guys were clamoring for a second season.
But that just goes to show you how hard it is to finance a TV show if you don't have one of those big six media corporations behind you. That's just how it is, I guess. I think they may even still be trying. And if they did somehow bring it back, I'd whoop de doo with everyone. Believe me.
Okay, I'm halfway through this thing now and I'm starting to lose my nerve, because I'm starting to get the spidey-sense pounding in my head that tells me that the batshit crazy fans are going to bombard me with all the weird hate-on messages. And the BT crew is fine, but Moonlight was a network show and ... some of you 'Murricans are a little crazy... but I'm almost to the salt. Be patient.
I think there's also a weird bias against genre stuff at channels these days. Scratch that. I know there is. It doesn't get respect. And neither does its fans. And that sucks. It does. I think the problem is so many of these shows reach the diehard geeks and people who like this kind of stuff, but it doesn't widen out. And that bigger audience is what they really want. And they're convinced that genre shows are too narrow. Nevermind that they're also the ones that have the ability to branch out and touch everyone if they truly hit. See Heroes, X-Files, Star Trek -- should I go on?
But when it doesn't hit that magic branch out, the genre fans feel burned. And they think that they shouldn't watch shows because they're just going to get canceled. And they don't realize that hey, that's true of like 7 out of 10 non-vampire or werewolf or space opera shows, too. Most shows fail. That's the reality.
I feel the need to validate all that fan love and support because, well, it starts early and it's just so passionate. I mean, there were BT fan sites up weeks before the show premiered. I'm sure there are Dollhouse sites popping up even now. That's awesome.
So to not acknowledge both the depth of feeling and the unlikeliness of success at this point, in all the "save the show" campaigns, just seems to me to be cruel. And the fans deserve better than that. Blood Ties fans, and Moonlight fans too. A lot of people will keep silent because they just don't want the grief of the crazier side of fandom. That side is indeed fearsome. But that's not enough of a reason to keep everybody hanging forever. So the only thing to do is to try and do the impossible and explain it a bit.
Now. Here's the salt part.
Part of the problem of the fan campaign, as I've said before, is that the internet makes it seem like there's so many of you that it makes it even harder to imagine how a show could be not popular enough to go on. What do you mean it's not popular! Look at all of us here!
It's at these times that I say, "I want you to imagine rolling coins." You know how there are 50 pennies in a roll? Well, you know how big a roll of pennies is, right? How much space it takes up? Got it? Good. Now, how easy would it be to store 100 rolls of pennies? That's 5000 pennies. That's gonna take up space, right? Probably a whole drawer. Okay, now say we're talking, oh, I don't know, 5 million viewers. That's a level of viewership that gets you totally canceled. How many rolls is that? Well, it's um...5000 is 100..uh...Holy cow.....can that be right? 100 000 rolls of pennies?
You're going to need more drawers. And a reinforced floor.
Do you honestly have that many posters, fans, on forums, posting regularly? I've never seen the forum where a thousand people post regularly. Ever? Maybe. Regularly? Nope. At that level it would become noise. That's an unmanageable number.
Oh, By the way. What they really want is American Idol numbers. And that's like, 25 million. 30 million. 4, 5, 6 times that. I can't even do that math. Because I'm a dumb bad-at-math writer.
Point is, it's not your fault. The shift to a focus on "save our show" campaigns sets up a dynamic where it's just easier to feel like you failed. It's not a failure if there was never a real hope of success to begin with. You can't help it if the show didn't catch on, and if what seems like a ridiculous number of fans to you STILL ISN'T ENOUGH.
Now....here's where the salt comes in. Because some of the people out there are licking it right now. How dare I? I mean, really, How FUCKING DARE I say that they won't succeed! How dare I say JPOD's not coming back! Or that the NUTS THING WITH JERICHO DIDN"T TOTALLY WERK WHO DO YOU THNK U R, ANYWAYS?????
I'm gonna get a lot of those emails. I know it. I'll take it. It's fine. Bring it on, baby. My back is strong.
I just feel bad to see people building up false hopes. And not moving on and remembering the thing you loved for what it was.
In the case of BT fans, and I've said this before -- you can at least go back to Tanya Huff's original books to see where the story goes. (It's pretty great.) And if you're feeling burned because you're a Moonlight fan and you were thinking, somebody's gotta pick up the show, right? And now here's this asshole in CANADA saying, "probably not going to happen. And oh yeah, DO NOT SEND BLOOD PRODUCTS TO CBS!" and maybe you're bummed.
Cheer up. Don't be bummed. TV and movies are cyclical and weird. You never know what happens down the road.
Judd Apatow was a guy who failed with two TV series -- Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared. F&G broke my heart when it was canceled. Now he's the biggest Director in Hollywood. Seth Rogen, who starred and wrote for Undeclared, is a freaking sex symbol, for heaven's sake. I loved those shows, but hey, maybe he was meant to make movies like 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up instead.
David Schwimmer was on some failed show the season before Friends. If that had gotten picked up, No Ross. Lisa Kudrow was originally cast in Frasier. She was fired and replaced by Peri Gilpin, and if that didn't happen, no Phoebe. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if Jennifer Aniston had kept her original nose.
A show that I loved that failed big in the 80's was this one season wonder called Almost Grown. It was this trippy show tracking a family in three time periods. Starred Eve Gordon and Tim Daly. The guy who wrote it was named David Chase. He'd go on to create The Sopranos.
My So Called Life -- a beloved show, canceled after 19 eps. Claire Danes is a star and Winnie Holzman went on to write the Broadway smash musical WICKED.
The point is, you just never know.
The people who made Blood Ties and Moonlight sure loved bringing them to you. And you never know, who knows what comes next. Maybe this is all for the best. Or maybe it's random.
Anyway, my point is, the people who make these shows are always humbled by the depths and the lengths fans will go to support them and not lose faith and not lose hope. And we'd hate to see failure and silence make you turn away from that. And sometimes, when you know it's not going to work, even if you know you're going to get crazy mail, you just gotta man up and say that. 99% chance it's not going to work, so you might want to think about the time you put into it. Just saying.
But if you say that, you also do the fucking disclaimer. Here it comes again: Yup, I'm not privy to everything. You want to grasp at straws, grasp away. GRASP AWAY!
But to the rest of you: don't stop loving what you love, and don't ever apologize for the shows you love. And know that people who make the stuff really, really do appreciate you. And don't write angry letters to Lifetime. They're a business and they made their decision for a reason. And don't bombard CBS with fake fangs. TV is expensive. You know how many pennies you have to roll to pay for it? A LOT.
Focus on the thing you loved, and let go. Cause I guarantee there's something else coming just around the corner. And the people who met and forged relationships on that show you loved? You never know what they're gonna cook up next.
Thanks for watching. Don't be discouraged. You're awesome. And one of these days another show you love will break through and be a hit, and then a couple seasons will pass, and you'll get to complain about it jumping the shark. I promise.
Oh, one more thing.
Please don't send me hate mail. I'm really quite a nice fellow.
18 comments:
I'm told that the international sales guys were clamoring for a second season.
Funny story. I posted a story on my blog about Blood Ties almost a year ago which included a smokin' hot photo of Kyle Schmid. A few months later I noticed an uptick in the number of visits from Europe in my stats, so I started checking to see what they were looking at. Turns out that almost all of them found me through a Google image search for 'Kyle Schmid'.
Europeans. Love. Kyle Schmid.
Even today, I get two or three hits a day (out of my usual forty or fifty) from places like Germany, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria... and almost invariably, they're looking for their Kyle Schmid fix.
So, see? Who needs those silly Neilson ratings - the networks should just be checking out SiteMeter! :)
For as long as I can remember, the mantra of Canadian producers whose shows were cancelled was that whatever the ratings here, it was "a huge hit in Europe" and that the Europeans wanted another season.
But somehow they never want it bad enough to pay for it.
"Europe" is simply the final stage of denial in accepting that the market has spoken.
Move on and make another show. If you did it once, you can do it again.
Good point, Jim.
But I'd like to respond to the very notion of Lifetime saying that Blood Ties was not renewed over low ratings.
After moving the series from its 10:00 slot where it was doing better than 1.4 million viewers and placing it at 11:00 with a fake psychic show lead-in, it continued to get an average of over 800,000 viewers and ended the season with over 900,000 (per Neilsen). In fact, these are very acceptable numbers for Lifetime.
The Producers were told that the reason Lifetime were not renewing was that the BT viewers would watch Blood Ties, then leave the network. BT did not provide lead-in or lead-out for the "woman-in-jeopardy" movies and series that comprise the rest of Lifetime's schedule.
If there had been a serious attempt to respect the audience Blood Ties brought to the network and to build a night around the series with similarly-themed shows, they would have gained access to the loyalest fans on television.
In retrospect, Lifetime was the wrong home for Blood Ties. But it is unfair and misleading to suggest that it was canceled over bad ratings.
This time fifteen years ago, I was cheerfully up to my eyebrows in being one of the point people for a campaign, dumping scads of time and energy (and oh, dear gods, the phone bills when the organizers are scattered across a continent and the Internet is still on training wheels!) into something I knew perfectly well was tilting at windmills. (All while holding down a full-time receptionist gig, singing in an opera chorus and a bar band, rehearsing a play, and carrying on a cross-country relationship. I got your batshit crazy right here and freely admit it. And man, was all that juggling easier at 23...)
As it happens, that particular windmill actually fell down. I don't have a word for how lucky we were to get two more seasons of the show in question, a full year and a half after the initial cancellation (by CBS, as it happens).
But even if we hadn't, I would still number quite a few fellow fans from that craziness among my best friends today. We've stood up at each other's weddings, lived in each other's guest rooms while jobhunting in new cities, gleefully shared some new fandoms and nodded and smiled uncomprehendingly at others, and generally had some of the best times a person could have.
I only had one of those in me (though I've wanted just as passionately for other shows to continue, and this is no exception), but more power to the ones doing the tilting now. Win or lose, they won't come out with nothing to show for it. They'll all be on each other's couches in a year's time, watching that next thing. That one you can take to the bank.
Peter: I'm willing to believe someone there honestly wanted to bring the geek girls to Lifetime's yard and keep us. For a while there it seemed like they might even know how. The lack of follow-through means a lot of things, but mostly that they're unlikely to get us again. They're more of a joke than ever in my circles, and that's a shame.
Denis - Thanks for the honest assessment. I think we all knew Lifetime wasn't going to do anything more with Blood Ties - and we're glad to finally be done with them - though some of us still hold out a smidgen of hope that some other network may see the light, so to speak.
I've also thought that Moonlight had a somewhat better chance of landing elsewhere for having been a major network show - but now I wonder if what I imagine as the lower cost of producing Blood Ties might be a positive point for landing on another cable station. This may well be my way of hanging on until the very last, but it was a thought that occurred.
Peter - Thanks for confirming information about the audience numbers. That info was scarce and we never really knew how it was doing.
As for the real reason why they dropped the show: If the Friday programming they tried was an attempt to lure the audience to stick around (or tune in sooner, as the case was), they made poor choices. If they had gone the drama route they might have had something worth staying for, and yes, would have had a very loyal audience. They mishandled all the way around in ever even moving the show, but - nothing to be done about it now.
I’m working to save jPod, but for me it’s bigger than the show itself. It’s about making CBC relevant to a younger crowd. jPod is my only connection with CBC, and that is unfortunate. I don’t think CBC really understands my demographic, and I’d like to think this campaign will help change that.
So cancelled or not cancelled, I feel I’m still making a difference, providing useful information, and hopefully CBC is learning from all this and will perform better with my demographic in the future. And I look forward to that time.
And when jPod re-runs in a few weeks I hope people check it out. One last time. Because good TV, canceled or not, still deserves an audience.
Denis, I just can't do it anymore. I can't let myself get involved again.
Not for Durham County, not even for Dollhouse. Which is saying alot because Firefly was my favourite show, ever.
jPod being cancelled was the final straw for me.
http://firefly-alternativegirlfriend.blogspot.com/2008/05/so-long-farewell-auf-weidersehen-good.html
My new philosophy is that if I see something that I may be interested in, and it lasts more than 2 or 3 seasons long, I'll just watch them on DVD when they've finished.
I'm done.
Denis, we would never send you hate mail. You're one of the few people "in the Biz" that actually tries to tell it like it is. Whether we like it or not. I hate to give you that kind of compliment and then say that I'm gonna do the opposite of what you say, but I have to. I know that there is only a 1% chance of Blood Ties being picked up by another network, but I feel like we've come this far we might as well stick it out til the end. And before people start saying that the ship has sailed and other metaphors, I just have to point out your hint of optimism that they MAY still be trying to sell it. When I know for sure that no one is trying anymore, I will take your advice and let go and move on. But, I just can't while there is still a hope. So here I go grasping. (at least I know I'm in good company)
Thanks very much all the helpful information that you share with us Dennis. We appreciate it even if it's not what we want to hear. :)
While we Blood Ties fans can't control what happens with the networks we are just about ready to launch "Bite Back - the Blood Ties podcast". The podcast will be a celebration of the show and the fandom much like other podcasts in the Firefly and Farscape fandoms. More information is available here...
http://www.bloodtiespodcast.org
Thanks again Dennis!
While this was not really new information from Lifetime it was hard to accept, and a disappointment to so many hard working fans. Even if it doesn't go forward I'm glad we all got the chance to see this cast working together, and to learn the names of so many great writers, directors...
Yes - I read everything at the end of the program so that I'll know whose work I'll want to follow, and not just the actors. I think we're going to see some amazing things from people who were involved in BT.
It goes without saying - Christina, Kyle and Dylan were brilliant together, and I hope we get a chance to see them work together again someday.
Even if this wasn't what we all wanted to hear I have to commend you for your bravery and thank you for the smiles it gave me to read your heartfelt words. Please, keep us informed about the projects you are passionate about, especially the ones you are working on.
Thank you for taking this ride with us
I don't regret being a Blood Ties fan, and I don't regret being involved in the campaigns to save it. Even if we didn't get the results we hoped for our voices were heard.
Excellent, well-thought out post. And I especially liked your caveat, You want to grasp at straws, grasp away. GRASP AWAY!. Sometimes, it does work, and the little show that refuses to die and go away quietly gets a second chance - maybe in a new media. One word: Serenity.
That was a completely excellent post and I am glad I followed Tanya's LJ to yours today.
Yeah, we totally saw this shit coming from miles off; I also totally see that both ML and BT aren't coming back. What really pissed me off about ML though, is that they ORDER FOUR EXTRA EPISODES after the strike was over... giving us all false hope. Out of everyone that I know that watches it over here on CBS, I swear only one actually watches Ghost Whisperer.
I also have a friend in England, loves Kyle, loves the show... and she still had hope. Because they didn't split the damned season up. There were no breaks for a "mini eries".
Yay for someone totally calling the "two" seasons what it was! Even iTUnes had it up as one season, so seriously, WTF.
Anyway, loved the blog.
No hate mail here. Your blog is one of the good things I found because of watching the show and being part of the online fan community.
This kind of genre show can, like you say, "have the ability to branch out and touch everyone", but that can be its downfall when a network expects that kind of performance. It just isn't that common.
I don't feel burned, but Lifetime hasn't convinced me change my viewing habits and it could have. In the end, the fun for me is now I have a number of blogs I read because of the show, and movies I've seen that I might not have known about, and writers (like you) that I try to watch the shows they are writing for (still hoping to see The Border here in the states).
Thank you for posting your thoughts and experiences working on BT!
Denis: What may have been apparent to one office of Lifetime certainly wasn't apparent to the other one. About 3 weeks ago a friend and I started calling the California Offices and the New York Offices. We got word from the California Offices that they were through with Blood Ties. We called the New York Offices to verify and they started questioning us as to who gave us the phone numbers, who we had talked to etc. The New York Offices were unaware of it, at least until about three weeks ago and they started scurrying around and making phone calls. I have talked to the girl in Viewer Relations for over a year now and trust me, they don't pay her enough to act surprised or to lie for them.
As for grasping for straws, count me in. I've worked on this for more than a year and I can't/won't stop until there as been an official autopsy (granted it's on life support, I'm not that stupid).
But I've been told the production company is still trying (someone said they might be hoping for a miracle), so as long as they keep saying that I'm in. I haven't worked on this for this long and hard to give up now. MIRACLES DO HAPPEN, NOT OFTEN, BUT THEY DO SOMETIMES.
Thanks for the reality check, as Veronica said, you've always been honest with us. Even if its something we don't want to hear.
Hey Denis - Some time back you had a post about the Blood Ties game that Lifetime was tracking, and you said that it was doing good things on various levels (or something to that effect). You couldn't elaborate, but said we should download and play. Well, now it looks like all it did was add more money to Lifetime's pockets (from one thing I read, nearly a million bucks), even though they were planning all along to dump the show. Can you offer any further enlightenment about the cryptic-ness of your post, now that they are officially out?
Nah. See this is exactly the kind of things fans always go to ask that winds up getting you in trouble down the road if you answer it.
The hearsay version is that I heard it was back and forth, back and forth, we're not sure, and one of the elements of "we're not sure" was surprise over the game.
I'm afraid that's all I'm willing to say. Maybe even a little more than I'm willing to say. Man, if I get in trouble down the line for saying this, I will find your avatar, and trace it through the series of tubes and I will shaving cream your whole computer setup. Seriously. Damnit!
I think if you read through this full thread there is enough inside info to answer all your questions. Or at least, the only answers to your questions that you're likely to get. Read between the lines, and please -- let it be, and don't ask any more. Thanks.
Denis:
Thanks for telling us like it is, even though we really didn't want to hear it. You were part of a remarkable tv show that we all came to love. And even though you told us lifetime wouldn't miss us, many of us still boycott the network because of what they did to Blood Ties.
I loved the show because it had an independent woman as the lead character and I have no intention of regressing to a network that shows that all life's woes can be solved by the love of a good man dropping into your life making every thing right.
They had an opportunity to do something truly unique and blew it. I truly hope they are kicking their own A$$es with the success of True Blood and Twilight.
Thanks again Denis. You were one of the few people who told the fans the truth. That counts for quite a bit.
As the saying goes, "Better late than never".
Hello Denis, I was informed about your blog via the moderator of the fansite for Kyle Schmid (re: KSC) when I expressed how much I enjoyed the writing on the show Blood Ties, re: my comment: " Gosh, as a writer myself, I would love to meet those script/screen dialogue writers!"
I've give my hats off in kudos to you (and the others) for a wonderful job, well done!
To this day (Feb. 20th 2010) we die hard, BT fan(g) girls are still "quoting the light fantastic" of the wonderful witty dialogue!
The show is still missed (but at least we have the DVD memories) and I can only hope to someday achieve this level of memorable, witty writing that I so admire from this show!
~ Sonika (a.k.a Soni) in Montreal.
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