Former Fox President Explains Why Firefly Had To Be Cancelled

by Sean Fallon on March 7, 2011

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With Firefly flaring up in the news lately thanks to comments made by Nathan Fillion and re-airings of the show on The Science Channel, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette got a chance to sit down with former Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman to discuss why she had to pull the plug on Firefly.

“Canceling ‘Firefly’ was as difficult as anything I’d ever been involved in because Joss and I had been creative partners at one time,” she said. Indeed, I remember seeing Berman sitting with a script and headphones on the set of a season two episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” “I worked with him very closely on this particular show and when it didn’t perform [in the ratings], having to cancel it was very difficult.”

Yes, the ratings. And what about that absurd decision to air the show out of order?

“If I had to do it over again, I might have reconsidered it but I’m not sure it would have changed anything,” she said. “It was a numbers things. It was a wonderful show and I loved it and I loved working with him on it but that was a big show, a very expensive show and it wasn’t delivering the numbers.”

Of course, many Browncoats would blame the fact that it “wasn’t delivering the numbers” on her decisions to air the episodes out of order, bury it in the “Friday night death slot”, and the fact that they only gave it one season. Meanwhile, Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles both got two seasons to try and develop an audience.

(via ology)

Tagged as: firefly, serenity, television

Anonymous

Yet another reason to boycott the Tea Party Propaganda Organ, aka Fox Networks.

http://nerdapproved.com Sean Fallon

Yeah. She was blaming the show for underperforming when Fox seemed to do
everything in its power to make it impossible to succeed.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_64P7ACXX4ACN44ZZET3UI2CDKA Vincent

It was a great show that I only discovered when it came up on Netflix. I saw the movie first, and of course it didn’t really make sense. Now that I have seen the series, the movie was a little more sad. The series had more of a sense of humor than the movie did. The characters were less serious.

Icesnake, you are a moron… Were you out there collecting signatures to get the show renewed? Probably not. You can thank Fox for even airing the show… I thought they made a huge mistake ending the Terminator series too. Too expensive for the small audience they were pulling in. But you probably don’t run your own business.
Anonymous

While it’s easy (read: lazy) for the leftist nerd ragers to spew Fox [Anything] hatred (y’all know that Adam Baldwin is a loud and proud conservative, don’t you?) and the network sure screwed up Dollhouse by making the first five episodes “Echo’s Prostitute Adventure of the Week”, I place most of the blame for Firefly’s failure on Joss Whedon’s baffling decision to make the first half-dozen episodes corny Western retreads at the expense of the sci-fi aspects.

I was a HUGE Buffy/Angel fan when I got Firefly on DVD, but as episode after boring cowboy episode dragged by like the Civil War in space – look at Jayne be a town’s hero; look at Kaylee in a purdy dress; Mal has to duel! – I wondered what the heck the appeal was supposed to be. A reader (I was a DVD critic and it came up in correspondence) told me to stick with it until “Out of Gas” and if I didn’t ultimately like it, he’d buy it off me and donate it to his library. OK, then…

The hat trick of “Out of Gas,” “Ariel,” and “War Stories” were exactly what I was looking for; ‘Verse-expanding tales about how the crew came together, the Alliance, Blue Sun, River’s killing abilities. From there on out, it was quite good, but Joss had already dug his own grave in the ratings.

Imagine if Buffy spent its first half-dozen episodes meandering around Sunnydale High and The Bronze, barely touching on the world of vamps and monsters. How boring would that have been and how long would people have kept tuning in to see if something, anything happened? If Joss had set up the ‘Verse’s sci-fi elements better, then diversions like “Shindig” and “Jaynestown” would have added flavor, not served as weak main course.

http://twitter.com/PSNDonutDude Chris Ritsma

While I liked the cowboy part of it. I agree, the shindig and stuff should have come later. I think you may actually have why the ratings were low. Mind you, the friday night slot, and lack of advertising still hurt it a ton too.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001631217296 Joseph Lash

I read Tina Fey’s biography, Baldwin is extremely liberal. Also, Remember this: on the jumping box, actors do acting, not living their actual lives. I agree with the rest though.

DirkBelig

ADAM Baldwin (star of Firefly, Full Metal Jacket, My Bodyguard, Chuck) is a conservative.

ALEC Baldwin (30 Rock, Beetlejuice, angry voicemails to his daughter with Kim Basinger, brother to Billy, Stephen, and Daniel) is liberal. He is also unrelated to ADAM.

http://twitter.com/bassguy Grant Brunner

Nope, wrong. Sarah Connor got a season and a half.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=23908601 Nick Nelson

Don’t forget that “Friday Night Death slot” was up against Farscape, which was at the time the highest rated cable (non-premium) series ever. Pitting Firefly against the top-rated sci-fi show of the time and not advertising Firefly is what caused the terrible ratings. Anyone who wants to blame the ratings has to blame the Fox execs who chose the timeslot and failed to promote the show.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_F3R3C7EZGZCQPN45GI5PZYPGVE walex

Another great show that was cancelled for no reason, Farscape.

hunsruck

MAN !! that show kicked A$$…sucks that “corporate” ratings take priority over a well-crafted show like that…….viva American Idol….I guess……..
http://www.facebook.com/jasminumgreenwood Jas Greenwood Sr.

So. I finally find out “why” Firefly, ( one of the best shows ever) was cancelled! I am still ticked off about it. Ya’ll really screwed up!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_S7X3V7RQGKHJQDA7OB7GY4B5TI kevinw

The ratings solely depend on advertisement. The more advertisement, the more people will tune in, which.. Let’s face it.. Is what ratings are based off of. Sure, try and hound me that ratings are popular vote, but.. It’s averaged, right? So… If one day, a million people tune in because they saw a good ad for it, then take a good average of that score. Yaknow?
Anyways, I’m so glad that this was finally scooped up!!! I was so devastated when they stopped airing ‘Firefly’. It is a great series where they mix a lot of good quality scifi-ish “things”. What would be a great feature to add, is an “inside the Firefly ‘Serenity’” Like, a virtual look through the ship. Seeing the many compartments, etc..
The greatest quality I believe there is in this series, is the humor! Gotta love the crap that goes on throughout the series, and the movie.

Once again!!! Thank you Mr. Fallon!!!

LukeScooto

No offense, but your a moron too. People tune in to watch advertisements? Maybe in Mexico, but not here in AMerica. We DONT like ads, and alot of people change the channel and surf for a minute or two when an ad comes on, and then turns the show back on after the ads are through. If we like ads so much, why does none of the Netflix Tv shows have a single commerical? Which is GREAT! Advertisements are NOT a measurement of how popular a show is, or how many people watch a show, not even close. Even though its a very outdated archaic method, but the Neilson rating company has a system of setting up ratings boxes on various RANDOM television sets throughout the country. These boxes monitor everything you watch and dont watch, and for how long. Now lets say they have a box on my television, (which they did about 15 years ago, on all our televisions in our home, 3 of them), im actually representing thousands of people in my area, because not everyone has this Neilson box. In some towns, no one has a box. So im representing a large portion of my area’s population. Lets say I watch Firefly, that will show up as lets say, 10,000 people watching it. Its not an exact number, im just using an example. Now i dont know how many people in the USA have a Neilsons box, but you dont keep the box forever, its only around 1 year, and i think for some people they will continue to have it longer, or might not have it that long, it varies. They pay you a small fee for your services. Lets say 1 million people have this box on their tv’s, and for a friday nite at 9pm 500,000 of them, half, watch Firefly, that will come up as HALF of the ENTIRE nation watching Firefly, because the boxes are representative of a larger population. You can google about them to find out more. They contact you, you dont contact them, and its totally random. That way no one can influence a shows future on purpose. Yes its an old way to do tv ratings, and im not sure why we havent received a new system yet, because we desperately need one. What if everyone who has a box currently, is lets say a dram fan and not a sci-fi fan? Well guess what, all sci-fi shows will be cancelled and we’ll have a ton of cop dramas on tv, kind of like whats happening now.
Now as for advertising, lets say that Firefox was doing very well, and i worked for the show’s marketing/sales team, i would then contact various companies like Coke, Pepsi, Nabisco, Dell, Ford, etc and give them my viewership numbers for the first airing (pilot episode) of the show, and based on how many people watched it, will determine how much they will pay to advertise during that show. And thats even if a Sci-fi show is the demographic they’re looking for. I think a company like Coca-Cola would want to air an ad during FireFox to reach younger viewers, but a company like Ford might not be as interested as they’re looking to reach a slightly older, maybe more conservative, middle class type audience. If the show does well, they’ll pay alot. Look at the Super Bowl, so many people watch it, that you have to pay millions for a short 30 second commerical. The actual ad has nothing to do with how many people watch the show. But if week after week you see big name copanies like Ford and Coca-Cola continuing to air thier commericals, its probably a good bet the show is doing well.

http://twitter.com/PSNDonutDude Chris Ritsma

Haha, you wrote all that, for misunderstanding what he wrote.

He meant seeing an ad for the show.

http://myworld.ebay.com/seacoasttrader LukeScooto

Actually no, i know exactly what he said and what he meant. I think you need to re-read it, cause its clear your as clueless as he is. Is that short enough for ya?

Misetos Obfuscate

Nice try for a save, but it’s pretty transparent. You clearly did not understand what was meant until it was too late.
Also, it’s courteous not to imply everyone is a moron, especially considering so far the only one who has shown such an obtuse misunderstanding of the situation is yourself.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_F3R3C7EZGZCQPN45GI5PZYPGVE walex

LOL. You got him. Pretty funny.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_F3R3C7EZGZCQPN45GI5PZYPGVE walex

You are an idiot. The guy was talking about advertising the show, not watching commercials. You do know the show was called Firefly??? Not Firefox?? They should have advertised the show more and given it a better night as well as aired the episodes IN ORDER. Pretty simple.

http://myworld.ebay.com/seacoasttrader LukeScooto

Ill agree they should have advertised the show more, and given it a better nite, and definetly aired the episodes in order, but I dont think that would have saved the show. They needed to let it run at least two season like they do with other expensive big budget shows they care about. A different station would have been better. Even something on basic basic cable would have been nice, like TBS or TNT. But FOX would have got that show alot of ratings. I believe Buffy type ratings, even though its a million times better then Buffy.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GOK2FVUBSHLHA2HTHMNOU3AEL4 Deni

I watch the 14 episodes over and over. Fox really screwed up on this one. She kept horrible shows and cancelled the ones people loved. I still miss this show!
Anonymous

Just watched this series again on netflix. Awesome show.

I have trouble believing some of the overly defensive posts in here defending Fox. People love (and still love) this show and it was cancelled.

It was shortsighted of FOX and they made a bad call. But it’s just another example of how current ratings/advertisements are no longer a good measure on how a network should be considering profitablity of every program. Especially one that has the potential to become a full blown cult classic.

How many books and DVDs and merchandise are associated with Buffy and Firefly? You have to factor that in somehow. If you don’t then your just being shortsighted.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Richard-Ware/1755323473 Richard Ware

Yet another series with great potential (a la “Life” ) gets scrapped while shows with no real innovation like 24 (threat to USA/Kim gets kidnapped (again!!) Jack saves the day) and Lost..(well i never really understood that one) get renewed again and again..

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_F3R3C7EZGZCQPN45GI5PZYPGVE walex

I tried to watch 24, the first season. It had some potential but just petered out. Boring…….

shenkan77

I didn’t even know it existed, neither did many of my friends. Until well after it was cancelled. Two seasons would’ve given it a chance to develop a fan base. The terminator show was awful and had a following none the less with 2 seasons
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B7PAHCIZ5OTUFZVM7NX3SRWAIE Beave Village

It’s always about money, it’s the only reason we have TV shows unfortunately.
http://twitter.com/UnderINK Ava Germaine

This makes me so annoyed. This show was fucking spectacular. It outdoes most of the shows currently playing. What would possess them to air them out of order? Of COURSE that has an impact on how many people watch it – nobody wants to watch something if they don’t know what the fuck is going on!
SupaJulia

Fox should bring the show back now that it has an established audience I know I would be watching
Ian jensen

How stupid can they be. This show was amazing and could have easily been the top show of any slot. So so dumb. This show was AWESOME.
Ian jensen

I have to comment again. Why did they cancel what could have been my favorite personal fantasy world for years. and DOLLHOUSE??? what the hell?

They will never replace this show. The chemistry of the cast was too good, the writing was amazing, and it was such a fresh twist with the characters. I hate them. I hate them.

They are bastard people.

Wongfey

I agree, this show was amazing. I loved it, absolutely the best show I looked forward to watching. It seems every show that requires a little bit of intelligence gets cancelled. FOX! there is a market for this, CMON not every one likes Jersey shore and pointless ridiculous drama.

http://profile.yahoo.com/5QF7N7BOS4RLUKEG7KYTQ7VBBI Te-Rangi

i have to say fox are ass holes
i am a new zealander and i brought the serenity dvd and the firefly dvd but i think firefly should have more episodes many of my freinds thing that the alliance trash are controlling fox i think you all (fox workers should ask the public what they think and if they want firefly back ) cos i do
PollyPerot

I’m not going to be balanced about this, you killed Firefly – FOX you have made an enemy for life… Anyway I can damage you I will. There’s nothing good about fox, they are the evil empire, their media is moronic and biased. They do not represent intelligence or objectivity, they are everything that is bad about large corporations… down with the media corporations – up with the internet!!!!
StormOverKrynn

“…but that was a big show, a very expensive show and it wasn’t delivering the numbers.”

That says it all right there people, money talks and BS… like people making comments here about cry me a river cause they cancelled my tv show *sniffle*… walks.

Budget was there to make an awesome movie though, too bad they couldn’t come up more material for sequels… oh wait a minute, nevermind… least they open a Firefly convention for all the freaks and nerds for the upcoming sequel to the Serenity trilogy I’m thinking one is good, gawd knows we don’t need another Lucas dragging out the story to make 3 movies bomb on our hands… just be glad they found the budget to tie up loose ends in one movie and be estatic that they even cared.