Syfy's EVP of original programming says they're in it for the long haul with Caprica. But nothing says "in it for the long haul" like actually renewing the show, which Syfy hasn't done yet.
I saw some Twitterage and thought I must have missed a renewal announcement for Caprica. But I had to pull back my fist pump because, nope, for now at least it's merely PR puffery from Syfy execs saying they're definitely in it with Caprica for the long haul.
The PR puffery is not without cause. The ratings have pretty much sucked, and Syfy of course fears even the few who are watching it will turn away if they think the show will be canceled.
Syfy isn't amping up the marketing for the show, so I'm not clear what Syfy bases its hope that the show can add viewers on. If it's the addition of James Marsters who was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer for ages, that seems, well, downright frakking insane, honestly. That's not meant as any disparagement to Mr. Marsters, but rather a year plus experience on the risks of hoping fans of Whedon shows can bring a new show enough viewers.
Of course one thing Syfy could do to actually show they are really in it for the long haul is just go ahead and renew the show. If they really are in it for the long haul, and they really are afraid of people avoiding the show for fear it will be canceled, one way to nip that in the bud is to just go ahead and renew it. But for now, Syfy is merely talking the long haul talk, without walking the long haul walk.
I hope they renew Caprica. I like the premise, but so far the execution seems a little off, but I'll stick with it for a while. I am into the whole Adama vs. Greystone battle that is shaping up nicely. I also worry Alessandra Torresani is way too restrained by the role of Zoe. I've now seen a couple of interviews with Ms. Torresani and she's a real piece of work and is entertaining as hell. The problem is those interviews with her were much more entertaining than her portrayal of the character she plays on Caprica.
I thought the pilot was decent but the show has been moving at a lethargic pace since. If they want to capture the BSG audience they need to put things in motion and establish where the show is headed.
The four hour miniseries to launch BSG, in comparison, was very exciting and established a clear objective and motivation for the characters. Caprica needs something like this in order to become appointment viewing for the SyFy audience as BSG was.
It’s hard to imagine that SyFy will really be with this show for long at these ratings, unless they’re in it to lose money for the long haul.
Have yet to see a minute of BSG, but am enjoying Caprica. A renewal would get me to watch the episode currently on the DVR from 2 weeks ago.
If they give Caprica the axe, I won’t be surprised nor will I be too disappointed. The ratings stink and week after week the show is just 42 minutes of people feeling miserable. I suppose that the same could be said for BSG in that respect but at least they made it entertaining.
I don’t agree with the assessment here. We on the outside tend to think of renewal as Yes or No but it’s really a pretty complicated financial transaction. The network could very well be planning to renew Caprica but not want to show their cards to the other side.
IF Caprica does get renewed I imagine they’re looking at a pretty significant rate cut due to ratings and I assume SyFy will wait until the last few episodes to even begin discussing how much they’re willing to pay.
It could be good but the writing on it as well as the premise is horrible. I loved BSG but the writing and stuff is not the same. On BSG, Joseph Adama was a Civil Rights lawyer who was supposed to a decent person and yet on Caprica he’s a mob mouthpiece who orders hits and people beaten up and bribes judges on a regular basis. The technology 50 years before the colonies was destroyed seems better than at the time they were destroyed. The one god cult in Caprica doesn’t make sense since in BSG it was revealed that only came about when the Final Five arrived at the time of the 1st Cylon war and did it in an attempt to try and diffuse the situation.
When do citizens allow their government to spend huge amounts on military stuff like the Cylons when there is not threat? The colonies were not at war and were united. The cylons were designed as nothing more than killing machines so who were they supposed to be killing?
I want to like the show but it seems that it has the same problem as Stargate Universe where the writers haven’t made ANY of the characters likable or rootable. Zoe is a spoiled brat so why should I feel sorry for her?
To me the actors are all good except for the one who plays Bill Adama – the only character that BSG fans might actually care about.
I still don’t know what the premise of the show is and I’ve watched every episode a couple of times.
Caprica is moving in such a slow pace its getting really lame. Maybe its cable’s version of FlashForward.
I am watching it because I heard James Marsters was coming on in March, but if it doesn’t get better when James job is done I am too.
This sort of reminds me of ABC’s mantra of “quiet success” when they gave lip-service to Eastwick.
On the other hand, SyFy is a cable channel and ratings that might otherwise sink a scripted show on a network channel might not effect Caprica. It really goes back to how much power the accountants wield.
Personally, I think the show has potential and with a stronger lead in (like repeats of Eureka or Warehouse 13) Caprica might find a larger audience. But what do I know?
Tom, I agree it is a complicated transaction. The result: renew or cancel is binary and easy, though, and so is looking at the ratings data.
Does anyone know how Caprica is faring internationally?
Dear, sweet Carol:
“On BSG, Joseph Adama was a Civil Rights lawyer who was supposed to a decent person and yet on Caprica he’s a mob mouthpiece who orders hits and people beaten up and bribes judges on a regular basis.”
It’s cute that you think the writers simply *forgot* about this, rather than allowing that the character may actually develop over time into something more admirable.
Personally, I’m enjoying the slow pace, much in the same way I enjoy a novel unfolding. The fact that people are complaining that not enough has happened when only THREE episodes have actually aired says more about the attention-span of viewers than the pace of the program.
If this show gets renewed, then they should bring back SGA and gurantee a 5 year deal for SGU. Since those shows pulled in much better numbers overall.
Stargate has always been more successful than BSG and now Caprica obviously. Stargate has a good rerun market hence the reruns of SGA and SG-1 still airing on SyFy.
@mockingbirdgirl
You are right. I can’t even understand how people who complain about the slow pace (after 3 frakking episodes)made it through the Battlestar pilot. It takes time to tell a good story and build up believable characters or atmosphere. Same thing could be said about the first season of Stargate Universe.
Even a fast paced show like Sons of Anarchy wouldn’t be half as good without it’s quiet moments.
MockingbirdGirl
A slow pace is fine once you have established where you are going. For example, Lost has a ridiculously slow pace (three seasons took place over about 100 days). However, there was always a general sense of direction and likable characters (or at least ones we could empathize with). Caprica has not done that. There is no real sense of direction besides we’re going to show the making of the Cylons. That is very anticlimactic and not all that interesting. There are certainly interesting themes hinted at, but they have not really been explored at all. Also, the characters range from crazy (who builds a robot daughter or goes on intergalactic TV and calls their dead daughter a terrorist?) to unlikable (Zoe). The only character I have any sympathy for is Lacey and the only character that is fun to watch is Joe Adama’s brother. My attention span is fine, but I have important things to do in my life besides watch TV. If you want me to watch you need to convince me to watch by the first 3 episodes or I’m gone (unless there are extenuating circumstances like a favorite actor or by a producer who made a show I love).
I’ve also seen some interviews with Ms. Torresani and “a real piece of work” is a mild way to describe her, half crazy (but in a good way) is a better description.
Do people not have any patience anymore? Jesus…It takes time for a show like this to build the characters.
Wasn’t Battlestar Galactica pulling similar numbers to Caprica around season 2? I recall it was barely over 1.5M viewers on Friday Nights.
Considering that SyFY is doing a split season and airing 10 now and 9 later this year, it wouldn’t surprise me that they would wait until the back 9 air before making a renewal decision.
I thought the first episode was mildly interesting, to a certain degree, but the last two episodes have been downright boring…almost to the point of being tedious to watch.
I really wish Syfy could have produced Virtuality instead of this…
@ Don J
BSG was pulling in around 1.7 Million viewers for live+SD. Atlantis was at 1.7 Million for their last 10 eps, SGU pulled in 1.9 Million for their first half, and Sanctuary ended with 1.5 Million, all on a live+SD basis. Caprica is averaging 1.4 Million on a Live+SD basis.
So Caprica is on the bottom of the pot, what makes matters worse, Caprica is more expensive to produce than all the above shows, except maybe BSG.
I don’t have an issue with the so-called slow pace. The pace is fine to me. The issue is that none of the characters is really likable and I actually like most of the actors. I enjoy watching Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz.
I don’t care if they evolve Joseph Adama or not. That’s not the issue. The issue is that even if the character does “evolve” he’ll still be unlikable and nothing but a murderer an mob mouthpiece. Even if he quits bribing judges in 20 years, the fact that he does on a regular basis now makes his so-called love of the law a joke.
The characters are defined – that is the problem. They’ve defined them to be unlikable. The only and I mean only character that I have ANY sympathy at all for is Lacey.
I don’t understand why the writers don’t understand that the viewers need at least some characters on a show that are likable for them to continue watching.
I really don’t get why they didn’t give Caprica a lead in show and are showing it at 9am considering the violent content and subject matter. It should be shown at 10pm and it should have a lead-in. They then have it be the lead in for repeats of Warehouse 13 which was stupid.
I liked the start of the pilot, then it got bored, and in the end it got exciting!
I have loved episodes 2 and 3, and I believe the show has a lot of potential. BSG, is my #1 favorite show, and I can’t honestly understand why people can’t get this is NOT the same show. It’s a different and more big one (in storylines).
LOL – she looks like she’s 12 in that photo (but perhaps that is the target demographic *g*)
@Don J
“Do people not have any patience anymore? Jesus…It takes time for a show like this to build the characters.”
I don’t buy that for a second – its an excuse. If you can’t define interesting characters in the first 10 minutes you never will.
Using hours and hours to show what happens to them is not building characters, thats – if you are lucky, evolution of characters.