The CW's demographic are women -- which is going to be further strengthened when Smallville goes off the air. Remember also, The CW's "guy-centric" genre shows (which is pretty much Smallville, Supernatural and to a lesser extent Nikita) get pretty poor ratings, while historically, their "female-centric" shows are their biggest hits (Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Top Model). There are always exceptions of course, like the 5 or 10 people you know that watch the CW shows and Firefly, but that (and others like them) doesn't represent even 10 percent of The CW's audience. It sucks, but it's true, believe me--I worked for The CW for 4 years.
There is a difference between your target demographic and saying that a "guy centric" show couldn't make it on that network. The CW is going after a target audience. That doesn't mean that a show that is "guy centric" couldn't make it.
SyFy is another option. Not to mention that both TNT and the USA network approached Joss about a new show and he basically told them he was too busy. So, it's not like if the CW wouldn't be willing to take on another genre show Joss wouldn't have options. The CW isn't the only game in town.
Again, the question is "could it survive" on a smaller network? I still don't see why not.
It's interesting that you bring up UPN and Buffy. While on the WB, it was a terrific show (and was also a female-centric show). Also one of it's highest rated--which for The WB isn't saying much. A high rated show on the CW or The WB is a poorly rated show on Fox or ABC. When it switched over to UPN, the quality dipped BIG TIME. Those last 2 seasons were the worst of the series. The final season at UPN showed the show's worst ratings in its run, and no surprise there since UPN wasn't a good network at all. And what had really happened by that time wasn't up to UPN. The studio that produced the show, Warner Bros., felt the show had reached it's peak and did nothing more to help it.
Not entirely true. The last season was the worst at 3.6 million viewers but only 100,000 off from it's debut season which was OK in the WB's eyes or they would not have picked up the show. The first season at UPN was the best ratings in 2 years at 4.6 million.
Glad you brought up those other shows. Your indicating that 3.6 million viewers is bad.....yet the last season of Buffy on UPN still averaged the same number of views as the WB's "hit" the Vampire Diaries. That last season averaged more then Supernatural, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and Top Model(last 2 seasons).
Using the WB's ratings standards, Buffy did just fine on UPN. Using WB's rating standards they would LOVE to have a show like Firefly pulling in 4.7 million which would trump anything in their current lineup. I can't argue that the CW is not currently targeting "guys" but I would imagine if some show dropped in their lap that could average that many viewers they would at least think about it.
WB completely aside, among genre shows...Firefly ratings were good by any small network or smaller cable network standards.
I also disagree with the quality statement on Buffy the last 2 seasons (which I think your a little biased)
. I watched that show and noticed no drop off in quality. I like everyone else was feeling like the show had run it's course. My wife who was a die hard fan was even ready for it to end when it did as well.
Really, and I think we all agree on this, Fox killed Firefly almost single-handedly. Because the ratings weren't up to snuff on such an ensemble genre piece, Warner Bros. wasn't going to insist on another network to pick it up. I do wonder that if Serenity had done better in the theater if that would have resurrected the series. Probably not, since a few of the major characters actually died in the film. I'm almost certain that a good showing at the box office would have merited more films, but since that didn't happen, the series died.
Agreed. Though I think Joss making the movie was more about giving closure to fans than really saving the show. In fact, Universal made him make changes to the original script to make it accessible to a wider audience.
Oh and as far as SyFy, Haven is a brand-new show and Warehouse 13 isn't that good at all. Eureka is ok, but nothing groundbreaking. Battlestar and Sanctuary are the only two shows worth anything. But they also have Being Human, Caprica and all their terrible reality shows. Not to mention some of the worst tv movies you'll ever see. A clever title doesn't make a good movie or mini-series.
You won't hear me argue about some of their programming choices like their original movies. However, please don't put Sanctuary in the same sentence at BSG. That show is ultra campy at times, has horrid FX and is only averaging 2.7 million viewers. Amanda Tapping has a horrid accent and there is overacting galore. Eureka has equal ratings and is a superior show. Not to mention that I stopped watching Sanctuary this past season and now I am still watching Warehouse 13 which has OK ratings but is better IMO then Sanctuary.
I know it comes down to personal preference but when SuperNatural, Smallville are done, there will only be one show worth watching on that network. Syfy's shows are getting equal ratings and will have a better lineup IMO.
