Drive on FOX

[Vallikat]

Meanwhile on the Drive forums there are already cancellation rumors and threads devoted to saving the show. Evidently the ratings are terrible.

[Otori]

I guess racist was probably the wrong choice of words. I suppose stereotyping is what I meant.

As for the acting, I guess I half expect the actors in Heroes to have lots of longing stares and a fair amount of cheesiness, as I believe the director is attempting to give the show a feel of comic book panels....to some extent. Either way, it's probably just a matter of taste. I'm still enjoying Drive, I guess it just feels a bit rushed.....excuse the pun

[Tarryk]

I forgot to add that I'd actually take you up on the Lost thing, but I'm going to be watching season 1 relatively soon here, so long as Netflix has it on the Watch Now's, I have a few hours left this month, so I'll at least give the pilot + 3 a shot. I haven't been really avoiding it, per se, just not really interested in the concept, especially since hearing about it's downfall when the writers supposedly couldn't think up any legitimate answers to all the mysteries they started the series with. Kinda ruined it for me.

As for Drive, I can see where you're coming from. It DOES feel rushed, the character developement comes in very short spurts, and it is unfortunate, but I know exactly why Tim Minear did it that way. It's Fox, and Tim managed to create a great show with perfect character developement in Firefly, and Fox blew it out of the water, then they cancelled it completely when he and Joss tried to "up the pace" for them without ruining the characters.

So now he's trying to make Drive with less characterization and more action-packed insanity to appease the couch-potato ignoramus masses that Fox primarily caters to with most of their content. And, frankly, people still aren't watching it, because the average viewer in Fox's target demographic gets confused when you tell them pickles were once cucumbers; and they change the channel whenever a character goes into any kind of necessary exposition.

But I tend to forcably see through the layers of mindless action-dramedy into the story that Tim's really trying to tell, and the fact that it's NOT contrived (he actually does know exactly where he's going with each major plot twist and exposition clue), hence my early fanboism over the series, I'm sure... since I'd REALLY like to know what the hell is going on, haha!

[Cryonic]

So now he's trying to make Drive with less characterization and more action-packed insanity to appease the couch-potato ignoramus masses that Fox primarily caters to with most of their content. And, frankly, people still aren't watching it, because the average viewer in Fox's target demographic gets confused when you tell them pickles were once cucumbers; and they change the channel whenever a character goes into any kind of necessary exposition.

Nicely put TK.

I need to find a way to watch this show, currently the station that airs it locally puts it on sometime on Friday nights and I am not always home on Fridays (and do not have an operating recording device). I can't watch it on Myspace as that service is only available in the US.


Cry.

[Firia]

the acting is top-notch, especially compared to most other contemporary series (BattleStar and Heroes keep coming to mind).

hey! heyhey hey!
You say what you will about Lost, Drive, or Heros,
But you leave my Battlestar Galactica out of this!

[Meenstreek]

the acting is top-notch, especially compared to most other contemporary series (BattleStar and Heroes keep coming to mind).

hey! heyhey hey!
You say what you will about Lost, Drive, or Heros,
But you leave my Battlestar Galactica out of this!

*agrees with Firia* You don't want to start a brawl now do ya?

[Vallikat]

Don't start re-arranging your Monday night schedule just yet:

Drive is Cancelled

According to the Drive website the final 2 episodes will air this summer.

[Otori]

so I'll at least give the pilot + 3 a shot. I haven't been really avoiding it, per se, just not really interested in the concept, especially since hearing about it's downfall when the writers supposedly couldn't think up any legitimate answers to all the mysteries they started the series with. Kinda ruined it for me.

That's probably pretty mainstream media that wrote that way. They started pointing to the X-Files "fade-out instead of burn-out" exit, and the anti-climatic Twin Peaks fiasco. Lost doesn't really START with any mysteries at all, it all seems quite plain actually. Things develop at a very appetizing pace through the first season, with what is argued as the best season cliff-hanger eveh. Season 2 has lots of ups and downs, with another incredible season finale. Season 3 once again started out fairly slow, and is now in a fantastic spiral toward the finale. Season 4 has already been renewed for a full 23 or 24 epsiode stint, with Season 5 rumored to all ready be in the writing stages.

The rumors of the producers "making it up as they go along" has long been dispelled. Questions ARE answered as new ones are brought into play. Theorys abound from so many different genres, I could not even begin to elaborate. The characters all have thier place in the story and the attention to detail is astounding. I'm a little afraid that the pilot +3 may not give you a good perspective, but it should whet your appetite.

I'm sad to see the news about Drive...alot of potential that will probably never be realized.

[Tarryk]

Regarding Lost: I'll watch it for sure.

Regarding Drive: One of the greatest shows I've ever seen.

Regarding FoxTV: Rant time. Stop reading now, the rest of this post is just me venting hot air.

FoxTV's current head staff is THE single topmost DUMBEST executive board in the entirety of entertainment media, on EVERY conceivable level. I will not bend from that opinion ever, so anyone with words might as well keep them, because my close-minded appraisal of their potential has been forced upwards to match and surpass their own.

My interest in Drive has dropped to zero now. Not because it wasn't a great show, it WAS great -- one of THE greatest I've ever seen -- but because I cannot allow myself the frusteration anymore, it's just a symphony of angst playing to a crowd of zero. FoxTV has single-handedly killed my will to accept any possibility of enjoying anything they ever produce, ever again. I will no longer accept that those blundering morons ever had anything to do with Firefly, and I will not watch another show on their network. No, not even if they bring back Firefly. Mark my words on that one.

So as my fandom dies, it's replaced by my now-biggest issue: The fact that there's nothing I can say or do that Fox will ever hear or care about. Entire fan bases will not resurrect Drive like they did with Firefly, because it's too young at it's cancellation point. Next to no-one knows about it yet, so it's doomed to the void.

I could now go into all the empty crap that people are currently spewing all over the Drive-based forums on the internet about how FoxTV habitually cancels intelligent television, and the only eyes/ears it will reach are two polarized opposites: those who agree, and those who are idiots. We've seen it posted a million times before and exampled just as often, and they don't listen or care. It will never reach a single ear/eye of anyone who can (or cares to) make a difference, so frankly, it no longer needs to be said.

So this is just to empty my chest and get some sleep tonight after the crap day at work that I've had, I'll finish by saying that the only way any remotely positive difference could ever be made on that disgusting, far-right conservative-biased, intellectually offensive, s#*tpile of a media company would be for some elevated being to eliminate their entire executive staff simultaneously and somehow replace them with more capable leaders (retarded pigeons, for example).

Since that's not likely to ever happen, the only thing one has left to do in regards to them is vent like wasted air through dead lungs, reaching nothing and accomplishing nothing. Which is why I told you not to read this.

There. Texted data wasted. FoxTV can go die.

[Meenstreek]

Well holy sh!t....did I call it or did I call it?

F#@! YOU FOX!!!

[Fishi3]

TK I think the entire retarded pidgeon population have become fans of yours. Finally someone has cast a posative light on their sad, miserable existance. They now have a future as Fox executives. They could hardly do a worse job.

I've talked with people about why Fox routinely cancels anything good and the industry insider view is that Fox is heavy on internal politics and low on common sense. Basically Fox is a shark pool and the shows are minnows.

[Firia]

Tis why I won't watch Fox anymore. I've already had my days of like minded Fox Rants. Hell, they brought back Family Guy (unless they canned it again), and I still catch it on occation on Cartoon Networks' Adult Swim over Fox.

[Cryonic]

For those of us who live outside of the US and cannot see it either on Fox or through Myspace here is another link:

http://www.tv-links.co.uk/


Cry,

[pocketfluff]

FoxTV habitually cancels intelligent television

Agreed.

But isn't that a representation of the audience rather than of Fox's executives? I don't know exactly what determines the longevity of a show (be it ratings, internal politics, etc) but I imagine it depends on a cost/ratings analysis.

For instance, the last show I watched on Fox was Arrested Development. Three whole (brilliant) seasons and the show failed to garner a sizeable audience. For that, I blame nobody but the people for tuning into some 'American Idol' crap or its counterpart on another network. For a cast as large as Arrested Development's was, the show must have been hemorrhaging resources - can't blame Fox for making a sound business decision.

[Tarryk]

I thought that might be the case at one point too, pocket, but it's really not at all. Arrested Developement never once lost money, nor has nearly any other TV series. The money gained back through paid commercials and the ratings acquired by the station overall have ALWAYS cause an increase in revenue. At no point do any of the current networks "lose" money.

The question is simply how much they gain, and that can only be determined through the cost-per-point of commercials, which is determined by the ratings of the time slot. Most networks are fully aware that some of the most brilliant shows ever made needed to be nurtured for at least a half- or full-season, during which time ratings would be relatively poor, but budget could still be allocated until such time as a regular viewing audience can be obtained and ratings can begin to go up through the power of like-minds and word-of-mouth, and in the meantime they STILL gain revenue. It's not like ad agencies are going to stop buying the slots just because they slipped a couple points, they're still effectively advertising to MILLIONS of people. They know this so they still buy and the network still gets paid PLENTY.

FuxTV, however, does not believe in this philosophy (because they are morons), which is probably why they can never be the #1 network in the US. They internally struggle constantly for the "fast food" approach to television media, employing the same tired and decrepit techniques of entertainment that were used at the dawn of television: hook 'em instantly or cut bait. If the ratings don't instantaneously explode across the board and launch Fox into a short-lived glory at the #1 position in a single time slot by the first or second episode of a new series, they immediately cancel primary promoting for the show, weigh in their personal appreciation for the creator (Tim Minear doesn't exactly have the keenest things to say about those he's contracted to), and ultimately/often decide to let it die while they do research on something that will hit big, like "Are FoxTV Execs Dumber Than Retarded Pigeons", Wednesdays at 7/8c.

[Vallikat]

What I can't understand is why they would not even give it half a chance. The ratings were bad, but they didn't do anything to try to improve them. They didn't try another timeslot or a different promotional approach. They just cancelled it. It was almost like it was set-up to fail. I mean honestly if they had such little confidence in it that they wouldn't do anything to help it along, then why even bother putting it on in the first place?