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Day One downgraded again: NBC now just doing a miniseries
Remember Day One, NBC's upcoming post-apocalyptic sci-fi series? Well, last time we looked, the network executives were backpedaling on the midseason show, suggesting that it was always intended as a limited series.
Well, I guess they weren't kidding: The news just broke that the network has cut the show from a 13-episode series to a four-hour miniseries instead, according to Variety:
Day One will still bow following the Winter Olympics, but will no longer run as a 13-episode series, as originally announced.Move is likely a cost-cutting measure, as NBC will be able to judge the performance of Day One's first four hours before deciding whether to proceed with a series.
For his part, creator/executive producer Jesse Alexander put a happy face on the development, tweeting: "Not as bad as it sounds."
NBC may still decide to proceed with a full series depending on how the miniseries does; at least so they say. Last time that worked out well for viewers was when Syfy turned the Battlestar Galactica miniseries into the Peabody- and Emmy-winning show it became.
There must be something in the water: This news breaks as ABC recently announced it would halt production on its own sci-fi show V and air its first four episodes before taking a break.
Two hours of Day One have already been shot. Alexander is now readying the second two hours to wrap up some storylines while leaving a few loose threads open for a potential series.
By wab1701 at 7:19 PM ON 10/01/09
My confidence in NBC has waned over the last several years. For a long time it was the only station I watched TV on. After the Heroes debacle and the fact that shows are getting cancelled left and right, I don't know where I'll end up, but that trailer was pretty damn awesome. All it takes is character development and story arcs to get me hooked. Hopefully the mini will do well and spur on the full order.
By atndoav at 7:21 PM ON 10/01/09
I don't know anything about this show but the news about V is very disheartening. I was really looking forward to that show. There's so little good sci-fi left on television....
By tgwaste at 7:43 PM ON 10/01/09
agreed. i was looking forward to V most of all this season.
By Brian at 7:51 PM ON 10/01/09
Makes a heck of a lot of sense to make sure people are actually going to be interested in a television series before paying for more than four episodes.
By CRDFilm at 8:18 PM ON 10/01/09
It just proves yet again that you can't expect new and interesting sci-fi/fantasy series from a major network. Someone ought to invest in a channel that specifically caters to this genre of television show...oh, wait, someone did but between reality programs, Grade Z TV movies and wrestling, quality sci-fi/fantasy content is hard to find anymore.
By Gill Avila at 8:40 PM ON 10/01/09
A mini-series works for me. If it's good it can be profitable on DVD. High ratings will not guarantee future quality. It would just turn into another night-time soap opera.
By lfhlaw at 9:03 PM ON 10/01/09
One of the nicer things might be that NBC could always try to move one or both programs to its sister station, Syfy(God I still hate that), if they felt the General population just wouldn't follow it well enough.
If one had to fail and go, I'd take Day One, only because I think it would have enough Drama and be a change of pace for the Sci-fi Channel. But that's my opinion.
By Dr.Wily at 9:31 PM ON 10/01/09
the major networks should just stop trying to show scifi cause these kind of shows will never produce the kind of ratings that will satisfy them, BSG would've probably gotten cancelled if it was on NBC instead of SyFy
By CRDFilm at 9:45 PM ON 10/01/09
NBC did try to run a few episodes of BSG to drum up viewership but the ratings were terrible.
By kev74 at 10:33 PM ON 10/01/09
Let's face it, the major networks hate Sci-Fi shows.
By Kyle at 1:01 AM ON 10/02/09
@CRDFilm thats because NBC cut the miniseries down to 3 hours (with ads) and played it on Saturday after it had aired on SCI FI a year earlier.
By intersect at 2:08 AM ON 10/02/09
I had such optimism for 2010... now, they're canceling the good sci-fi shows before they even air... i know what we really all want another hour of Jay Leno at say 8 or 9, or how about all day! *sigh* /looks for a good book to read
By Rayvyn at 2:56 AM ON 10/02/09
Wow
That looks truly God-awful. I sincerely hope those special effects are not the finished product. Even for TV that's bad. I could do better with After Effects and an uninterrupted afternoon. Poor effects completely remove me from a narrative. And neither the dialogue verbiage nor the delivery helps combat that. NBC needs a serious corporate overhaul. They should have taken whatever money they wasted on this and put it into Chuck, move it to 9pm, and cancel Heroes altogether.
By gorehound696 at 8:03 AM ON 10/02/09
i still remember when all 3 scifis were cancelled in one year.surface,invasion and threshold.
i dont watch remakes so i dont care about V but i was looking forward to new scifi.
big networks can suck
By DarkHawke at 8:51 AM ON 10/02/09
Well, that preview looks one HELL of a lot better than the ones for V, and it seems at least as intriguing as the whole first hour of FlashForward. It'd be nice if one of the Big Four really went to the mat for an SF show like they do for soooo much of the dross that passed off as entertainment these days. Dittos to CDRFilm; yeah, I too wonder what would happen if someone tried to start a network that was truly devoted to quality SF programming. Somebody should try that one of these days.
By Photoprinter at 10:32 AM ON 10/02/09
Looks like a cross between The Stand, and The Day After. Anybody notice that two people are standing in a blown up city, and they are talking on cell phones? Get real! All the buildings are gone, but cell towers are still working? I may still watch it though, just for the laugh factor.
By Itsnotsnotitsnot at 11:31 AM ON 10/02/09
@I too wonder what would happen if someone tried to start a network that was truly devoted to quality SF programming. Somebody should try that one of these days.
Umm, yeah, someone did try that, and it failed miserably. There isn't a large enough audience for Scifi like there is for say CSI clones.
You should be happy the Networks bother putting on any Scifi at all.
By Bunny at 12:37 PM ON 10/02/09
When will people learn? When you try to put SCI FI on NBC, ABC, or CBS... it just never seems to pan out. (with the exception of LOST) How many fabulous shows have come and gone without any resolution? Now we have FlashForward, and although I like the show, I don't have the confidence that it will make it past the alloted first season episodes. "sigh"
By scifire at 3:42 PM ON 10/02/09
I guess pretty soon, all I am going to have to watch as far as Science Fiction goes is my DVD's of Lost in Space and SPACE:1999. It's a shame you have to turn the clock back to enjoy some sci-fi today!
Where oh where is our backbone in the sci-fi genre today?
By Methos at 3:47 PM ON 10/02/09
What are they looking at?
By Jack at 3:03 PM ON 10/05/09
Well, yes, what are they looking at? Apparently if you look in one direction it's so horrifying as to stun you, while if you look in another direction it's mildly bemusing. Useful picture, though, since now I finally know what a slack-jawed expression actually looks like.
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Jack:
Well, yes, what are they looking at? Apparently if you look in one direction it's so horrifying as to stun you, wh...More »