All The Tropes

Only Barely Renewed: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Only Barely Renewed (view source)

Revision as of 21:21, 22 September 2019

87 bytes added ,  4 years ago
sorted the examples
VisualWikitext
(sorted the examples)
 
Line 9:
 
The opposite of [[Screwed by the Network]]: here, the network tries in vain to sustain a show that the audience just can't get into, instead of the other way around. Compare [[Adored by the Network]].
 
{{examples}}
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Spider-Girl]]''. This was barely renewed lots and lots of times, to the point of only dying after 130 issues. It has since had several restarts that get Only Barely Renewed for a little while, before being cancelled and the cycle starts anew.▼
** Ironically, ''[[Joe Quesada]]'' has had a lot to do with Spider-Girl getting to continue its run.▼
 
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'', which was a critical smash but was watched by roughly nobody, only barely got a second season—and then got a third season by an even slimmer margin—then finally, to no one's surprise, was gone. Fans still debate whether [[FOX]] deserves respect for sticking with a failing show for so long, or criticism for [[Screwed by the Network|not giving it much of a chance in the first place]].
** The first season won the Emmy for best comedy just before the back nine was ordered. It was nominated for the Emmy for season 2 and 3. That may have been the reason it hung on. In an outtake on the season 2 DVD David Cross goes on a long rant about how Fox should learn how to market an Emmy winning comedy. It is awesome.
* Both ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' on [[CBS]] and ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' on [[NBC]] only reluctantly got confirmed for third seasons at the last minute. Ditto ''[[Friday Night Lights (TV series)|Friday Night Lights]]'' for its second.
* ''[[Scrubs]]''. Seasons five through seven were only barely renewed by NBC, and generally wound up airing as a mid-season replacement. Season seven (intended to be the final season) was shortened by the writer's strike and aired out of order. ABC (who actually owns the series) stepped in and aired the eighth season (considered by most to be an improvement over six and seven), which officially wrapped up JD's storyline. So five seasons "on the bubble" between two networks.
** The eighth season was still [[Screwed by the Network]]. They continually changed up timeslots, showed new episodes back to back, rarely did re-runs of the new episodes and when they did, they ''weren't'' back to back, or they were out of order.
* The first season of ''[[Cheers]]'' was adored by the critics, but rated incredibly poorly (the first episode rated ''dead last'' in its timeslot). NBC stuck with it anyway, and following its surprise success at the Emmys, the ratings immediately picked up, and up and up.
Line 24 ⟶ 29:
* The last season of ''[[Charmed]]''. Not only did they have to undo the ending of the previous season, which could have been a final ending, but budget restrictions meant not being able to have Leo in most of the episodes.
* Both the fourth and fifth seasons of ''[[The Wire]]'' barely happened. The fifth possibly only because the creator wrapped up the series and delivered a shorter season.
* The original ''[[Star Trek]]'' gotis said to have received a third season only because of a massive letter writing campaign; but the third season is not considered that great by many fans. Forty years later, ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' barely got a fourth season because the show runners convinced the studio that they could do it cheaply; in fact the eventual series finale was originally written to cap the third season. Fans tremendously approved the final season—includingseason — including many who feel it actually [[Growing the Beard|grew its beard]] that season, too late to be saved.▼
* ''[[Justice League]]'' and ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' were the patron saints of this trope. Season one sparked some fears that the show was weaker than what the shows spun off of, largely because they ignored the canon of the [[Batman]] and [[Superman]] animated series that preceded them. At the end, they re-worked the show to reflect that canon better and felt that this was their swan song, so wrapped up with a big three-part season finale where they blew everything up. Then they got the call that they were renewed for another season and retooled the show into ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''. The producers thought that this would be their last great story and wrapped up dangling threads from ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' as well as some in the previous ''[[Justice League]]'', capping it off with a [[Fully-Absorbed Finale]] with ''[[Batman Beyond]]''. Then they got the call that the series was so good (hands down the best of the entire DCAU) that they got one more season and the final finale was strong enough that fans think it deserved more. The show was basically '''Only Barely Renewed''' for three seasons and is considered one of the best shows in [[Western Animation]]!▼
▲* The original ''[[Star Trek]]'' got a third season only because of a massive letter writing campaign; but the third season is not considered that great by many fans. Forty years later, ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' barely got a fourth season because the show runners convinced the studio that they could do it cheaply; in fact the eventual series finale was originally written to cap the third season. Fans tremendously approved the final season—including many who feel it actually [[Growing the Beard|grew its beard]] that season, too late to be saved.
▲* ''[[Spider-Girl]]''. This was barely renewed lots and lots of times, to the point of only dying after 130 issues. It has since had several restarts that get Only Barely Renewed for a little while, before being cancelled and the cycle starts anew.
▲** Ironically, ''[[Joe Quesada]]'' has had a lot to do with Spider-Girl getting to continue its run.
* [[Adult Swim]]'s truly [[Dada Comics|bizarre]] ''[[Xavier: Renegade Angel]]'' somehow has a second season.▼
* All evidence indicated ''[[Dollhouse]]'' wouldn't get a second season—poor ratings, lukewarm critical reception until halfway through the season, Fox's decision not to air the planned season finale (it was released on the DVD), [[The Firefly Effect|the fact that it was a Whedon/Minear production on Fox]], and so on. It got renewed anyway; but the second season was the last.
** The second season was mostly because the execs were [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know they'd get complaints if they canceled it.
Line 34 ⟶ 35:
* The only reason the remake of ''[[V-2009|V]]'' got a second season was because all of the other new dramas on ABC that year bombed.
** ABC later cut the order to just 10 episodes.
* ''[[CSI: NY]]'' seems to have been this for season 8. It wasn't confirmed as renewed until the last possible moment and got 18 episodes for season 8. Season 9 was even closer-; CBS said it was very close as to whether to renew it or ''[[CSI: Miami]]''. Ultimately, it came down to ''CSI: NY'' being cheaper to produce and wanting to use it to help with a night of New York themed shows.▼
* ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'' got a third season. However, it only consisted of 6 episodes, and was quickly burned off.▼
* ''[[Nikita]]'' was the lowest rated show on the CW for most of it's second season, it got renewed regardless, it's rumoured to be because of international sales.▼
* In a video game example, there's Tony Hawk's Shred. Its predecessor Ride sold very badly because of its insistence on a skateboard peripheral that didn't work properly. People didn't think Activision would bother with a sequel after this debacle, especially because competition from EA's Skate series was making the series look tired. Somehow, the series did get renewed for Ride's sequel Shred which ignored fan demand not to use the skateboard peripheral, and the series is on its last legs as a result.▼
▲* ''[[CSI: NY]]'' seems to have been this for season 8. It wasn't confirmed as renewed until the last possible moment and got 18 episodes for season 8. Season 9 was even closer-CBS said it was very close as to whether to renew it or ''[[CSI: Miami]]''. Ultimately, it came down to CSI NY being cheaper to produce and wanting to use it to help with a night of New York themed shows.
▲* [[Nikita]] was the lowest rated show on the CW for most of it's second season, it got renewed regardless, it's rumoured to be because of international sales.
* ''[[Community]]'' got renewed for the fourth season despite lukewarm ratings from the third season. Catch is, it only got a half season's worth of episodes ordered....[[Friday Night Death Slot|and will be moved to Friday nights with a lead-in consisting of Whitney.]] Huzzah?
 
== Video Games ==
▲* In a video game example, there's 'Tony Hawk's Shred''. Its predecessor ''Ride'' sold very badly because of its insistence on a skateboard peripheral that didn't work properly. People didn't think Activision would bother with a sequel after this debacle, especially because competition from EA's Skate series was making the series look tired. Somehow, the series did get renewed for ''Ride''{{'}}s sequel ''Shred'' which ignored fan demand not to use the skateboard peripheral, and the series is on its last legs as a result.
 
== Western Animation ==
▲* ''[[Justice League]] (animation)|''Justice League'' and ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'']] were the patron saints of this trope. Season one sparked some fears that the show was weaker than what the shows spun off of, largely because they ignored the canon of the [[Batman]] and [[Superman]] animated series that preceded them. At the end, they re-worked the show to reflect that canon better and felt that this was their swan song, so wrapped up with a big three-part season finale where they blew everything up. Then they got the call that they were renewed for another season and retooled the show into ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''. The producers thought that this would be their last great story and wrapped up dangling threads from ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' as well as some in the previous ''[[Justice League]]'', capping it off with a [[Fully-Absorbed Finale]] with ''[[Batman Beyond]]''. Then they got the call that the series was so good (hands down the best of the entire DCAU) that they got one more season and the final finale was strong enough that fans think it deserved more. The show was basically '''Only Barely Renewed''' for three seasons and is considered one of the best shows in [[Western Animation]]!
▲* [[Adult Swim]]'s truly [[Dada Comics|bizarre]] ''[[Xavier: Renegade Angel]]'' somehow has a second season.
▲* ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'' got a third season. However, it only consisted of 6 episodes, and was quickly burned off.
 
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Show Business]]
[[Category:Television]]
[[Category:Only Barely Renewed{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Examples Need Sorting]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1727928"