Thanks to our fascination with movies, TV and all things celebrity-related, most of us know how the TV production process works. Based a strong pitch or pilot episode, a network agrees to buy a certain number of episodes which they promote, air and sell commercial time for. And as is often the case, a show can have a rabid fan base and be a critics darling, but if it doesn't stack up in the ratings (the measurement used to show viewership and decide how much commercial time costs) it's canceled by the network and disappears forever. Or does it? Syndication often brings new life and invigorated audiences to canceled shows. That's precisely how Star Trek evolved from a poorly rated TV sci-fi series to 11 motion pictures, 5 new televisions shows (including a Saturday morning cartoon) thousands of books, magazines and comics. Now the combination of reruns and DVD sales are showing networks that "cult classics" can deliver an audience given time and exposure.
Family Guy was the first series to have been given a second life based on DVD sales. FOX first canceled the poorly rated series in 2000. It brought it back briefly only to cancel it again in 2002. Then it was given a third life in 2005. Now with new episodes airing on FOX, syndicated runs on multiple networks and DVD sales, the show that could not find an audience won't go away.
Futurama was Matt Groening's follow up to his hit, The Simpsons. But due to FOX's penchant for pre-emting the show, moving it in the schedule and airing new episodes erratically, its ratings dropped from 19 million viewers to 6.5 over three years. Is there a lesson to be learned here? Not by any network I know. Presciently, Groening began shopping the series around before FOX finally dropped the ax. In 2002 the episodes were picked up by Cartoon Network for it's late night Adult Swim program block. In 2005 Comedy Central boldly purchased the syndication rights to the series to begin running after Cartoon Networks contract expired in 2008. They also began producing three straight to DVD films. Now Comedy Central has announced that it has purchased 26 new episodes of Futurama to begin airing in 2010. Now that's what I call network support!
So, the next time your favorite critically acclaimed ratings victim gets canceled (you hear me Pushing Daisies and Samantha Who?) just keep your hopes high and your eyes open. Because these days, cancelation does not necessarily mean the end.
