Season Two Delay

[Lyta]

I just receieved word from Scott Mitchell Rosenberg (Jeremiah Executive Producer and Platinum Studios Chairman) with this information:

I’m happy that our numbers keep growing. As we head toward the Jeremiah 2003 season finale (November 7th), our viewers are growing in numbers with each episode including an over 50% increase in its time slot from… even the premiere.

We don’t have a date yet for Jeremiah’s 2004 season, but it’ll be at least 8 episodes, and I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

Thanks all, and I appreciate any support you can give. We want our 2004 season to start as soon as possible!!!

We have more information from Mr. Rosenberg for the two upcoming episodes this Friday posted on our forums and will remain in close contact with him as things continue develop.

Faith manages.

[Jan]

To say I'm angry about this would be an understatement of biblical proportions.

Thanks for keeping us up to date with the information, Lyta!

Jan

[Jan]

I've been looking around and found this address for Showtime (as well as Flix and The Movie Channel):

1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

I plan to write an exquisitely polite letter letting them know exactly why I'm a soon-to-be former subscriber. I let them string me along while they delayed Season Two over and over but I'm not going to let this pass uncommented on.

"Faith Manages" but "I always say you can get more with a kind word and a two-by-four than you can with just a kind word."

Jan

[Lyta]

Originally posted by Jan
I've been looking around and found this address for Showtime (as well as Flix and The Movie Channel):

1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

More contact info has been posted at:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/echo/viewtopic.php?t=534

Just a warning that it may be outdated but if you give us until the weekend to come up with a game plan, we might have more info for you then. Stay tuned! :)

[Lyta]

As you may already know, Showtime has cut short Jeremiah's second season from 15 episodes to a measly 7, and doubled up at the end to make the second-season run less than one month. The kicker is, of course, that all 15 episodes are in the can already and not one more dime needs to be spent to make them see the light of day.

This nasty treatment, of course, screams "future cancellation" to the folks at THE ABYSS, so we'd like to nip this in the bud before it actually happens and give a boost to the show -- which, while not always Shakespeare, is at least one of the most original things happening in genre media's current love affair with latex-and-gore extravaganzas.

We need to make as much public noise as possible to make a Jeremiah-sized dent in the Showtime January schedule. We have a huge list of emails, web sites and mailing addresses for you to peruse. There is even a few easy clickable email links and a suggested letter copy to send along to Showtime, MGM and SciFi Channel.

We need to act quickly and show a strong show of force so in order to help that along, we have started a new promotion on the web site. All you have to do is forward, copy or send us an email to jeremiah@hubbe.net in regards to our campaign.

Please let me know if there is anything else we should be doing or if you want to donate to the cause. I am going to figure out how to pay for all the prizes later. ;)

For more information, visit:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/excl/buzz.html
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/excl/promos.html

PS: If anyone is willing to provide me new S2 episodes (beyond episode #2.07) from the Canadian premium channels, please contact me!

[Lyta]

We are starting to get some news coverage about the campaign so this is exciting! Remember, quality and quantity matter. Be polite and thank people who respond to your emails/phone calls as well as any sites that give us coverage. :)

I just got off the phone with Ken at IGN Filmforce who should be putting out a story tomorrow morning. Watch for it!

Finally, Rob Worley (RobWorley@comics2film.com) from Comics2Film put this out in his newsletter tonight:

'Jeremiah' fans creating a buzz
--------------------------------
Showtime is cutting the second season of 'Jeremiah' short and fans are massing to voice their displeasure. When will the eight, unseen episodes air next? Fans are looking to convince Showtime that Jeremiah they want the show to continue. November is crucial!

Click for details on how you can help build the buzz!

Full Article: http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=4171
Date: 11.06.03
Veracity: High - This news is as solid as it gets

[Lyta]

Well, I seem to be having a conversation by myself but here goes anyway. :p

A full listing of our press coverage has been posted here:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/excl/buzz.html#coverage

The coverage has been amazing and very supportive as well.

A press release has been issued from Platinum Studios with exciting news from Sean Astin and Scott Rosenberg:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/excl/pr-110803.txt

[sdfain]

your not having a conversation with yourself..i just couldn't post for some reason...
i sent a letter and an email to all the people at showtime you listed on your site...and sent a copy to your site address as well..... on another note


i finally got to watch what i guess is the final episodes of season 2 last night.....WOW!!
"the mysterious mister smith" was one of the best episodes of television i have ever seen...the other one was great too....what a nasty thing to do to us fans to leave us hanging after those two episodes...
hopefully they will not wait too long to air them and i REALLY hope this won't keep them from releasing Season 2 on DVD

[Lyta]

Thanks for the letters!

I know. It was a nasty place to leave us hanging and it's gonna kill me to not read ahead in the series! :o

Let's hope more episodes air in Jan 2004. :D

[sdfain]

no problem

if there is anything i can do to help the campaign just let me know....i have lots of free time so any help you need just consider it done

my email is sdfain@yahoo.com

[Lyta]

Gosh, mostly getting people to send an email in or contacting Showtime and MGM somehow. I will send your email to one of our campaign co-ordinators and see what they suggest for you. :)

Talking about the show will help too so if there are discussions going on somewhere we need to know.

BTW, a little off topic but certainly relevant to the forum ... here is a great interview with Sean Astin by Frank Garcia that
was published in this week's SciFi Wire.

http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue342/interview2.html

[vorpalchipmunk]

Do we have confirmation that the Canadian channel is continuing Jeremiah?

I would have thought Showtime had first run rights (due to being the main $ backer).

If not, I need to hook up with a Canadian, and get me some bootlegs. :shakes fist at Showtime:

[Lyta]

The remainder of season two is airing in Canada and CROSSING JORDAN is one of those must see episodes. Get your hands on it and then write to Showtime to get their act together. ;)

Showtime still has the first run rights in their market which is America. It does seem however that the Canadian channels moved their season two airdate when Showtime moved theirs so that was why we wondered if they would delay the season like Showtime did too. I am glad to see that they are not that stupid but I am also angry that I have to go to such means just to see this fantastic show.

Contact Showtime and MGM at:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/excl/buzz.html

[vorpalchipmunk]

Thank god for the internet. And Canada too I guess. Only took me 5 hours to d/l episode 8.

Libby's story in "Crossing Jordan" = grrrr

At the end of the episode, we almost had a Kosh. "It is too late for the pebbles to vote."

Damn Showtime. No continuing of Jeremiah on Showtime in January.

[Lyta]

I agree with your assesment and thought we were going to have a Kosh-ism too. ;) I am not sure how Doug wants to treat spoilers here but I would be careful as many people haven't had a chance to see it and it is one of those episodes that shouldn't be spoiled. It must be seen. :D

BTW, the latest rumor I have heard that the rest of s2 will air is March so that is probably the soonest they could fit in into their schedule. I forget how far ahead they plan these things. :(

[Corwin17]

>JOE HELP.....LET US KNOW IF THESE RUMORS ARE TRUE ABOUT JEREMIAH GOING OFF
>THE
>AIR AFTER EPISODE SEVEN????

This is the first I've heard of it. But there's a message floating around from Scott Rosenberg confirming it, that the 15 eps have been broken up in half, with 7 through November 7th, and the rest picking up early (I'm guessing January) 2004.

I haven't been told this by anyone directly (hardly surprising), but my *guess* would be that they're moving them out of the holiday season (Thanksgiving through Christmas). TV viewership goes way down during late November through January 1, and cable goes down even more. So if I had to hazard a guess at their reasoning, they're probably acting to protect their investment, rather than air the show at a time when nobody is watching, which would kill the ratings and the show.

jms

{ref: jms on USENET 10/31/2003} (http://www.jmsnews.com/scripts/MsgStore.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetMsg&List=1&Topic=3&Flags=1&Query=jeremiah&QFlags=1&ls=1&qs=1&qt=0)

From my own personal (only watching) experience, many shoes go into repeats/new-show-hiatus during the end of the year month(s) after sweeps. Jeremiah is not alone. Heck ... I'm still waiting for word on 'Dead Zone'!! Or did I miss some news? :confused:

Regards,

Corwin17

[DougO]

Originally posted by Lyta
I am not sure how Doug wants to treat spoilers here
Just use common sense, for example: No spoilers in the subject line. Depending on the severity of the spoiler, it would be polite to include "spoiler:" in the subject line and/or a spoiler warning in body of the post. You can try using light colored text, however that seems to have mixed results. Other suggestions welcome.

-DougO

[Bluelady]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Corwin17 ... I'm still waiting for word on 'Dead Zone'!! Or did I miss some news? :confus

Corwin17: According to one of fanzines;"Dead Zone" has been renewed for 13 more episodes beginning in March or June.Since this program is one of hubby's favorite, I hope it does well.

[Corwin17]

Originally posted by Bluelady
Corwin17: According to one of fanzines;"Dead Zone" has been renewed for 13 more episodes beginning in March or June.Since this program is one of hubby's favorite, I hope it does well.

Thanks for the info, BL.

NOTE: from my original post, change "many shoes" to "many shows"

Dang typo demons!!

:D :D

[Lyta]

Originally posted by Corwin17
From my own personal (only watching) experience, many shoes go into repeats/new-show-hiatus during the end of the year month(s) after sweeps. Jeremiah is not alone.

Thanks for reposting JMS' comments but frankly, those are old and he was only speculating about what was happening at the time. I have since had many conversations with an exec producer of the show and have gotten more concerning information from them and others involved with the show. They seemed pretty surprised when Showtime announced the "season finale" at episode #7. So, I started an email campaign because there seemed to be a need to make them aware of the show's popularity and fanbase. ;)

I also emailed JMS about the whole thing early on and while he basically told me the same thing he said publically, he also didn't think there was any harm done by letting Showtime know how we felt about the show.

Yes, shows go on hiatus all the time and come back later when the market is better for them but I really don't believe that was the case for Jeremiah. Showtime had been putting off the s2 premiere date all year and when they finally did air it, it was yanked from the schedule less than a month later. It just doesn't make sense to do that to a show that you support and are interested in having it be sucessful.

Jeremiah was following a parallel path that Odyssey 5 took which was cancelled even though it was one of the higher rated shows on the network and they still haven't shown the last 5 episodes. :(

Showtime were also the ones who let Stargate go after season 5 even though it was a highly rated show. It was picked up by the Sci Fi Channel for another two very successful seasons plus what looks like will be a spinoff soon too.

We are just going by what Showtime has done in the past which have not appeared to be very good moves.:rolleyes:

[Lyta]

Originally posted by DougO
Just use common sense, for example: No spoilers in the subject line. Depending on the severity of the spoiler, it would be polite to include "spoiler:" in the subject line and/or a spoiler warning in body of the post. You can try using light colored text, however that seems to have mixed results. Other suggestions welcome.

Hi Doug and thanks for the clarification. :)

I think your suggestions are good but I would suggest having spoiler space as well if you are going to talk about something important. Using light colored text might work too but a warning and spoiler space would be apprecitated. :)

Trying it out now ...
using light colored text to see how "hidden" it becomes...

I think people here should be very careful about what they say about certain key episodes (CROSSING JORDAN and THINGS LEFT UNSAID come to mind) but especially any episodes that haven't aired here in the States yet.

Too bad you don't have a "spoiler tag" here on your boards. :(

[Lyta]

Ok, last post for now ... just some news about when we might see the rest of season two on Showtime:

According to Platinum Studios' Scott Rosenberg, Showtime will be airing another eight episodes of Jeremiah early next year. The network had originally planned to show all 16 episodes of the second season in '03 (see "Jeremiah Renewed"), but stopped after eight. "With other cablers turning to 8 episode seasons, Showtime seems to be following suit," Rosenberg said. "There was a huge fan campaign ignited by this, culminating in Showtime saying yes to the next eight." The DVD release of the first season is due early next year.

The article has the number of episodes wrong as only 15 were commissioned for season two and Showtime stopped after episode #7. Stlil, the good news is that our campaign has been working but please still sending notes to encourage Showtime to announce an air date.

For more information, visit:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/3984.html
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/excl/buzz.html

[Ausir]

Well, Jeremiah is back on air...
I've just seen episode 9! :)

[Lyta]

Yes, it is on the air in Canada but not in America which is the main market for this show. If it doesn't suceed here in the States there will be no more Jeremiah, period.

At least the Canadian channels are not being as dense as Showtime so I can still see the rest of the season even if I have to download the episodes. I see you are in Poland so you must have downloaded it off the 'net too. :p

[Ausir]

Well, I have no other option - the chance for Jeremiah in any Polish TV stations are almost equal to 0.