Tonight, FOX is airing the season finale of Terra Nova, the network’s latest foray into science fiction. Does the TV series have a chance at returning for a second season or will it be cancelled instead?
On Terra Nova, our planet has been over-developed and is overcrowded. Mankind’s only chance for survival is to make use of a newly discovered fracture in time and try to colonize pre-historic Earth. The Shannon family is chosen to participate but they find their new home is far from paradise. The cast includes Jason O’Mara, Shelley Conn, Landon Liboiron, Allison Miller, Naomi Scott, Alana Mansour, Stephen Lang, and Christine Adams.
The TV show debuted on September 26th with a pair of installments. They attracted an average of a 3.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 9.22 million total viewers. It was third in its timeslots and held viewers through the two hours, a good indication that they’d be back the following week. And, they did return. The third episode drew about the same as the first two episodes.
Unfortunately, that didn’t last. Week three fell by 19% in the demo. Over the course of the season, the numbers have fluctuated quite a bit week to week, hitting a low of a 2.1 in the demo three times. Terra Nova currently averages a 2.5 in the all-important demo and 7.6 million viewers. It’s the seventh most-watched scripted series on the network, out of 14, and currently has a “C” on our season ratings report card. That’s not bad but certainly not a shoe-in for renewal either. It doesn’t help that the show is very expensive to produce.
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In September, FOX head Kevin Reilly said that, because of the additional production time needed, a decision would have to be made, “Before the first of the year, at the latest. We couldn’t wait until the spring and see how everything else plays out; otherwise, we would never be able to deliver the following year.”
That decision has now been delayed until sometime in 2012. O’Mara recently tweeted, “Decision to pick up #TerraNova for S2 deferred to New Year by @FOXBroadcasting. Everyone involved remains confident and optimistic.”
While this delay doesn’t mean that the show is history, the network isn’t in any hurry to give it a renewal. The network is most likely waiting to see how well new shows Alcatraz and Touch perform before making a commitment to a second season of Terra Nova. If it does gets renewed, depending on how long they wait to make a decision, the episodes may not be ready until mid-season. Given the budget and the ratings, it seems unlikely to get more than a 13 episode order, if it returns at all.
What do you think? Do you hope that Terra Nova gets renewed for a sophomore season or should it be cancelled to make way for something else?
Image courtesy FOX.
Terra Nova = Firefly: same issues: unique scifi; Same mistakes: Fox pulling the cancel trigger; with the same results, pissed off audience turning it into a cult following.
Please renew Terra Nova. It’s a good and interesting show. A family show.
I completely agree about the enjoyment of this show. I Love watching it and have no fear that I would need to be embarrassed by ANYONE walking in the room.
I think the story line has grown increasingly interesting and enjoy the plot twists and surprises. This is my grown up ‘Land of the Lost’ and I hope it doesn’t get taken from all of that are enjoying the realistic escape.
In case it does: HEY SY/FY….you paying attention? I mean other channels move shows to other stations….of course this one is pricey to produce…
I love Terra Nova. By the end of the second episode I was skeptical but I continued watching and am now hooked. I really hope that it’s picked up for another season. It’s a unique show in a land of reality TV.
Lizzy – they’ve shown more than once that they use power packs for the cars – you know, batteries? Even if they did run off of fossil fuel, they’d bring that over the same way they brought the cars over in the first place.
Before you start trashing a show, try two things: 1, actually watch said show and pay attention. 2, Learn how to properly and completely write a sentence.
I don’t think the show is the stupid thing here…
I am a 61 year old grandmother and this is one show I can watch with my young grandchildren without holding the remote to change the channel when a sex scene comes on or vulgar language is used.
Let this show stay on, cancel the reality shows which are more fiction than Terra Nova is.
I am so sick and tired of Fox cancelling shows! I am now down to watching only 2 shows. Terra Nova is 1 of the 2. And now they are thinking of cancelling that. What is wrong with you people? Pretty soon I won’t be watching anything Fox.
I think terra nova should get renewed. My famly counts down the days till it is on. And on the season finaly we all were very excited. I was so excited that i was shivering all over, actually i shivered all over on all of terra novas eppisodes. terra nova is the thing i look forward to all week, my famaly some times laughs but i love it. Even if it does have a “c” in viewers my family of 6 are one of them and we all think that fox should renew it.and oh by the way is the… Read more »
Terra Nova is an excellent show. Very exciting to watch. With the ending of the last episode of the season, a completely new set of possibilities and directions were made available. I hope to continue watching for many years to come. For the ones that can’t understand the premise of the show and continue to “gripe”, simply turn the channel, or better yet press your change channel button on your remote and let us that like it, enjoy a GREAT show.
I was completely disinterested in this Terra Nova, and hadn’t planned to watch it at all. In fact, I was vocal about that decision with my friends. My husband, however, wanted to watch – and I quote – ‘the first episode’, because he wanted to see the dinosaurs. Well, we watched the first episode. And we haven’t missed one since. We now love the concept, the twists, the characters, the plots and subplots. The interactions between characters is truly wonderful. To be honest, this is one of a very small handful of shows that my husband and I enjoy equally.… Read more »
Pay attention and you could have answered your own question. Technology and resources came from the future. The cars run on power cells. There is absolutely no mention of gas or oil. The internal combustion engine is outdated. We could have cars without these necessities now if proper resources were allocated to its production.
I wanna know how the hell are they driving the cars? If gas n oil comes from dino fossils, then how the eff are they living with dinos n still able to run there cars? This is a stupid show, they dnt even attempt to try and base the show off ne shred of science or possibilities… Shouldnt b apart of the scifi genre
All due respect, Lizzy, but I think you haven’t watched the show very much. Their equipment runs on what they’ve called power cells. Which doesn’t seem to be far from current reality – given how many cars are currently on the road that don’t use fossil fuels. (Hybrids? Electric cars?) That’s, actually, the beauty of sci/fi: the ability to create a believable fantasy with things that are so fantastic, and yet so realistic. I think they hit the nail on the head here.
It is nice to see a tv show that is not so caught up in the…whos in bed with who. Most of the time I end up watching Metv or videos with kids. It is nice to be able to sit down and watch an exciting show without that worry. *** scene do not impress me it just ruins a show. Id like to let my kids watch the singing, but it is just a roll in bed.
It annoys me that CBS has become the only network that is reliable with the continuity of it’s shows. I LOVE the realistic idea that one day we will expend all of our worlds resources and live in a poisoned environment, Terra Nova gives us a solution to this. A far fetched solution but a solution none the less. I hate when I get invested in shows and the network decides to cancel them!!
I agree
Yes! These network bozos are going to find one day no one wanting to watch anything with a story arc for fear of a wasted and disappointed investment when it goes away after the first season. What then? Why, more brainless reality TV, of course. Can’t build anything anymore; instant hits are all they want.
Please do not cancel Terra Nova. There are not too many shows out there suitable for the 9-11 year old croud. Show like modern family and glee are trash. The blood guts gore and alternative life styles are cut to a minimum. I hate show where children start to ask questions that are not appropriate for the age group. This shows niche may not be the 18+ age group. It is a family show. It is a show you can sit down with your kids to watch. It is a show where questions can be asked and even researched. What… Read more »