At the TCA Summer Press Tour, fans of Showtime’s The Borgias TV series protested the show’s cancellation. Efforts included a plane flying over the Beverly Hills Hilton with a banner that read “D Nevins: Sho fans you care — save The Borgias.” A protester was also reportedly posted outside the venue dressed in robes.
Unfortunately, the efforts were lost on Showtime’s President of Entertainment, David Nevins.
He noted that Neil Jordan came up with an idea to wrap up the series but it didn’t work out. Nevins continued, “We looked hard at doing a two-hour finale. And the economics of it just didn’t make sense, so we didn’t move forward. And I think it came to a good stopping place at the end of Season 3.”
He added, “I know we all got buzzed at lunch by the airplane. I feel bad at the money that’s being spent [by the fans]. As I was pulling in today, there was one protester out there. And I opened my window and asked him what he thought of the finale. And he said, ‘I haven’t seen it.’ Apparently he was a paid protester.”
What do you think? Did Showtime make a mistake by cancelling The Borgias? Do you think protests like this are a waste of time and money?
The fans are so furious because of the broken promise of Showtime. We were always told there would be 4 Seasons and the story would be properly concluded. To treat it’s subscribers and the fan base in such an insulting fashion has enraged and energised us all. Showtime’s cavalier decision is symptomatic of everything that’s wrong about “keeping our shareholders happy” mantra. We’ve all had enough of being treated as if we don’t matter. The Borgias was television at it’s best. A sumptuous feast. To leave the fan base hanging with the story unfinished is outrageous and a lesson to… Read more »
Showtime did the most wrong decision when it cancelled The Borgias. It is a great show with great cast, the end should not be like that, even Rodrigo Borgia who is the main character is still alive , Cesare and Lucrezia was just begin, so please Mr. Nevins bring back The Borgias even if it will be 2 hours film we need a persuading end not like the end of The Prince.
I believe such protests are a waste of the protestors’ time/money. All the nets saw what happened when CBS revived “Jericho” after such a campaign. That painful and expensive lesson was not lost on the suits who run the other nets and netlets. Let’s say a million people sent letters of support to a given net to try to save a given cancelled show. The letters mighta filled an ordinary office room to the ceiling. But a million viewers is hardly a drop in the bucket to a major net. The nets are $$ and profit-driven, same as any other… Read more »
Loved the show, knew it’s end was coming, but if Nevins thinks that the end we saw was good, he needs to be replaced.
It was a poor ending for a fabulous show. A 90 min or 120 minute finale should have been produced and finished and released.
To say that it was economically unfeasible just means the few executives of Showtime needed more money in their pockets OVER what the show was already giving them.
It is a shame that there will not be more of this great show.
we think Mr. Jordan should have at least been given the chance to tie up loose ends and end the series with a 2 hour production, in the movie theaters or a 4th season.
I am a fan of The Borgias. I was outside the TCA press conference. The paid sign holding Pope represented thousands of upset fans who have to work for a living and could not physically be present. There were several of us willing to meet with Mr. Nevins face to face for a nice friendly talk. We made it known to him during the TCA’s. We waited several hours. We are a large group of worldwide fans who have willingly donated funds to fly banners to get press to write about our cause. We really want to help Neil Jordan… Read more »
Yes, if not Showtime, it will be another network !
And the paid sign holding Pope had NOTHING to do with savetheborgias.com, an important point to make !
Many shows have campaigned before us and have succeeded It’s worth our time and money. ‘The Borgias’ is an outstanding show with great dialogues, excellent performance from the actors, sumptuous costumes and the most romantic forbidden love-story of TV history in my opinion. We will succeed.
It has to be precised that the one paid protester had nothing to do with savetheborgias.com campaign and was totally separate from the plane event organised by Save The Borgias.
Showtime definitely made a mistake when it cancelled the Borgias because the ending was premature. The fact that The Borgias fans have been spending so much time, energy and money to advocate for a 4th season – an act that should’ve been pulled by the creators/directors/producers of The Borgias – shows how real and strong fans they are. FYI, there are two fan groups for the Borgias. The first group organized for the plane to fly twice and for the sardines to get delivered to Showtime’s office. The second group funded the protestor (the spinning-sign monk) who was alleged to… Read more »
There’s a strong global network of fans interested in the show, and people can’t drop their jobs and families and spend vast amounts of cash to travel thousands of miles to attend an event on the off chance Nevins might speak to them. There were fans there, but Nevins didn’t ask to speak to them, haggling the paid for protester who was being paid by fans who could not be there to represent them. The petition is growing every day. The letters and emails continue to pour in. Boxsets are sold. The show begins airing in other coutries or on… Read more »
The anecdote about the “fan” who hadn’t seen the show calls to mind all those shows that supposedly have huge fan followings but really don’t have any significant numbers.
The press would be well inspired to use a lot more caution when talking about those – case in point super low-rated flop Veronica Mars and its completely fake Kickstarter campaign that was embraced by the press as Gospel when it should have been looked at with suspicion.
You mean the kickstarted Veronica Mars movie that’s just wrapped and will be released next year? http://uk.eonline.com/news/442771/kristen-bell-talks-veronica-mars-movie-and-motherhood-it-s-almost-too-much-joy-if-that-s-possible