Sci-fi drama 'Terra Nova' axed after first season

NEW YORK (AP) — The prehistoric drama "Terra Nova" is history on Fox.

The network said late Monday it is dropping the pricey sci-fi series after a single season.

The ambitious series, filmed in Australia with expensive special effects, got a lukewarm reception from viewers despite high anticipation from sci-fi fans. It averaged less than 8 million viewers weekly.

The series followed a family on its journey back to prehistoric Earth on a mission to save the human race. It starred Jason O'Mara and Stephen Lang, with behind-the-scenes principals including Steven Spielberg.

"Terra Nova" was announced in May 2010, but production problems led to repeated delays in its debut.

Jason O'Mara declared the show's fate to his Twitter followers Monday night, tweeting, "Bad news, guys. Terra Nova has been canceled by Fox."

Source: Yahoo News

I enjoy watching Jason O'Mara ever since I first took notice of him as a guest star on The Closer, but he can't seem to hold unto a series. Life on Mars and now this one, I wonder how many chances he'll get for a hit.

I never cared for this show. I gave the pilot a watch but I couldn't get past a few things.

1} Why go all the way back in time to the age of the dinosaurs? Dinosaur is Latin for "Horrible lizard". They were the most successful species on the planet. For a lot longer than us, too. And the writers wanted to go back to their time ? { WTF, what is this "Land of the Lost"?}

1a} This is a rhetorical question, but here it goes....wasn't there a major planet wide catastrophe that killed off 90%+ of every living thing at the end of the dinosaur era ? So why would you want to go back in time to before that major event ? {The earth wasn't a happy place after that event.}

1b} Wouldn't going back say 100,000 years up to a million years ago be sufficient enough ? I mean we've only had civilization for roughly 6,000 years, since the times of the Pharaohs, right ? So 100,000 years is a pretty long time. Plus there wouldn't be these large Jurassic Park cold blooded reptiles trying to eat you. LOL

2} And the premise of the story is that mankind's world is all messed up. Over-run with people, war, etc. So what do the writers do ? They send the military back in time with enough fire power to make Suddam Hussien jealous. And please don't say, "they had to take those weapons because of the dinosaurs." They wouldn't need all these weapons if the DIN'T go back so far in time, to when the dinosaurs ruled the earth.

I know these writers want to make a good show but don't they have meetings and sit downs before they waste millions of dollars on a show and talk these things through ? Heck, I'd do it for 100 K per year, & I bet that's cheap in Hollywood.

Fred

This is a bummer for me. I thought that the show got better as it progressed, and the finale definitely left me wanting more!

At the very least, I don't have to spend any episodes missing my favorite character who died in the finale!

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I enjoy watching Jason O'Mara ever since I first took notice of him as a guest star on The Closer, but he can't seem to hold unto a series. Life on Mars and now this one, I wonder how many chances he'll get for a hit.

I enjoyed watching him in "Monarch of the Glen"(smallish role for only a few episodes, but he left a lasting impression) one of my favourite shows.

And Freddy, I completely agree with you on all accounts

Bummed, but not shocked.

I'm a bit fed up with shows being cancelled siting production costs due to special effects. I've just seen the season premier of CSI (with Ted Danson - yes, I know, we're well behind). The amount of effects used in this episode was staggering, and yet the series goes on year after year.
The TV companies never loose. It's just the level of profit. When 'Heroes' was first broadcast in the UK, the BBC were paying £400,000 per episode to show it. That was about 25% of the cost.

I really gave this show a chance but I never found the characters interesting. I follow too many shows anyway.

I heard it was a very expensive show to produce.