Just a Question about TOS

[Tanky]

I just wondering why TOS lasted only one season?

[Dawg]

Tanky, go visit the Cylon Alliance. We've got an extensive section on Battlestar Galactica, including much behind-the-scenes information.

www.cylon.org

It's in the "Sci-Fi on TV" section.

In a nutshell, ABC was reluctant to continue spending the kind of money it cost to put together the show. This was after they pushed it into production far more quickly and in a completely different format than the producers had envisioned and sold to them. After premiering to record audiences, the ratings settled into solid top 10 and 20 for its entire run, which would have guaranteed any other series a renewal - except for the costs.

ABC showed the typical network wisdom that has not changed in 30 years.

I am
Dawg
:warrior:

[Tanky]

Thanks Dawg, and yes that does sound like typical network wisdom.

[Breea]

Dumb, stupid, brass A**H****..who didn't have the insight to see what they had before them.
Breea

[Breea]

Although Dawg explained more nicely then I did. :D
Breea

[Eric Paddon]

Add to that ABC's stature as the #1 network at the time. Because ABC was riding a crest of several straight years as the number one network, they had developed a swelled-head complex about what kind of numbers to expect, and as a result set a bar higher for Galactica than was reasonable to expect. As a result, ABC got it into their minds that the new audience they had for a sci-fi show on Sunday nights (a night where they always got clobbered by CBS in the past) would watch a cheap "sci-fi" product in the same slot and so they moved Mork And Mindy into Galactica's timeslot and the ratings for Sunday night tanked.

Had ABC been the #3 network at the time, they would have been far more appreciative of the boost Galactica had given them in that timeslot regardless of the costs. Case in point was how NBC gave the inferior, and much lower-rated "Buck Rogers" a second season.

[jewels]

Also, Glen said that a lot of the problem was the technology wasn't up to speed for producing a show weekly. The show was always running into Saturday post production for the following Sunday (next day's) air.

Jewels

[kingfish]

Also, Glen said that a lot of the problem was the technology wasn't up to speed for producing a show weekly. The show was always running into Saturday post production for the following Sunday (next day's) air.

Jewels



I remember reading that they[the studio] were so cheap that they wanted Greene and Bridges to pay for coffee and donuts and both actors stomped into the production office in full costume. To make a long story short, they didn't have to pay at least. Heck where would they have kept money in the costume. Did the pants have pockets? :D

[Darrell Lawrence]

The snack bar/cafeteria didn't accept cubits as money. :P:

[SpyOne]

Dawg hit all the important points, and Eric added some good ones.

At $1million per episode, Galactica was unprecedentedly expensive, and never attracted enough audience to justify the cost. Sitcoms were cheap and effective (in November, IIRC, the only show rated higher than Galactica that was not a sit-com was Little House on the Prairie).

ABC kept pushing for changes that would reduce the cost, like having Galactica find Earth (allowing existing sets to be used).
ABC was also used to being the Big Dog, and had failed to get their way on several issues about the show (like hiring Dirk Benedict).
Production on the show was rushed, and routinely fell behind, causing anxiety at the network: on more than one occasion the studio finished the episode so late on Sunday that it ran "live" on the East Coast off their broadcast. That is, instead of the studio sending the show to the network via satellite and the network taping it and then airing the taped version, the satelite feed from the studio was going On Air directly. You can understand how uncomfortable it will make the network execs if at 7:55 on Sunday you still don't know if you'll have an 8:00 show. :(

Lastly, Standards&Practices had a problem with the level of violence in the show, given it's kid-oriented timeslot.


Or, to put it another way: it was original, it was good, and therefore it was doomed. :)

[Gemini1999]

Dawg hit all the important points, and Eric added some good ones.

At $1million per episode, Galactica was unprecedentedly expensive, and never attracted enough audience to justify the cost. Sitcoms were cheap and effective (in November, IIRC, the only show rated higher than Galactica that was not a sit-com was Little House on the Prairie).

SpyOne -

I would like to take the time to commend you on your posting style. Your posts are well worded and well thought out. You provide a lot of info - even some that I've not heard before, but I'm no expert.

Keep up the good work!

Best,
Bryan

[jewels]

I remember reading that they[the studio] were so cheap that they wanted Greene and Bridges to pay for coffee and donuts and both actors stomped into the production office in full costume. To make a long story short, they didn't have to pay at least. Heck where would they have kept money in the costume. Did the pants have pockets? :D
It wasn't the production office, it was the Black Tower. They went over in costume, returned with an accountant who was forced to remove the pricing signs for the coffee and donuts (traditionally free to cast and crew). The accountant was then ushered off the soundstage. They did it on behalf of the entire production team sorta. ;)

[jewels]

Or, to put it another way: it was original, it was good, and therefore it was doomed. :)
NOW there you have it!

Oh, some have also said it was hyped to be the #1 show and mostly hit between a top10-20 show (even in reruns).

[Tanky]

Thank you all

[Fragmentary]

Anyone know what the season average for Galactica was? I've read conflicting rakings of #17 and #21.

And to be fair, if it was your career on the line, and you sold your bosses on the idea of making the most expensive television show in history and it wasn't even in the top ten, wouldn't you get nervous too? ;)

[Gemini1999]

Here is the ratings data for TOS (from the BSG Unofficial Companion)

Ratings data is the actual ratings number (percentage of housholds). There is also viewing audience info as well, but I didn't have time to type it in. I can add it later if requested...

Saga of a Star World 44.6
Lost Planet of the Gods Part 1 29.1
Lost Planet of the Gods Part 2 33.4
The Lost Warrior 28.1
The Long Patrol 26.3
Gun on Ice Planet Zero Part 1 26.0
Gun on Ice Planet Zero Part 2 27.1
The Magnificent Warriors 25.8
The Young Lords 24.9
The Living Legend Part 1 23.3
The Living Legend Part 2 25.4
Fire In Space 22.5
War of the Gods Part 1 25.4
War of the Gods Part 2 27.2
The Man With Nine Lives 23.8
Greetings From Earth 28.0
Baltar's Escape 23.5
Experiment in Terra 23.1
Take the Celestra 19.1
The Hand of God 15.1

Someone else can do the math to figure the average..... :D

Have fun!

Bryan

[bsg1fan1975]

Dumb, stupid, brass A**H****..who didn't have the insight to see what they had before them.
Breea



absoultely correct. This was a show at least parents could sit and watch with their kids! Mine did!

[Eric Paddon]

The reason for the ratings drop-off for the last several episodes incidentally, mostly had to do with the fact that by that point Galactica was not turning out a new show every week and went through a large number of reruns well before "Take The Celestra" and "Hand Of God" (which themselves aired four weeks apart) finally aired. I think LPOTG for instance was repeated as early as January.

[SpyOne]

Some supplimental data taken from Not of This Earth magazine Vol 1 Special Edition No. 1 (November 1993):

Galatica premiered to a 27.8 Rating and a 42 share, despite being opposite the Emmy Awards on CBS, and Dumbo followed by King Kong part 2 on NBC. The last half-hour was delayed because at 10:30 the networks all aired an announcement by President Carter, Menachem Begin, and Anwar Sadat that they had agreed on a "framework" for a Middle East settlement. Ratings in the last half-hour (11:00 to 11:30) dropped across the boards.
An estimated 65,000,000 people watched the premiere, and for the week ending that Sunday ABC held all 12 of the top slots in the Neilson ratings.


Many advertising agencies predicted that the show's ratings would consistantly fall, and when the next episode only got a 36 share, they asserted it was well under way. By the November sweeps, BSG was getting only a 28 share.


According to CBS research (and based on Neilson data), these were the top 15 shows from September 18th (the day after the BSG premiere) through October 29, 1978:
Rank Title Network Rating Share
1 Three's Company ABC 29.1 44
2 Laverne & Shirley ABC 27.8 42
3 Happy Days ABC 26.8 44
4 Mork & Mindy ABC 26.1 44
5 Little House on the Prairie NBC 25.5 40
6 Charlie's Angels ABC 24.8 38
7 M*A*S*H CBS 24.3 36
8 Barney Miller ABC 24.1 39
9 What's Happening ABC 23.9 39
10 Taxi ABC 23.8 36
11 Battlestar Galactica ABC 23.2 36
12 Centennial NBC 22.7 35
13 One Day at a Time CBS 22.5 34
14 Alice CBS 22.0 33
15 Soap ABC 21.8 35


"Rating" and "Share" confuse me a little. IIRC, one reflects the percentage of people with televisions watching the show, while the other reflects the percentage of people watching television at that time watching the show.