Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Can LEGEND OF THE SEEKER Be Saved?

Much to the chagrin of its fans (present company included), Legend of the Seeker was canceled last month after the conclusion of its second season.  Not able to imagine a world without a Mord-Sith or a Confessor, the LoTS fans have kicked their show-saving efforts into high gear, firing off thousands of letters, purchasing a number of advertisements, and collecting DVDs for local libraries.  You can read more about it here.

So, this begs the question - is the effort worth it?  Can a canceled show be saved?  And the answer is...of course!  To name a few:

  • Most recently, both The Game (CW) and Ghost Whisperer (CBS) were axed by their networks, only to be picked up by BET and ABC, respectively.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000 made it seven seasons on Comedy Central until it was canned.  Fans shopped it around to other networks (and, like our intrepid LoTS fans, purchased a full-page ad in Variety), finally persuading Sci-Fi to pick it up.
  • Sci-Fi also saved Stargate SG-1 after it was canceled by Showtime.  It made it five more seasons on Sci-Fi.
  • Fox shut down Family Guy after its third season until DVD sales skyrocketed; the show is about to air its 9th season.
  • Like LoTS, the original season of Star Trek only made it two seasons.  A letter-writing campaign got it brought back for a third.
  • America's Most Wanted was canceled for only six weeks after Fox received 200,000 letters from unhappy fans.
  • CBS fired Cagney and Lacy after only two seasons.  The fans responded in force, and the show was brought back for four more seasons, as well as four Made-for-TV movies.
  • And speaking of CBS, they famously picked up JAG after NBC dumped it after one season.  It ran for nine more seasons, and sparked another series of series - NCIS.

16 comments:

  1. i really hope the Save our Seeker campaign works, there is no better show out there period
    Save our Seeker and our BAMC
    SEASON 3 PLZ !

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  2. Legend of the seeker is an unique and original series, liked by people all aroud the world. I'm from Brazil, and really expect that our efforts don't go in vain.

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  3. SEEKER fans believe in our quest. ABC-SyFy-Starz-DirectTV PLEASE think outside the Boxes of Orden. We have hope that not ALL network execs are complete autotrons..... waiting for the next CSI to drop in their lap. CSI, THE most watched tv show, was envisioned by execs as a star vehicle for Capt. Brass. We all see how that turned out, the lab geeks (squints) were the stars. Legend of the Seeker is excellent entertainment.

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  4. I moved from California, US to England to get my Masters Degree. I have never worked so hard in my life, and I know I would not have be able to accomplish this without Legend Of The Seeker. It was what motivated me and got me through my 16 hour days of research. My gift to myself was watching an episode. It brought me into a ‘family’ each week, and being 6,000 miles from ‘home’ I definitely was glad of that. I guess my degree should really have all the cast and crew's names on it too! Save Our Seeker!!

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  5. I hope it can be saved. I'm afraid that it's probably to late now. I so looked forward to watching it every week. At least there's still the books, which honestly are way better than the series. I will miss it so much, there's so much adventure, action and romance. It's a big mistake letting this show go. I'm doing what I can to spread the word to save our seeker but in the end I don't think it will work. I have never hoped more than I do now that I am wrong.

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  6. It better be saved. I'm about ready to boycott Disney and ABC altogether.

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  7. I find the Star Trek example particularly inspiring. Great post!

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  8. Hey you made the top shared links on twitter per bing!!!
    http://www.bing.com/twitter/search?q=legend+of+the+seeker%20&FORM=DTPTWN

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  9. Sadly there is one major problem with this analysis. The shows that have been pulled back from the grave were all on major networks and were in some cases pulled back by lesser networks.

    LOTS is being dumped by a syndication and there is little hope of a major network or even lesser network trying to bring it back. The only real option was the Sci-Fi and once it says no then all bets are off.

    Now if the story was repackaged to sex it up and eliminate some of the characters you might be able to sell it to a showtime that might have a desire for some T&A like True Blood... but it really doesn't have a snowballs chance in the Underworld...

    I wish it did, as the show was getting better, but it delivered too late.

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  10. I truly hope that us as fans will be able to SAVE OUR SEEKER! I love the book and this show is an amazing adaptation of it. Having Seen Richard, Kahlan and Zedd come to life only to see them banished to the Underworld(metaphorically) seems unfair and unjust. The fans need this just as much as I do. If we stand united we can bring back our Seeker.
    If for some horrible reason, we fail then I say we all boycott ABC and Disney!

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  11. I wasn't a fan of Seeker before and Cara is the main reason I love it now. I have read all the books. There are still so much they haven't touch on, and this show is one of the best one EVER! I really wish that it can get a third season, and a fourth, and fifth.

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  12. Thank you all for commenting! I think the dedication of the LoTS fandom (and ConDar - #1 on Bing is all because of the fans! AWESOME!) will be the thing that will propel Seeker back on the air. This truly can't be the end of Seeker.

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  13. And thomas998, you're absolutely correct about my list - but there are plenty of syndicated shows that were brought back (I think "Jericho" was one of those shows, but don't quote me - fans saved it by sending nuts to the studio because it had something to do with the storyline). Maybe it just needs an entirely new home - like the BBC. There are so many international fans that it could do well there.

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  14. I am still hoping for a save here. This would never have happened if Disney and ABC had given it a decent and regular time slot. In my town it's on at 12:30 am on Saturday night. Give me a break... this show has so much potential it just needs a chance for people to see it. I am not even a big Scifi person and I love it.

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  15. You forgot Futurama, which returns for a 6th season in 7 days after being off the air for 6 years. Also cancelled by Fox, and brought back by Comedy Central.

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  16. Last I heard, "Ghost Whisperer" was rejected by ABC.

    But anyway, I want "Legend Of The Seeker" to come back for a 3rd season. With a show like this, 2 seasons aren't even close to enough. Hopefully, we'll see something in 2011, either in the spring or summer.

    I would hate to think all these efforts to save the show were for nothing.

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