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148 lines
4.4 KiB
148 lines
4.4 KiB
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<title>JMS on the season 5 renewal drop-dead date</title>
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<p>
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<b>See Also:</b>
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<a href="/lurk/find/CompuServe/cs96-12/152.html">JMS's comments on how
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the story will work regardless of renewal</a>
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<pre>
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</pre>
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<p>
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It appears that Warner Bros. may not make an announcement concerning
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B5's renewal status until July. The cast's contracts obligate Warner Bros.
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to tell the actors whether or not they'll be working for another year by a
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certain date. Originally, the date was June 15. However, JMS recently had
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this to say:
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<pre>
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The info was wrong. The new date is July 15th. WB asked for and
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got an extension from the cast.
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</pre>
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<p>
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<em>A followup asked if this was an unusual thing to do:</em>
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<pre>
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Well, it's the first time they've done it.
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</pre>
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<p>
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<em>Another asked why they did it:</em>
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<pre>
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Because Warners is working on several options to keep the show on
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the air in the absence of PTEN, and a crowded syndication market,
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they've asked for, and received, a 30 day extension on the drop dead day
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from the cast. So now they have until July 15th to make it work.
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</pre>
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<p>
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<em>Is there any hope for renewal?</em>
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<pre>
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If there were not hope, WB wouldn't have asked for the
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extension.
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</pre>
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<p>
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<em>Stations have already begun filling their fall schedules with the assumption
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of no fifth season. Won't that prevent B5 from showing up on enough stations
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to make it economically viable?</em>
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<pre>
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No, it isn't really a problem...the worst that could happen is
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that the show might have to go on in January rather than November, but
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that's only a small gap. The stations haven't locked down their
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January schedules yet, and there's always fallout from what goes out in
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November, so there are still many possibilities.
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</pre>
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<p>
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<em>What will they do with the extra month?</em>
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<pre>
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It's a means of making time for them to work out the limitations
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of the PTEN contract, and the new syndicated market, which has been
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going through massive changes in the last year or two; basically the
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market has collapsed or been driven out (depending on the market you're
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in) by all the new networks and program glut. Virtually every
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syndicated show has dropped from last year to this year; the only ones
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that have improved over last year are B5 (7%) and Xena (18%). Just
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about everything else has dropped bigtime.
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</pre>
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<hr>
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<p>
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It's worth noting that July 15 is only a deadline and the announcement could
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come at any time before then. Presumably
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Warner Bros. would have asked for more time than they thought
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they were likely to need, just to be on the safe side. Of course, that's
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just speculation and isn't based on any inside knowledge.
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<p>
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When there are more details, you'll see them on the Lurker's Guide home page.
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<pre>
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</pre>
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<p nowrap>
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<h5>
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Last update:
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June 10, 1997
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</h5>
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