Sanctuary General Discussion Thread

[shavedape]

Yup, I'm not bothering to watch SyFy on Friday nights now. It's weird in a way because historically Friday night has been strong for SyFy.

As for Sanctuary's low numbers of late, I'm not so sure it's the move as much as it is the blandness of the last two episodes. I generally like the show but even I have to admit I wasn't riveted to the screen for the last two. They were just "meh" to me. I can't say that's a barometer for how everyone felt, but it sure seems that I'm not alone in my feelings. Here's hoping they improve things a bit.

 

[Joelist]

Yup, I'm not bothering to watch SyFy on Friday nights now. It's weird in a way because historically Friday night has been strong for SyFy.

As for Sanctuary's low numbers of late, I'm not so sure it's the move as much as it is the blandness of the last two episodes. I generally like the show but even I have to admit I wasn't riveted to the screen for the last two. They were just "meh" to me. I can't say that's a barometer for how everyone felt, but it sure seems that I'm not alone in my feelings. Here's hoping they improve things a bit.

Their numbers promply plunged by roughly 500,000 viewers when they shifted to Monday. So yes this is because of the sudden time and day change. It's really stupid on SyFy's part as Sancutary was delivering consistently good numbers in the Friday slot. And in the US time shifting does not count for viewing numbers. monday night (especially during playoffs) is a graveyard and always has been.

Also, I would not call the last episode bland. It was really well done, and was a return to form.

 

[shavedape]

Their numbers promply plunged by roughly 500,000 viewers when they shifted to Monday. So yes this is because of the sudden time and day change. It's really stupid on SyFy's part as Sancutary was delivering consistently good numbers in the Friday slot. And in the US time shifting does not count for viewing numbers. monday night (especially during playoffs) is a graveyard and always has been.

Also, I would not call the last episode bland. It was really well done, and was a return to form.

I didn't hate the last episode but I wouldn't call it "well done" mostly because it used the tired, cliche', derivative, hackneyed plot of a character getting infected and, turning into a different creature, miraculously is "cured" in the last three minutes of the show. A day or two of rest in the infirmary and said character is back to normal and crackin' jokes. :roll: To say this plot has been done to death would be a kindness. (The joke about changing the light bulb was pretty funny I admit.)

 

[Joelist]

I didn't hate the last episode but I wouldn't call it "well done" mostly because it used the tired, cliche', derivative, hackneyed plot of a character getting infected and, turning into a different creature, miraculously is "cured" in the last three minutes of the show. A day or two of rest in the infirmary and said character is back to normal and crackin' jokes. :roll: To say this plot has been done to death would be a kindness. (The joke about changing the light bulb was pretty funny I admit.)

It was well done. Did you think they were going to kill off Will? It was well done "small set" TV. Not every episode has to be a big drama fest. It was acted well (in addition to the light bulb routine Kate's GEICO joke was funny too) and effective.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Their numbers promply plunged by roughly 500,000 viewers when they shifted to Monday. So yes this is because of the sudden time and day change. It's really stupid on SyFy's part as Sancutary was delivering consistently good numbers in the Friday slot. And in the US time shifting does not count for viewing numbers. monday night (especially during playoffs) is a graveyard and always has been.

Also, I would not call the last episode bland. It was really well done, and was a return to form.

I haven't seen any of the new sanctuary yet (as it has not aired here)
HOWEVER
We simply CANNOT say that the switch to Monday hurt Sanctuary and not extend the same reasoning to SGU. Choose one or the other, but apply them the same, because if you don't it reeks of double standards. I'm not saying that was your intent Joelist, but it something we must be very aware of.

 

[shavedape]

It was well done. Did you think they were going to kill off Will? It was well done "small set" TV. Not every episode has to be a big drama fest. It was acted well (in addition to the light bulb routine Kate's GEICO joke was funny too) and effective.

No I didn't think they were going to kill off Will -- why would you say that? I also never said it had to be a "drama fest", whatever that means.

I'm saying they shouldn't have done the episode at all because it's been done God knows how many times before on other shows. Normally this wouldn't be a bad thing but with this episode they brought nothing new to the tired, old, hackneyed plot of infected main character. Nothing. Yawn, yawn, chuckle and yawn.

And did you think mutant Will wasn't going to escape confinement and have to be hunted down, then "saved" at the last second? My God, every beat of that episode was so obvious it was painful. Cute jokes aside, it just wasn't that good -- and yes, this could contribute to the lower ratings. I'm not saying the tired story was the sole reason for the low ratings, but it could certainly have contributed to it.

 

[shavedape]

I haven't seen any of the new sanctuary yet (as it has not aired here)

Oh trust me, you've seen this episode of Sanctuary already -- several times -- on Star Trek.

 

[Terran77]

It was well done. Did you think they were going to kill off Will? It was well done "small set" TV. Not every episode has to be a big drama fest. It was acted well (in addition to the light bulb routine Kate's GEICO joke was funny too) and effective.

I did laugh at the GEICO joke... such an obvious product placement it was almost a parody of itself.

 

[Joelist]

I did laugh at the GEICO joke... such an obvious product placement it was almost a parody of itself.

It was self-parody not just almost.

 

[Joelist]

I haven't seen any of the new sanctuary yet (as it has not aired here)
HOWEVER
We simply CANNOT say that the switch to Monday hurt Sanctuary and not extend the same reasoning to SGU. Choose one or the other, but apply them the same, because if you don't it reeks of double standards. I'm not saying that was your intent Joelist, but it something we must be very aware of.

SGU was dead before it went to Mondays. It was cancelled after tanking both on Frisy and on Tuesday - monday was the place they sent it to run out its episodes.

 

[Overmind One]

SGU was dead before it went to Mondays. It was cancelled after tanking both on Frisy and on Tuesday - monday was the place they sent it to run out its episodes.

This.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

I haven't seen any of the new sanctuary yet (as it has not aired here)
HOWEVER
We simply CANNOT say that the switch to Monday hurt Sanctuary and not extend the same reasoning to SGU. Choose one or the other, but apply them the same, because if you don't it reeks of double standards. I'm not saying that was your intent Joelist, but it something we must be very aware of.

I think GF deserves the Fairness Awareness Award for this.
By the way for those still wondering, so far there have been two episodes on monday nights.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

Oh trust me, you've seen this episode of Sanctuary already -- several times -- on Star Trek.

Yeah but that was on a spaceship and this isn't.
So it's different.

 

[THX1138]

I haven't seen any of the new sanctuary yet (as it has not aired here)

S3.0 starts on ABC2 May 20 at 8.30pm strangely enough the same day Sci Fi is starting S3.5

HOWEVER
We simply CANNOT say that the switch to Monday hurt Sanctuary and not extend the same reasoning to SGU. Choose one or the other, but apply them the same, because if you don't it reeks of double standards. I'm not saying that was your intent Joelist, but it something we must be very aware of.

Very true, you must apply the same standards. Though in the case of Sanctuary it is the one time you can use the "people didn't know about the move" excuse (but only for a week or two) because they made the decision and gave a couple of days notice (damn Urban Legends for tanking) before the Easter weekend. Unlike SGU where the move was planned all along.

 

[Joelist]

I'm simply pointing out SyFy was unwise to take a show performing consistently and well and without any notice or advertising dump it into the worst night they have. With SGU they took a show that had tanked on Fridays and Tuesdays and chose Monday as the place for it to run its episodes out. Add in the NBA playoffs and the ratings drop is unsurprising. We cannot logically say 2 episodes some find subpar are the cause because viewership simply does not react that fast, and also they had a long string of excellent episodes preceeding them. For whatever reason roughly 500,000 viewrs have not yet made the jump to Monday with the show. Hopefully they will catch up with it or SyFy will wake up and put it back in its normal slot.

 

[Gatefan1976]

I'm simply pointing out SyFy was unwise to take a show performing consistently and well and without any notice or advertising dump it into the worst night they have. With SGU they took a show that had tanked on Fridays and Tuesdays and chose Monday as the place for it to run its episodes out. Add in the NBA playoffs and the ratings drop is unsurprising. We cannot logically say 2 episodes some find subpar are the cause because viewership simply does not react that fast, and also they had a long string of excellent episodes preceeding them. For whatever reason roughly 500,000 viewrs have not yet made the jump to Monday with the show. Hopefully they will catch up with it or SyFy will wake up and put it back in its normal slot.

I'm not saying it was not a somewhat unwise move, all I am saying is that we cannot allow our personal likes or dislikes of a show dictate what we say about Syfy's decisions. I'll be interested to see how Eureka, W13 and Sanctuary work as a whole unit on Monday nights if what I have heard is true.

 

[Graybrew1]

Meh, I did not care for this ep that much. :roll:

Didn't we already have the ep where Will was turned into a Hulk thing before? Can we just get back to basics and have the team go deal with abnormals and stop almost dying from some disease every week. I actually thought the preview looked bad and put off watching this ep and unfortunately it turned out to be exactly what I thought it was going to be. That might have also affected the ratings a little too. :icon_e_wink:

 

[Joelist]

Meh, I did not care for this ep that much. :roll:

Didn't we already have the ep where Will was turned into a Hulk thing before? Can we just get back to basics and have the team go deal with abnormals and stop almost dying from some disease every week. I actually thought the preview looked bad and put off watching this ep and unfortunately it turned out to be exactly what I thought it was going to be. That might have also affected the ratings a little too. :icon_e_wink:

They are going to have a couple of these "disease" episodes each year - it's part of the way the run the show. Having two in a row may have been a bit much though. As to Will and the "hulk", that was way back in Season 1.

 

[Joelist]

I'm not saying it was not a somewhat unwise move, all I am saying is that we cannot allow our personal likes or dislikes of a show dictate what we say about Syfy's decisions. I'll be interested to see how Eureka, W13 and Sanctuary work as a whole unit on Monday nights if what I have heard is true.

Note that I don't anywhere say anything about personal likes or dislikes. I put it in strictly objective ratings terms - to take a consistent performer out of its normal slot and shift it without notice to a poorly performing time they usually use to "graveyard" already cancelled shows was unwise. Yes the total failure of "Urban Legends" created an issue but there are better solutions, like putting the absolute cheapest stuff you have in such a lot. Remember SGU did not go there until it already was cancelled.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Note that I don't anywhere say anything about personal likes or dislikes. I put it in strictly objective ratings terms - to take a consistent performer out of its normal slot and shift it without notice to a poorly performing time they usually use to "graveyard" already cancelled shows was unwise. Yes the total failure of "Urban Legends" created an issue but there are better solutions, like putting the absolute cheapest stuff you have in such a lot. Remember SGU did not go there until it already was cancelled.

Sure, I don't think we are really disagreeing that much Joelist