Rumor Control: ‘Caprica’ Not on the Verge of Cancellation
Alessandra Torresani as Zoe Graystone in 'Caprica'
There have been a few rumors floating about that Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica was on the verge of cancellation. The rumors started when production took a break, prompting some writers to speculate that the break was due to production problems rather than production planning.
Perhaps the speculation had some basis, given that sales of Caprica on DVD have generated not much more than $5 million. It might be fair to assume a lower than expected result on DVD might translate to Syfy expecting low viewer numbers when the series finally airs in 2010.
Low DVD sales or not, it seems the green-light is still shining strong.
Syfy have confirmed to Airlock Alpha that they have no plans to cancel the series and that the production hiatus related to a decision to take time to learn from the first ten episodes and forward plan the rest, rather than anything detrimental.
“We actually took a break, shut down for a few weeks, so that we could at the mid-point regroup and say, ‘OK, what have we learned from the first 10, and where do we want to go from here,” said Mark Stern, the head of original programming for Syfy.
Sounds perfectly reasonable and, to be honest, what you’d expect to hear.
Another rumor is that the producers at Syfy aren’t happy with the calibre of Caprica’s stories which, again, seems to be nothing other than rumor.
“I’m one of the producers and I’m absolutely thrilled with the work my writers have done,” Executive Producer Jane Espenson told Airlock Alpha.
Caprica will premiere on Syfy Friday, January 22nd 2010.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Actually, I think that $5 million in DVD sales for “Caprica” is a huge success, considering that it’s just a pilot for the show that fans must know SyFy will just re-air on TV and then include with the other first season eps in the season one DVD collection (like they did with the BSG mini-series and the first season).
I agree that it’s highly unlikely that the show is already on the verge of cancellation, considering the quality of the people behind it (Ron Moore, Jane Espenson et. al.).
October 12th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I rented Caprica a while back and enjoyed it far more than I thought. People who end up watching it on TV will miss all the orgy scenes. =)
I’m looking forward to the series and hope it makes it on the air.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
What kind of DVD sales could they have been expecting?? Caprica sold approx. 300,000 units, slightly more than BSG even. Were BSG’s sales considered disappointing? I find that hard to believe. Over 250,000 is generally considered an excellent amount for a TV show. CSI sells only not much more than 100,000. I would say Caprica is in the top 25 among TV DVD sales. That’s pretty darn good for a show on a tiny cable channel.