On Almost Human

Ok…fair warning. This is gonna be a long one. That said, if you are a fan of Sci Fi media, and if you are one of my ‘people’ I am gonna guess you are, you really should stay for this.

Today is a dark day…again. Almost Human got its walking papers…the axe…the heave-ho…the Big C…Canceled.
Big shock right? I hear it already… “It was SO good?” “FOX lets us down again!” “Firefly!!”
Well…yes and no.

Is this FOX’s fault? Yes….partly. But ya know who else is on the hook? Me, you and every other Sci-Fi fan. We are getting exactly what we deserve…at least if you expect the standard TV/Media model to keep working…even though it is completely busted. If you expect content to keep coming and you to consume it at your leisure….this is what ya get. Ya get canceled.

Today I have seen 28 posts on Social Media about how Almost Human is canceled….I have seen 28 posts bemoaning the loss of another “Good show”.
That is WAY more posts than I ever saw about the show when it was on….when you could go watch episodes FOR FREE on a dedicated website from FOX.

Why? Apathy and Loving to Hate. These are easy…it’s easy to bemoan and hard to cheerlead. How many Browncoats are there? How many of them WATCHED the show when it was on? How many since it got canceled? Based on my completely unscientific study of just asking people who talk to me about Firefly…less than half ever watched the show as it was broadcast. Most ‘found’ Firefly long after it was dead. This is not to say FOX didn’t handle Firefly poorly…they certainly did…but we the members of Fandom have got blood on our hands too.

Look folks, there are only 5 reasons any show, regardless of genre is ever made or dies. Those 5 reasons, in no specific order are: Money, Money, Money, Money and MONEY.
That’s it….that’s all.
Money.

It is hard, thankless, EXPENSIVE work to make media…I know this personally. Sci Fi is harder still…mostly because the bar is set so damn high. Sci Fi productions are by their nature costly…understandable due in no large part to the fact you have to create a whole new world: Locations, costumes, tech, and all the inherent heavy lifting in VFX. All of that on top of the solid writing and great acting that are the foundations of any media. Miss the mark on any of those…and prepare to be destroyed by Fandom.

All that to say this: It’s our fault as much as theirs.

I am not one to complain without offering ideas of what to do to fix the problem…so here are a couple of ideas.
One: Spend a little time talking about stuff before it gets canceled. Put forth a portion of that energy to make sure people are aware of good media…there is a lot of static, if you find a good show SHARE IT!

Two: We, as Fandom, need to take a long hard look at what we expect for cheap as free. We need to accept that commercials/product placement and pay-walls are what pay the bills.

Three: We need to be willing to challenge the model. We need to risk a little to gain control of our media’s future. We need to support productions…with MONEY not just social media. In today’s world…there is no reason to let networks have our shows. We can, and should own them. Kickstarter, Subbable, Indie Reign, Selfy…these (and some stuff that isn’t even around yet) are the way media will be distributed in the future.
The future is now.
It needs to be…
If not us…who?