showtime canceled Dead Like Me, even though there is no

[roenyc]

reason to do so. its a great show one of my favorites. while investigating this on the sho board and being so sad about its jumping the shark i realized as did they it never jumped.

they are signing petitions and writing letters.

but i realize why this show was canceled. this show is about dead people and suggest they walk among us and are funny and use bad language. it suggest that no one knows what happens to souls when they die, that they just follow a light and these dead people are reapers who help them get there.

i ask you fellow DU'ers. do you think perhaps this just doesn't fit in with the what the evangelicals want us to believe happens after we die?

are things getting this bad that they can control cable channels? yeah i think they are.

[bryant69]

1. I don't know

Sounds like a possibility but you present no evidence. I mean Dead Like Me doesn't proport to be theology, but certainly it can be taken the other way. I mean it certainly isn't an atheist show; the existance of the Soul and some kind of Afterlife is taken as a given. They aren't specific, and surely there are some who might find it offensive; but still I'd like to see some petitions or some evidence that the christian conservatives did this, before assuming that's teh reason.

I do share your dissapointment though--I've been watching the DVDs (thru Netflix) and really enjoying them. I hope they get some kind of wrap up, though I suppose that wouldn't really fit with the show.

Bryant
Check it out--> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[krrywon]

2. I love that show!!

I like Daisy Adair and Rube best!

[R3dD0g]

3. It's disappointing to hear of the cancellation.

And, yes, I will sign the petition urging them to cancel the cancellation.

But, as a devoted fan, you have to admit that last season just wasn't as bitingly funny as the first. We just got fed up with all the stories about George's living family. Those just weren't funny and seemed like any other afternoon soap opera.

Here's the link to their DLM message boards.
http://www.sho.com/site/message/topics.do?groupid=11&boardid=3032&pagenum=1

[roenyc]

5. link to petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/dlm1218/petition.html

thanks for hearing me on this. i am so paranoid!! i didn't go to the right immediately. it took some time. after reading all those posts and over 10 thousand signatures for a showtime show i couldn't figure out what it could be.

I have no proof. yet! but look they love desperate housewives (i like it too) so i would assume this show doesn't have enough sex and soap opera in it for them and too much abstract thought about the afterlife.

I love Georgie. she is such a democrat! lol

[durablend]

4. Betcha the trail of crumbs leads to the PTC

"Working Harder to Control Amerikkkans Since 2004"

[RoyGBiv]

6. DLM ...

The show's fate is not based on what you suggest.

Love the show myself.

[MsTryska]

7. I wouldn't paint showtime with that brush.

I'm sorry it's gone, but it jumped the shark for me a while back.


I thinkt hey were jsut making room for Huff.


remember showtime was the channel that brought us the US version fo Queer as Folk and the "L" Word.

[roenyc]

14. i do love queer as folk.

but cant get into the L word. i love the guys and story line in QAF. they bring you in. there was one awful season. even the gay forums were complaining that there was too much sex and no stubstance. but otherwise its great.

[MsTryska]

16. Yeah, i haven't watched QAF

since season 2. But i loved it too. I should get the other seasons on DVD.

[fishwax]

17. Season 3 was really good

I thought, anyway. The writing really came into its own in 2 and 3. (In season 1 I thought they were a little too beholden to the U.K. version, and season 4, while still enjoyable, seemed a little too toned down to me ... reminded me of the fictional "Gay as Blazes" show that QAF used to make fun of.)

[MsTryska]

18. really?

Gay as Blazes huh?


that's disappointing. I loved season 1. I think i cried during the finale.


Season 2 was pretty good too - especially Emmet. Season 3 looks really good with Ted tweaking and all. (i did see bits and pieces) I'm nto ready for everyone to settle down and start making babies tho.

[fishwax]

19. Well, that might be a little harsh

that's just a semi-facetious comment I would occasionally make at the watch parties. It wasn't really as bad as gay as blazes, but it was definitely toned down.

For one thing, they changed the theme song and the opening credits from the thrusting dancers to an adult-alternative/electronica song coupled with shots of all the cast members in sweaters hugging each other and laughing. The title credits look like an old navy ad.

The soundtrack for season 4 contained a written explanation for the change--that the characters are growing up and so the show has to grow up too--and it makes sense that there has to be some change in the characters, but I kind of missed the in-your-face, no-holds-barred approach of the first few seasons, which managed to offer compelling characters without pulling any punches.

Among my circle of friends who watch the show regularly, everyone noticed a change in tone, but not everybody thought it was necessarily a bad thing, I guess.

[MsTryska]

21. What?

No Hot. Dancing. Boys!!!?

So basically they dropped Babylon from the cast huh?

[fishwax]

23. Babylon was there occasionally, but not nearly as much

I don't think it really showed up until the third or fourth episode. Then they spent the last couple of episodes on the road from Toronto, so there wasn't any Babylon in the last few episodes either. Altogether, much less Babylon (and much less non-relationship sex in general--I don't think the baths came into play at all).

Yeah, it was quite a bit tamer. Two of the three or four main storylines were about marriage, now that I think about it, and another was about Ted's recovery, so that was another dose of conventionality. But there were some good storylines, and Emmett has a lot of interesting moments in season 4 too. Also, Blake (Ted's young tweaker friend from Season 1) returns.

I still do like the show, but I hope they kick it back up a notch for the fifth season.

[MsTryska]

24. So who's with who by season 4?

Did ted and the tweaker get together for good?


How about ted and emmett? (i missed that whole relationship)

How about Brian and Justin?

[fishwax]

25. well, okay, if you want spoilers :)

:)

Mel and Lindz are on the fritz (Lindz had an affair with a man)

Ted and Emmett broke up while he was tweaking (Ted was pretty bad to Em, and Em took it for too long). By the last episode of the fourth they were friends again, but tenuously.

Brian and Justin are still mostly doing the on-again off-again mutual jealousy thing. Brian had testicular cancer, and shut Justin out for much of the season, but by the end of the season they were pretty much back together.

Michael and Ben got married in Canada at the end of the season (the whole crowd went there for a charity bike ride back to Pittsburgh.)

Debbie tried to get back together with Captain Horvath, her cop friend (can't remember if this was 2nd or 3rd season, so you might not know all about him), but he was with somebody else. The ending for them was a little ambiguous, I think.

Ted and the tweaker dated a time or two, but couldn't continue their relationship because the tweaker is now fully recovered and served as Ted's counselor while in rehab, so it would be a conflict of interest.

Uncle Vic found a boyfriend who was also positive, and he moved out of Debbie's to live with the new love. Then he died of a heart attack. (Deaths in the family might also be standard jumping-the-shark bait, I don't know.)

I think that's everybody. Oh yeah, Michael and Ben became foster parents to a young street hustler who is HIV positive and may or may not be gay (he hustles guys and is very into Brian, but he also dated a girl from his school). Anyway, I know that bringing in "fresh young characters" is definitely primo shark-jumping bait.

[smbolisnch]

26. Thanks Fishwax!

I watched QAF religiously and then we stopped getting Showtime. I miss it! It was fun to hear what's been going on with the characters! ;)

[fishwax]

28. you might be able to rent them

just in case you're interested. We don't have showtime either, but have a friend who hosts watch parties for it every week.

They actually have all three seasons available for rent at my local blockbuster. I was kind of surprised by that, since I think of them as a conservative chain, but others stores might have them too.

[smbolisnch]

29. Ooooo, I'll have to check that out!

If not, I am thinking of signing up for netflix, and they surely will have it! Thanks! ;)

[MsTryska]

27. Yeah the bringing in characters bit is always a clue!

i think i mgith have seen parts of season 4 too then.

Because I remember vic dying, and i knew about the hustler, and oddly enough his little girlfriend.

[madrchsod]

8. that really sucks!

well at least the last show was the best in my opinion. what a great show and cast...i guess i`ll just wait for the dvd to watch it again. sad

[Toucano]

9. I watched 4 or 5 episodes

And they were good, but it seemed like the show got bogged down in the same thematic elements over and over again. That's the same reason I gave up on the X-Files.

It was ground-breaking and explored some interesting ideas, but in the final analysis, it became boring for me.

I saw it as Showtime's attempt to expand on the death-related themes being explored on "Six Feet Under", but it lacked the soap opera sex and drama to keep it interesting.

I really doubt it's cancellation has anything to do with evangelicals. I think it just wore out the material.

[underpants]

10. My wife LOVEs that show

I have watched a few and they are good. Very good.

[LeftToTheCenter]

11. Just canceled the subscription

After I heard about this. No DLM, No Showtime. I hate this when shows that I follow get canceled. First Wonderfalls...now this.

BTW...This is my first post and Hello fellow Dems.

[roenyc]

12. welcome!! this is the first time i have welcomed someone!

just came from a site that was torn up about wonderfalls as well as DLM. seams there was some kind of grudge going on. dont know. never watched wonderfalls. fox has a habit of putting any good show it has on a Sunday and competing with HBO. hbo always wins for me.

i even searched the freeper board. now i need a shower! nothing. so i guess i was wrong about my theory.

ugh. so tired of this. we need to sign the petition. i have to check and see what my alternative to showtime is.

oh and they do want to put DLM on Bravo or the Sci Fi channel. heck they should try comedy central. they seam like the last channel left with balls and a conscience.

[RoyGBiv]

13. Welcome to DU!!!

Welcome!!! :hi:

Get accustomed to this sort of thing if you follow shows on pay networks, especially on any other network than HBO. Showtime, in particular, is trying to find a formula that matches the success of the Sopranos and/or Sex in the City. They haven't done it. They've acquired a loyal following, but not the off-the-needle pop-culture icon of those two shows.

Part of it is their own fault. They're trying too hard and expecting rapid results when they are the upstart. DLM was a great show. but it didn't have the "soap opera" quality of other shows. That is, it was very hard to jump into the middle of a season and have any clue what was happening.

That hurt them in their second season; ratings were stagnant. That's fine if you're looking for a long-term investment that builds slowly, but that's not what SHO was looking for. They wanted a blockbuster, quickly.

Who knows, though. Fans brought back Carnivale and Family Guy. It could happen.

[roenyc]

15. Yes it could - here is a site with all contact info!

http://www.deadlikemeonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7031&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=&sid=2266c6e28559b0b1f1894dbfbb83ab05

[arwalden]

20. What A Disappointment That Is...

I loved Georgia and Mason... and Dolores Herbig.

[Orangepeel]

nah, showtime didn't bow to evangelical pressure

if it had, Dead Like Me sure wouldn't have been the first show they cancelled.

I don't know why they dropped it, but I'm sure it wasn't because of religious pressure -- they have too many gay shows on the air for that.

[Orangepeel]

22. whoops! double post